The state law is limited to places where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a dressing room or bathroom.īut advances in technology have made it necessary for states, including Pennsylvania, to expand their definition of the crime to include digital cameras used to take sexually gratuitous photos or film images of a person without his or her knowledge, or distribute them over the Internet.Ī new bill in the state House would strengthen laws against high-tech voyeurism. Pennsylvania's anti-Peeping Tom law went into effect in 1998, making it a misdemeanor to watch or photograph anyone who is nude or partially nude without that person's knowledge. About half, including Pennsylvania, have laws that only ban the practice in private areas, he said. Nineteen states already have laws that specifically punish video voyeurism, Smith said.

'You can get everything you need at your local home electronics store,' he said.Īt the end of 2004, President Bush signed into law the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act, but it only bans the practice on federal property. Over the past decade, the technology behind photography has become miniaturized, dropped in price and hit the regular marketplace, Smith said. A remote monitor or recorder can be purchased for a few dollars more. Grey pleaded guilty Tuesday to two misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy and was sentenced to two years' probation.Ĭamera phones and digital cameras that can fit onto keychains have made it easier for perverts to partake in 'up-skirting' - slang for shooting a photo up a woman's skirt - and 'down-blousing' - taking a photo of a woman's chest without her knowledge.įor less than $100, a would-be voyeur can buy a digital camera no bigger than a lipstick case, link it to a VCR and become a spy. It wasn't until October that someone else living at 752 Mauch Chunk Road noticed a hidden camera pointed toward a toilet and sink. Grey admitted last month that he installed a hidden video camera and taped 21 people over two years. All it took were wires, a small camera and a VCR for a 42-year-old Palmerton man to set up a private peep show in his own house. Anyone can be a video or high-tech voyeur with the technology available today, Smith said.

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