According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, voyeurism is “the practice of obtaining sexual gratification from observing others.” It can be a lot of fun… provided all parties are OK with being observed.
An Oregon State University employee is facing criminal charges for allegedly recording unsuspecting men, including one who was masturbating, in a university restroom.
35-year-old Andres Lazaro Lopez is a Ph.D. Candidate and Success Assessment Coordinator at the school. He is charged with one felony count of first-degree invasion of privacy and two misdemeanor counts of second-degree invasion of privacy after being accused of videotaping several unsuspecting men inside the stall in a Valley Library restroom.
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According to court documents, the alleged incident happened in May of last year in the sixth-floor men’s room of the university library.
The Albany Democrat-Herald reports:
According to a search warrant affidavit filed by an Oregon State Police investigator, Lopez is accused of using a pencil-sized hole in a bathroom stall to watch a man who was masturbating and videotaping the man without his consent by using his cellphone.
Lopez had his cell phone seized by Oregon State Police last August.
This week, he pled not guilty in a Benton County Circuit Court. His attorney, Joshua W. Hunking, says his client’s actions are being misinterpreted.
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“Cruising has sprung up as one way that gay men can engage in consensual sex interactions while attempting to avoid social and criminal judgement for those innately human acts,” Hunking says.
“I encourage the general public to reserve judgment in this case as we work toward a resolution.”
Meanwhile, Lt. Craig Flierl, who oversees the Oregon State Police substation at OSU, says the holes that were drilled in the bathroom stalls have been covered.
“The university didn’t waste any time in preventing that from happening again,” Flierl says.
According to Lopez’s LinkedIn profile, as well as the OSU’s website, he is still employed at the university. He is scheduled to appear in court again on February 11.
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surreal33
So it is legal to masturbate in a public bathroom? No I am not defending the pervert recording men in the public bathroom.
Wicked Dickie
The guy was masturbating in the stall. The door was presumably closed, therefore he had an implied sense of privacy. This does not give Mr. Lopez the right to drill a hole in the stall and videotape the person inside.
Kangol
Yes, it is legal to masturbate in a closed stall in a public bathroom across the entire United States. It is illegal nearly everywhere, I would venture, to record someone else, particularly someone in a closed stall, in a public bathroom without their permission.
SumSay
While there is no official law saying that public masurbation in a stall WITH a door is illegal, there are certain statutes that say, in certain circumstances, that it is against the law. Also, the bathroom stall with door assembly is conventionally used to protect your right to privacy for relieving yourself of bodily waste, NOT for sexual or mastabutory reasons. They’re both in the wrong.
JK 1984
Legality of masturbating in public bathroom aside, I would barely qualify most American public toilet stalls as providing “privacy”.
In my admittedly limited time travelling the US on holiday most of the toilet stalls had big gaps at the top and bottom of the doors and around the sides as well. Not exactly the most private place to have some “me time “.
As for the lawyer saying that cruising helps gay men avoid criminal charges, gay sex has been decriminalised/legalised since 1972 (according to another poster here) and at least since Lawrence vs Texas in 2003 so that argument holds no water. Sorted badly since observing someone through a peep hole is not at all cruising, it is just being a peeping Tom.
Sam6969
Queerty —as an LGBTQ News website— why do you contribute to worsen the situation of a fellow gay man in giving out his full name when his lawyer asked the public to reserve their judgment as they worked toward a resolution? There are actually only two articles in the Google News section (from where I am) talking about it: an article from the Albany Democrat Herald and the other is yours. Why don’t you just talk about “an employee”? I think there are degrees of offenses and for some the offender’s name should not be disclosed (particularly when there is no judgment yet), just like we do in some European countries.
I hope you think about it.
QueerTruth
That’s a good sentiment. However, it’s Queerty. Their articles are merely cut and pastes of a real journalists’ work. They probably didn’t even read. Just cut and paste.
MarathonBoy
lol! That lawyer claims that cruising for anonymous sex in bathrooms is necessary for gay men to “avoid criminal judgement for those innately human acts.”
Oregon decriminalized gay sex in 1972. Maybe he thinks the judge won’t look it up.
Mick406
I wonder if the masterbatEE had anything to say. Did he file charges? Or, was he tickled pink that he was being observed? Invasion of privacy doesn’t seem like such a serious issue to me. Anything you do in a bathroom is subject to public ‘eyes’. Do you file charges against the guy taking a leak next to you at the urinals when he gazes over? How did the police get notified and obtain his phone? How did he get caught videoing? A lot was left out of this story.
Kangol
No, “anything you do in a bathroom” is not “subject to public ‘eyes'” if you are in a private stall.
And subject to public eyes is different from using a camera or video recording device. Why is this so hard to grasp?
SumSay
@Kangol. True, not everything, but we’re talking about masturbation, a sexual act, in a public place. That could be considered a lewd act, whether there is a barrier or not. A “public” restroom is a public restroom. The guy filming is most definitely wrong, so he should at least be charged with filming someone without prior consent, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the “victim” was charged with performing a lewd act as well.
HereIAm
You seem to imply that if the victim doesn’t file charges, this behavior is more or less acceptable? Just because your privacy being invaded doesn’t bother you, you should at least be smart enough to know that this guy has broken the law, a law that has very little gray area: you can’t secretively record someone in a private area without this person’s explicit consent.
SumSay
@HereIam I dont think I was implying that at all. I said they were both wrong. Masturbation in public is not entirely legal. If you don’t get caught, then there’s probably no harm done, HOWEVER, that doesn’t excuse his behavior, whether his privacy was being invaded or not. A university bathroom is not as private as some people think and chronic public mastubators are actually a thing. As for the peeping Tom, he’s on another level and he’s entirely guilty for that. He should be charged for whatever the courts see fit.
HereIAm
SumSay, My comment is in response to the original post by Mick. As for the legality of “lewd behavior” inside a stall with a closed door, well, I feel totally disgusted with the indulgence of people monopolizing the public toilet stalls, but I have to agree with Kangol that the behavior, which happens in a private area with no evidence of this guy exposing himself or soliciting sex, should be considered lawful.
baal61
WOW! Big Brother’ wants sum!
GayEGO
Big Brother’ wants sum cream? :>)
baal61
He needed a sperm specimen for his doctor. LOL.
surreal33
Before anyone gets into trouble you might want check local ordinances because spanking your monkey in bathroom stall is ILLEGAL!!!
GayEGO
Naughty naughty! Both guys should not be doing this in a public bathroom!
batesmotel
How was the masturbator totally unaware he was being filmed or that there was no one else there. He can’t see the shoes or hear anything in the stall next to him?