ROCK HILL, SC (FOX 46) — Voyeurism charges have been dropped against a man accused of using his cell phone and GoPro camera to spy on a woman at an apartment complex pool.
The incident happened at the Lexington Commons Pool, located at 1418 Walnut Hill Drive about 2:45 p.m. on June 2, according to Rock Hill Police.
Several women informed police that they had become “extremely uncomfortable” over a man taking pictures around the pool. An off-duty officer reportedly saw a man taking pictures with his cell phone around the pool where various women were around in their bikini bathing suits. The man was also observed using a GoPro video camera while under the water.
Related: ‘Peeping Tom’ arrested after taking pictures of women at apartment pool, police say
When police arrived, the suspect, 47-year-old Sean Patrick Kilkenny, stated he was taking pictures of scenery around the pool and allowed an officer to examine photos on his cell phone and the GoPro. What the officer found was various pictures of a woman at the pool, which were zoomed in and focused on her and her breasts, according to a police report. There were also pictures of the same woman sitting on a beach chair next to a woman who was laying on her stomach.
According to York County Solicitor’s Office, the photographs and filming took place at a common pool for an apartment complex pool with no expectation of privacy.
“While the alleged conduct is perhaps concerning and distasteful, it does not rise to the level of criminal conduct. By way of analogy, the alleged conduct is more akin to paparazzi-style photography of celebrities on public beaches than surreptitious recording of individuals in bathroom stalls where they would expect to have privacy,” according to a statement released by the solicitor’s office.
Voyeurism is defined under SC law as follows:
A person commits the crime of voyeurism if, for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire of any person, he or she knowingly views, photographs, audio records, video records, produces, or creates a digital electronic file, or films another person, without that person’s knowledge and consent, while the person is in a place where he or she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
