This is a deeply concerning trend that is on the rise in Los Angeles, with cases being prosecuted in local courthouses. The use of small video cameras to film individuals in dressing rooms and other private locations is a serious violation of privacy and trust.
Even peeping-tom-type activity where they're filming them in their own home, or filming them in the person's home when the person goes to the bathroom, or when they have sex with the other party, and they don't tell them about the filming.
If it comes to light that somebody is filing somebody, catching private parts, or sexual activity, then that can be prosecuted in Los Angeles. In fact, it's prosecuted all the time.
California Sex Offender Registration
It's crucial to understand the potential consequences of these crimes. Even if they are initially classified as misdemeanors, such as peeping or illegal videotaping for sexual purposes, the outcome could be severe-including the requirement to register as a sex offender.
There is a wide range of statutory criminal laws in California that describe this type of unlawful activity.
If you find yourself facing charges related to the use of video in a sexual offense, or if you're accused of illicitly taping someone in a private setting, it's imperative that you seek legal counsel immediately.
I've seen many cases where people set up a phone in the bathroom, hide it, turn it on, and then, when they go in and out, they're being videoed. Then, someone finds the phone and ends up contacting law enforcement.
The authorities investigate to determine whose phone it is and identify who has been doing the taping, and that person is either arrested or cited in court. A lot of times, they don't think it's very serious until they realize that they're registering as a sex offender.
It could last ten, twenty, or even a lifetime with the new 3-tier system that's just going to be introduced within the next year or so. Still, even though that does help those individuals who are charged with sex crimes as far as registering pursuant to Penal Code Section 290, it's a long time and very invasive.
If you end up getting convicted for a sex-related offense, you have to register as a sex offender for a significant part of your life, whether it be the rest of your life or twenty years, for example.
Defenses for Illegal Videotaping
What I suggest you do is that sometimes, some of this videotaping is consensual. Sometimes, it involves adults, not just minors, and sometimes it may even be accidentally videotaped.
So, there are all sorts of defenses that can be employed if you're charged with videotaping someone for sexual purposes. It depends on the circumstances and what the other person has said to the police.
What evidence does the police have, and what evidence does the police have that you're actually the one who did the video recording? So, it's never a good idea to state these types of matters. You obviously want to go to an attorney.
Let the attorney do the talking for you; act as a buffer between you and the police so that you don't end up admitting something, and make it easy for the police to prove the crime of videotaping another person for sexual purposes.
