For pervs, laws are no
longer picture perfect

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

Peeping toms have gone techno of late.
With the advent of camera-equipped cell phones, voyeurs can more easily take pictures up a woman’s skirt or down her blouse and then post the photos on the Internet.
"There are so many photographs," District Attorney Lynne Abraham said at a Jan. 9 news conference. "It’s astonishing and bespeaks a sickness of a suggestive nature. The world is full of sick people."
Until recently, these high-tech perverts got away with it.
Last week, Abraham and state Rep. Dennis M. O’Brien (R-169th dist.) announced a new law prohibiting the practice of photographing up a woman’s skirt or down her blouse.
Act 69 amends the Invasion of Privacy Statute to include "viewing, photographing or recording intimate parts of another person, whether covered or not and/or transmittal of an image."
The offense is a third-degree misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Two or more violations would be a second-degree misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of two years.
Abraham and O’Brien, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, also announced legislation protecting children from predators.
Effective Jan. 22, a person is guilty of indecent assault if he causes a victim to have indecent contact with the person or intentionally causes a person to come into contact with seminal fluid, urine or feces for the purpose of arousing sexual desire.
"As a parent you think, ‘How could this not be covered?’ " O’Brien said of Act 76, adding that the legislation is now "closing gaps in terrible loopholes."
Previously, it was difficult to convict when a skilled defense attorney cross-examined a child’s testimony.
"The child can freeze when they are asked to describe something they didn’t understand. Now, coming into contact is all that’s necessary," O’Brien said.
Meanwhile, House Bill 1400, signed into law in November, increases maximum penalties from five years to seven years in prison for those committing an indecent assault against a child under the age of 13, with certain conditions.
Act 64, also sponsored by O’Brien, makes it a criminal offense to attempt to lure a child into a car without a parent’s permission. Before, only successful luring was a crime. It is now a crime to attempt to lure a child into a vehicle or structure, as well.
These offenses are first-degree misdemeanors, with a maximum sentence of five years. ••
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com