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Elite Member
Teacher Arrested Under Peeping-Tom Law
By PAUL J. WEBER
AP
DALLAS (Jan. 11) - A high school teacher was charged under Texas' peeping-tom law with videotaping girls' wrestling matches for his sexual enjoyment.
Police said David Ware, 28, often zoomed in for close-up shots of the girls' crotches.
The first-year speech and drama teacher planned to turn himself in to Grand Prairie police this week on charges of improper visual recording, which carries up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Ware shot about two hours of videotape at an all-day tournament Saturday but drew suspicion from a coach, Grand Prairie Sgt. John Brimmer said. A police officer reviewed Ware's tape.
"This was more than accidental footage of the genital areas," Brimmer said. "It appeared to be a purposeful act of zooming in."
Ware was charged under a 2001 law meant to protect people from ultra-small cameras that can be used to peek into dressing rooms or up women's skirts. Under the law, filming a person without consent for sexual arousal is a felony.
Ware's school, Garland Lakeview Centennial High School, was not entered the wrestling tournament.
His attorney, Scott Palmer, said Ware was simply interested in wrestling. And the lawyer complained that the law is so broad that could be used to jail Dallas Cowboys fans for taking pictures of the team's sultry cheerleaders from the stands.
"How do you draw the line?" Palmer said. "If you go to a Cowboys game and take a close-up shot of their cleavage, are you committing the same offense because you think that has sex appeal?"
School officials said Ware has been placed on paid leave.
By PAUL J. WEBER
AP
DALLAS (Jan. 11) - A high school teacher was charged under Texas' peeping-tom law with videotaping girls' wrestling matches for his sexual enjoyment.
Police said David Ware, 28, often zoomed in for close-up shots of the girls' crotches.
The first-year speech and drama teacher planned to turn himself in to Grand Prairie police this week on charges of improper visual recording, which carries up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Ware shot about two hours of videotape at an all-day tournament Saturday but drew suspicion from a coach, Grand Prairie Sgt. John Brimmer said. A police officer reviewed Ware's tape.
"This was more than accidental footage of the genital areas," Brimmer said. "It appeared to be a purposeful act of zooming in."
Ware was charged under a 2001 law meant to protect people from ultra-small cameras that can be used to peek into dressing rooms or up women's skirts. Under the law, filming a person without consent for sexual arousal is a felony.
Ware's school, Garland Lakeview Centennial High School, was not entered the wrestling tournament.
His attorney, Scott Palmer, said Ware was simply interested in wrestling. And the lawyer complained that the law is so broad that could be used to jail Dallas Cowboys fans for taking pictures of the team's sultry cheerleaders from the stands.
"How do you draw the line?" Palmer said. "If you go to a Cowboys game and take a close-up shot of their cleavage, are you committing the same offense because you think that has sex appeal?"
School officials said Ware has been placed on paid leave.
