Mom: Peeper shot photos of my son using the restroom
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. - An 11-year-old boy's trip to the bathroom took a frightening turn when someone got way too close to him with a camera in the stalls at a local Fred Meyer store, says the boy's alarmed mother.
Now police say they need the public's help before anyone else becomes a victim - amid fears that the same thing may have happened to other children before this.
The boy's mom says her 11-year-old caught a man taking his picture in the restroom of a Fred Meyer store in Port Orchard on Thursday.
In an interview with KOMO News, she says the scene was chaotic inside the store immediately after the frightened boy ran from the restroom - and that's how the suspect got away.
"I was sick to my stomach," says the boy's mother, Anita, who didn't want her last name used to protect her son. "Someone was trying to take pictures of him using the bathroom."
She is asking everyone to look out for the man in a surveillance photo released by Port Orchard police.
The boy told his mother that someone slowly slid a smartphone out from under a nearby stall when he used the restroom.
"He saw a phone, a black phone with a black rubber protective case, and camera side up," she says. "He never heard it click or anything."
Anita says she immediately told store managers. Police confirm that store security contacted the suspect, but did not detain him - nor did they get his license plate number. And in the confusion that followed, the man escaped before police arrived.
A detective reportedly tried to track down the suspect.
"Trying to determine whether the suspect purchased something using a club card or a charge card," says Cmdr. Geoffrey Marti of the Port Orchard Police Department. "However, apparently he paid cash."
Police believe this was no accident. They say the wall of the stall is simply too close to the floor.
"I believe this is a classic case of violation of voyeurism," says Marti.
The manager of the Port Orchard Fred Meyer store had no comment on the case. A spokesman for the chain says workers did everything according to their policy and the company is doing everything it can to cooperate in the investigation.
Meanwhile, the boy's mother worries that her son is not the first victim.
"I want to make sure this guy is brought to justice," she says.
Local police are checking with other local retailers - but so far there are no other local reports of voyeurism.
Now police say they need the public's help before anyone else becomes a victim - amid fears that the same thing may have happened to other children before this.
The boy's mom says her 11-year-old caught a man taking his picture in the restroom of a Fred Meyer store in Port Orchard on Thursday.
In an interview with KOMO News, she says the scene was chaotic inside the store immediately after the frightened boy ran from the restroom - and that's how the suspect got away.
"I was sick to my stomach," says the boy's mother, Anita, who didn't want her last name used to protect her son. "Someone was trying to take pictures of him using the bathroom."
She is asking everyone to look out for the man in a surveillance photo released by Port Orchard police.
The boy told his mother that someone slowly slid a smartphone out from under a nearby stall when he used the restroom.
"He saw a phone, a black phone with a black rubber protective case, and camera side up," she says. "He never heard it click or anything."
Anita says she immediately told store managers. Police confirm that store security contacted the suspect, but did not detain him - nor did they get his license plate number. And in the confusion that followed, the man escaped before police arrived.
A detective reportedly tried to track down the suspect.
"Trying to determine whether the suspect purchased something using a club card or a charge card," says Cmdr. Geoffrey Marti of the Port Orchard Police Department. "However, apparently he paid cash."
Police believe this was no accident. They say the wall of the stall is simply too close to the floor.
"I believe this is a classic case of violation of voyeurism," says Marti.
The manager of the Port Orchard Fred Meyer store had no comment on the case. A spokesman for the chain says workers did everything according to their policy and the company is doing everything it can to cooperate in the investigation.
Meanwhile, the boy's mother worries that her son is not the first victim.
"I want to make sure this guy is brought to justice," she says.
Local police are checking with other local retailers - but so far there are no other local reports of voyeurism.
So this man, who was simply QUESTIONED by Fred Meyer employees, willingly answered police inquiries, and is INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY is suddenly a perv and a peeper? Â I think not. Â After he has been drug through the dirt, his career ruined, and personal privacy violated, is KOMO going to run a Top Story titled, "KOMO and Port Orchard Police Department act as Judge and Jury and Falsely Accuse Innocent Man?"
She should sue FM for their crappy security cameras. It kills me to see an article w/fuzzy, effed up pic of a felon and a caption that reads, "if you see this man"... WTH? You mean a white man with black hair? Not even sure he's white actually, cuz the camera is probably a vintage 1980 VHS camcorder. This is 2012, let's use all 1080 lines per inch to keep creeps and violent perps off the streets. I mean really, how much would it cost to upgrade?
