Cranston Police in Rhode Island say they have arrested a convicted sex offender on a fresh felony charge of video voyeurism. The accused was reportedly using a small drone to peer inside the bathroom window of a woman in his neighborhood.
The incident took place on June 21, 2023, at approximately 11 p.m. According to the police, an unidentified female filed a report with officers stating she had just returned home from work and was in her bathroom preparing to use the shower. The window in the bathroom was slightly open and the woman could hear a buzzing noise outside.
She then went out in the backyard thinking it had something to do with her pool. It was there that she noticed a drone hovering outside her bathroom window. When she approached the drone, it moved quickly away from her to get away and hit a tree in the process.
The drone fell to the ground and the woman quickly grabbed it before it and dunked it in her pool to disable the aircraft. Then, she called the police for help.
Two days later, officers were able to track down the seized drone to its pilot – Christopher Jones, a convicted sex offender. However, his requirement to register with the police ended in 2015.
Upon questioning, Jones admitted to operating the drone and was arrested on video voyeurism charges. He is now awaiting arraignment at Cranston Police headquarters in the Providence metropolitan area.
A local media outlet interviewed the woman:
Rhode Island laws stipulate that a person is guilty of video voyeurism when that person, for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or stimulation, looks into an occupied dwelling or other building by use of an imaging device that provides images of the interior of a dwelling.
The city of Hamilton in Ohio recently passed a proposal to outlaw drone-based invasions of privacy after residents complained a local man was using his drone to peer inside windows, fly over children playing in yards, and even chase a young woman down the street. Arkansas, meanwhile, is working at the state level to prohibit anyone registered as a Level 3 or Level 4 sex offender from owning or using a drone for personal reasons.
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