Upskirting is legal in Oklahoma

New technology allows us to do things now we couldn't dream of 10-15 years ago. Of course, not everyone uses these advancements responsibly. <br/><br/>The latest twist is called upskirting, where

Thursday, May 20th 2004, 5:24 pm

By: News On 6

New technology allows us to do things now we couldn't dream of 10-15 years ago. Of course, not everyone uses these advancements responsibly.

The latest twist is called upskirting, where people secretly take pictures up the skirts of unsuspecting women, in public places. Here's the catch, it's perfectly legal in 45 states, including Oklahoma.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright investigates.

Sneaking a peak up women's skirts is the latest twist for peeping toms. It's been made easy because cameras now come in all shapes and sizes, small enough to put in a shirt button or pager and even built into cell phones. That makes it easy for people to hide them in shopping bags, on top of a shoe or in the palm of their hand and get pictures of women's most private areas, in very public places.

And the digital age makes it quick and easy to post those pictures on the web for anyone to see, a sort of cyber voyeurism that is growing. We found nearly five million hits on the topic. Those sites are called moblogs and are big business, charging anywhere from $8 to $50 a month to subscribers. And for the most part, it's all completely legal and protected by the first amendment.

Most states, including Oklahoma, outlaw people taking pictures of you in places where you expect privacy like in bathrooms, dressing rooms or locker rooms. But once you step out into the public, you no longer have that expectation of privacy, so there's nothing specifically protecting you when you're at the grocery store, a concert or the fair.

Oklahoma did recently toughen its peeping tom law to make it illegal to post or sell such pictures. Only five states have specific laws against upskirting, California, Florida, Ohio, Missouri and Hawaii. The Washington Supreme Court recently overturned a man's conviction, saying even though upskirting is reprehensible, it's not illegal because the women couldn't be identified and they can't expect privacy in public. But women we talked to believe this new trend is a gross invasion of their privacy.

"I would think they should go to jail for lewd and lascivious behavior. That's pretty bad, sneaking up skirts."

"I suppose that should be illegal."

â€œThey should be prosecuted. Doesn't it have something to do with pornography?"

"I think they should change the law."

"That's an invasion of privacy, an invasion of privacy. I didn't know it wasn't illegal."

Downblousing is also a growing problem, people secretly taking pictures down a woman's blouse. Your only protection is to keep a close eye on your clothes and the people around you.

Women often don't even know they've been a victim, and when they do, there's sometimes no evidence to use in court or no law to get them to court in the first place. Of course, cameras are everywhere these days and many of them have great uses, snapping a picture of someone's license plate if they're bothering you or kids sending pictures to grandparents, even doing surveillance. The problem is the perverts.

The Tulsa County DA's office told Lori Fullbright even though there's not a specific law against it; they take this seriously and will find a way to prosecute under one of our current laws. Either outraging public decency which is a misdemeanor or under the peeping tom law that makes posting those pictures a felony.

Lori Fullbright says Tulsa's most recent case of upskirting involved a man taking pictures up a woman's dress at a bookstore. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and received probation and a fine, which would be typical for first time offenders.