@Heisenberg I agree, I cannot recall the last time I have seen a GOOD shot off a security camera, banks included. Far too many "Have you seen this blurry blob?" lines when it comes to this stuff. Upgrade to a higher res camera if you really want to identify someone. At the same time I am sure it would cost money, which affects profit, so thats most likely the why of it...
B.S. ALERT!! not buying this for one second. anita wants to sue and fred meyer has deep pockets. she told her son what to do, and the "suspect" is probably someone she knows. i think this is as contrived as the finger in the wendy's bowl of chili, and this broad will no doubt get a huge settlement. and by the way, wtf does this mean?: "They say the wall of the stall is simply too close to the floor."
@dorimonsonfanThe walls of the stalls in the Port Orchard Fred Meyer go almost all the way to the floor and all the way to the ceiling. Theres probably only an inch or two of space from the bottom of the stall wall to the floor so someone had to be crouched down on the floor to slide their phone under the stall to be able to take a photo.
@dorimonsonfan If you look at your keyboard, on either side there is a "shift" key. It is used to capitalize proper nouns and the first letter in a sentence. Try it sometime. Failure to do so shows your illiteracy.
@dorimonsonfan I have loads of tin foil.
Great policy Fred Meyers! Let'em walk free to offend again.
Too many sick perverts out there. I just watched a story where a doctor-an obgyn-recorded his patients with little cameras, including a pen camera. You see stories where there have been cameras found in locker rooms, dressing rooms, public restrooms etc. I do not understand why security did so little?
What I don't understand is with all the reports of pedophiles, why do men's bathrooms still have urinals right next to each other where someone can get a full view of you urinating? Just as women's bathrooms have individual stalls, men's should too.
@Robinsnest then you will flip out when you hear about the trough that some places have.
@Robinsnest there's nothing preventing guys from urinating into the toilet in private stalls instead of the urinals. Please don't make this out to be an "equal opportunity" moment.
Prep sounds like a catholic priest
The perp sounds like Liberal Scout Master-material.
@Attila Way to politicize a non-political topic.
Not to detract from the story, but what does difference does it make how close to the floor the stall wall is? "Police believe this was no accident. They say the wall of the stall is simply too close to the floor." That makes no sense to me. Most bathroom partitions or walls that I've seen are 12" or more off the floor. This one appears to be about 1 inch. Still plenty of room to allow a phone.
@Coyote If someone accidentally dropped their phone, it most likely would not very carefully slide under a 1 inch opening but rather bounce a bit and hit the wall.
I can never begin to understand what the hell is wrong with these people. Good grief!
Kid should have pissed on the cell phone.
@GorgeTraveler Or stomped the hell out of it. That would put a stop to his pervy ways, and possibly mash some fingers at the same time.
My son is 9. I take him to the woman's bathroom with me and if anybody gives me the stink eye I explain without being rude why.
@whenudieitsdone If there is a family restroom my 8 yr old son uses that after I have checked to make sure it is empty-if there isn't one he goes into the womens room with me- only twice have I had someone say something and once I explained that my son wasn't going to become the next victim they understood. I really really wish more places would put in either single use restrooms or family restrooms.Â
KOMO, I want to know why the store security let this man go free!
"Police confirm that store security contacted the suspect, but did not detain him - nor did they get his license plate number."
And WHY didn't store security detain him until police arrived? Those security people should be fired!
@Tattooed_Angel Good questioned? Keep in mind, "security people" doesn't mean well trained.
Fred Meyer has explaining to do.
@Tattooed_Angel They have no legal authority to detain anyone. They should just have taken what information they can and give it to the police. Hopefully they can pickup a license number from the outdoor cameras. Its amazing though how poor of quality all these security cameras are.
@Tattooed_Angel We give our criminals and perverts the right to sue for having their feelings hurt. So the store probably has a policy to avoid physical detainment for liability purposes.
@Just_Mike I've seen situations at Safeway and Walmart where shoplifters were detained until police arrived to cart their butts off to jail.Â
If Fred Meyers has a policy that allows criminals to walk free then I will NEVER shop there again. And if I was that child's mother, I'd sue them to have their policies changed. They just let a suspected child peeper go free!Â
Now a days all big stores should have a hall way lined with single toilet booths instead of large restrooms.
