A picture is said to be worth a thousand words. If you’re capturing images of someone’s private areas without their consent, those words may be part of the criminal video voyeurism charges you’ll be facing.
As technology has advanced, so too have video voyeurism laws. With the ever-increasing number of digital surveillance systems, drone-mounted cameras, and handheld devices that can film, photograph, and broadcast, it’s perhaps easier than ever to capture images and footage. However, using these devices to view and record the private parts of non-consenting victims can land perpetrators in either state or federal prison, as well as require them to register as a sex offender.
The Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004 (VVPA), codified in 18 U.S. Code § 1801, helped adapt privacy protections to our expanding digital world by defining the federal offense and imposing sanctions for offenders. Some states have gone even further to punish those using hidden cameras and other recording devices, with laws that address these sex crimes and range in severity from first-degree misdemeanors to felonies. Given the steady stream of video voyeurism cases in criminal courts across the nation, more state laws with stricter penalties may not be far away.
I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me
Voyeurism involves the secret observation of another person’s (or persons’) private areas without their consent for lewd purposes or sexual gratification when the victims have a reasonable expectation of privacy. While voyeurism laws protect against nonconsensual viewing of buttocks and the female breast (for the VVPA, this is any area below the top of the areola), they can also apply to private areas covered by undergarments as well.
The VVPA established an updated federal law to address the use of camcorders, smartphones, and other digital devices to record people without their permission. This includes the use of hidden cameras, unauthorized surveillance footage, and tactics such as “upskirting,” in which an individual attempts to take a clandestine picture or recording of the genitals or pubic area of someone wearing a dress, skirt, or kilt.
Advancing technology has allowed so-called “Peeping Toms” (named, perhaps apocryphally, for a person who didn’t avert his eyes during Lady Godiva’s infamous nude ride) access to new methods of seeing things that they shouldn’t. This includes drones and smart glasses, along with the smartphones we carry that also function as sophisticated digital photography and motion picture cameras.
Tough To Peep From a Prison Cell
Engaging in any type of nonconsensual voyeurism, video or otherwise, is illegal and can lead to serious repercussions. Under 18 U.S.C. 1801, offenders face fines and up to a year’s imprisonment for each charge.
State laws have proved even more vigilant in identifying new forms of video voyeurism and imposing stricter sanctions. Kentucky charges the offense as a Class D felony and adds the nonconsensual viewing of the sexual acts of others as video voyeurism, as well as recording it and/or disseminating it through media like email or commercial online services. In Rhode Island, people who install imaging devices, watch without consent, or share captured images can be charged and face up to three years in prison and fines of up to $5,000.
Louisiana’s video voyeurism law applies to anyone observed without consent in a place with a reasonable expectation of privacy, with no nudity required. It also includes the use of “unmanned aircraft systems,” better known as drones. A first conviction for video voyeurism in Louisiana can carry a fine of up to $2,000 and up to two years in prison (possibly as hard labor), with subsequent offenses carrying six months to three years of hard labor. The penalties ramp up if the victims were engaged in sexual activity and/or had exposed private parts, with fines of up to $10,000 and a prison sentence of between one and five years, with no possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. If a victim is under 17, imprisonment increases to two to 10 years. In addition, all convicted under this Louisiana statute are required to register as a sex offender if they are a repeat offender or the victim is under 17.
Both state and federal video voyeurism laws acknowledge that people with a reasonable expectation of privacy shouldn’t be exposed to unwanted and nonconsensual observation. Technology may make it easier to invade someone’s privacy, but it does not offer a way to escape legal consequences.
