A Wisconsin man has been arrested and charged with 39 offenses for secretly using a camera to look up women’s skirts. In June, the Kenosha Police Department received a call from a Kenosha Harbor Market vendor who reported the suspicious behavior. Police arrived to question 40-year-old Kevin Pursell and found that he possessed a camera disguised as a button.
When police examined the camera, its memory card content was enough to secure two separate search warrants for Pursell’s home, where they used specially trained dogs to locate electronic storage devices. With that evidence in hand, prosecutors charged Pursell with 18 counts of privacy invasion, 15 counts of capturing an intimate representation, three counts of attempting to capture an intimate representation, and three counts of child pornography possession.
The suspect appeared in court on August 1 and Judge William Michel set a cash bond of $100,000. The Judge also requested that Pursell wear appropriate clothing in future court appearances after he attended wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
Kenosha Police Department issued a statement describing the case as a “great example of the community and law enforcement coming together.” Alexis Baueron from the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office told reporters that Pursell “has been doing this for over two years.” She further explained that police found multiple computers and hard drives in his home, as well as evidence that he had a history of accessing the dark web.
Known as “upskirting,” the practice of filming up women’s skirts has emerged in recent years and has been specifically criminalized in some American states – although in most states, privacy laws also outlaw the practice.
In a recent case, a Target shopper in South Carolina was caught on camera using his phone to secretly film up a woman’s skirt while she was distracted looking at products on the store’s shelves. Staff called the police, who handcuffed 21-year-old Thomas Elliott and removed him from the store. Media reports indicate that Elliott was employed by Opendoor Church and volunteered at a local school. Police are examining his phone for images of children and a school representative said staff there were “deeply concerned.”