@32jim2 I agree. What is pathetic is if they catch him the defense lawyer will seek to have as much evidence suppressed from a jury as possible.Â
@Citizen#3457899654Â I'm not saying the guy did not do what he did. But there is only one witness-the boy. we don't know what happened in that bathroom-we don't know if the kid overreacted to something. That is the defense lawyers job.
You want to blame anyone here, blame FM's security for letting the guy go. If they kept him and and maybe the police could have checked  the camera.
I do side with the boy only because the guy took off-if he did nothing to hide he would have stayed.
Wow thats some picture! I guess I will be on the look out for a man with a blurry face.As for numbersgirl down below.I say the buddy system is good,but you might not have both at once.So many variables.Remember that the majority of people are good people so I guess you will have to learn how to trust people a bit more.I hope they catch this guy and put him where he belongs.
Guess we ought to ban camera phones, now, since they can be used to harm little children.Â
@Sovereign Wow, two posts in before someone trots out the overused "We should ban <x>" reply.
@Just_Mike They're just bitter people with no valid argument so they use what they've got: nonsense.
@Sovereign - I'm not sure what part of your off-topic, extraneous comment you're trying to defend, but here's a good definition of "Internet Troll." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)
@Zoso @Fooey Patooey! Yeah you might want to try to understand what an internet troll is before you make a fool of yourself carelessly slinging the term about like that.
@Zoso @Fooey Patooey! I figured it to be a sarcastic remark...
@Fooey Patooey! In short, trolls.
Terrifying. I have two little boys and when I am out with them alone I always struggle with how to let them go to the bathroom without me. They are 6 and 7 so a little too old for the women's room but too young to go to the men's room alone. Any advice?
Thank you everyone for the advice.
@numbersgirl I always brought my boys with me until they were about 8-9 yrs old however I stand in the doorway of the men's bathroom facing outward though and I keep asking my son if everything is fine. One time he freaked me out so much because his "yes, I'm fine" sounded forced so as I ran into the men's bathroom to save him, he yells out "I'm just really having a hard time getting this poop out." The older man in the other stall walks out and chuckles and says "good job mom and probably should treat him for that constipation." My son was my youngest of 4 so at this point I was longer embarrassed by what my kids say.Â
@numbersgirl I don't think 6 and 7 is too old for the women's restroom. I doubt anyone would complain, and if they did... too bad. The women's does have individual stalls.
@numbersgirl: I know it's not always possible but if you have a male companion have him go with the boys. Otherwise, to the ladies room where you can be sure everything is okay.
@numbersgirl My son is 8 and I still take him in the womens room if my husband isn't with us or a family restroom isn't available- only twice in the last 4 years has anyone ever said anything to me and once I explained to them that no way was I allowing my son to become the next victim they understood and even said it was a smart move (both were younger women/teens with no kids). My husband once had to take our then 9 yr old daughter to the store and of course she needed to use the restroom- he got a female employee to go check the restroom and make sure it was empty before my daughter went in and then made sure no one else went in while my daughter was in there.  Your childrens safety is way more important than someone's opinion or thoughts- their words/looks may bother you for a while, your child being hurt will bother you the rest of your life.Â
@MomOf2Â I see moms bringing in boys all the time and I have never had a problem with it. Some even say sorry! No sorry needed ladies, keep your babies safe.
@numbersgirl I was a single mom and I just marched him into the women's and waited inside with him.  If he went to a men's, I waited right outside the door.  Thankfully more family BR's are available now.  I tried to use my best judgement, remember that someone could be hiding in a stall.  If someone causes drama, just wait till their done.  I'd have him pee on a tree before I sent him into a BR alone if I could help it.  Â
@numbersgirl Just ducky's suggestion is very good or you can have a male friend or family member take them in. If that's not possible, then you can continue bringing them in with you for a while longer. You will find that many women out there are very understanding and some do the same thing.
@numbersgirl I have my son go in the women's room with me. There are stalls so it's not like he can really see anything. I've never gotten any negative comments. My aunt told me that once her boys were too old to go into the women's room with her, she would have them sing their ABC's to her from inside the Men's room. There's a good children's book called "Yell and Tell" on the subject of sex predators that I highly recommend. You can find it on amazon. They have a version for boys and one for girls.
@just_ducky Great advice