LEAGUE CITY, Texas — At least three women in the past six months have filed police complaints about men peeking under bathroom stalls in public restrooms of stores in the FM 646 corridor.
Investigators said they suspect the cases are linked.
Meanwhile, one criminologist said the state’s laws are lacking on voyeur crimes, and habitual peeping could indicate a potential for more threatening criminal behavior.
Police took a report Saturday from a woman who said a man attempted to peer at her from under a stall in the restroom at Ross Dress for Less, 3040 Interstate 45, about 11:45 a.m., officials said.
A week before, police were called to TJ Maxx, 3030 I-45, after a Corpus Christi woman reported a man had slid under the stall while she was using the restroom.
On Aug. 24, police were called to Walmart, 3115 I-45, after a woman reported a man peering under the stall she was using.
‘Like A Snake’
Police said they have alerted store managers in both League City Towne Center, on the southeast corner of I-45 and FM 646 where Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx are, and Victory Lakes Town Center, on the northeast corner of I-45 and FM 646, where Walmart is an anchor.
"He was like a snake, a lizard," said Jessica Burnett, 34, who works in corporate communications for utility company AEP Texas in Corpus Christi.
Burnett said she and a co-worker had stopped to shop at the store Jan. 23 on their way back from a Texas Press Association convention in Galveston.
Burnett said she was in the restroom stall about 12:30 p.m. when she glanced down and saw a man crawling under the partition and staring at her.
‘Same Sequence’
She said she screamed, kicked at him and ran out of the restroom. The man ran away, she said.
The man in each case behaved the same way, League City Police spokesman Sgt. John Jordan said.
"It’s almost the same sequence of events," Jordan said.
Witnesses in the two most recent incidents described a dark Hispanic man in his 20s or 30s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, with facial scars.
In all three cases, the man was reported as crouching down on his hands and knees to peer into bathroom stalls, Jordan said.
Police have surveillance video of the man entering and leaving one store and also have asked Burnett to attempt to identify the man she saw in a photo lineup. Burnett said Tuesday she made a positive identification of the man in the photo lineup.
‘Some Voyeurs Progress’
In voyeur cases where there is no physical assault, the most perpetrators can be charged with is disorderly conduct, police said. But if the same man committed all three stall-stalking offenses, police would ask the district attorney whether a more serious charge was possible, Jordan said.
In the meantime, the police department’s patrol division is working to spread the word to businesses in the I-45/FM 646 corridor, Jordan said.
Although the man has not been accused of assaulting women, his actions should be taken seriously and could progress to more serious offenses, said Holly Miller, an associate professor and assistant dean at Sam Houston State University’s College of Criminal Justice.
"Some voyeurs progress to more contact offenses and some do not," Miller said. "But since you don’t know who this is, it’s better to err on the side of caution; it certainly could be someone who could progress if he hasn’t already."
Miller, who is licensed to treat sex offenders, said she has known cases of voyeurs moving on to contact or molestation.
‘A Lot Of Thought’
Women who are victims of voyeurs should take it seriously and call the police, Miller said.
"It’s similar to exhibitionism," Miller said. "One of the reasons they’re reinforced so much is because women laugh it off or giggle and don’t report it."
Most of the time voyeurs and exhibitionists don’t get caught, which emboldens them to continue their offenses, Miller said.
Miller said she considers the type of voyeurism described by the women to be a sex crime. State law lacks a specific offense to cover such crimes, Miller said.
What concerns Burnett, who is 4 feet 11 inches tall and 112 pounds, is she on occasion is mistaken for a young girl, she said.
Burnett, who was wearing a women’s cap and her hair pulled back, also thinks the man had watched her in the store and had brushed against her purposely when she was shopping.
"He could tell that I was small in physique and he could probably overpower me," Burnett said. "I felt like he put a lot of thought in what he was going to do that day."
