Teacher Arrested Under Peeping-Tom Law
January 11, 2007
By Paul J. Weber
DALLAS - 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.
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