At a Target store in Portland, Oregon, A 61-year-old man slipped a camera under a 13-year-old girl’s skirt and snapped some photographs. The man was not convicted of any crime because his actions were technically legal.
In Oregon, it is illegal to photograph someone in a locker room or bathroom, but because the man photographed her in a public space, the court ruled that she had no right to privacy even under her skirt. He was acquitted of charges of invasion of privacy and encouraging child sex abuse.
Ethically, the Oregon man is a criminal and a menace to society. Legally, he has done nothing wrong. The argument against criminalizing his actions is that, while in public, someone may accidentally photograph a person in a compromising position. In this situation, however, there was no accident. The Oregon man purposefully violated the privacy of a 13-year-old girl. This case conveys the urgency for a law specifically addressing the intention of the person taking the photos, which violate people’s private body parts in public spaces.
A Bill was introduced to ban upskirt photos in Oregon in 2015, but it never became a law. In New York, “upskirting” is punishable with up to four years in prison, and a potential sex offender registration. In NJ, recording the images is a fourth-degree offense with up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Sign this petition to tell Oregon’s legislature that we need to pass the proposed law to criminalize lewd photos taken in public with malicious intent.
Despite the current laws stating privacy cannot be expected in public spaces, there is an expectation of privacy, regarding the parts you have covered with clothing. When people wear clothing in a public place, they can reasonable expect that their undergarments will not be seen or photographed.
As new technology is introduced, laws become obsolete and lacking. The law needs to catch up with new criminal behaviors. A 61-year-old man should not be legally permitted to photograph a 13-year-old between the legs.
Please sign this petition to force Oregon to pass a law that criminalizes the photography of obscene imagery when the act is premeditated or undergone with malicious intent.
