A woman and her 7-year-old daughter got quite a shock when they went to use the outhouse at White Water Park in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. The woman said she noticed water moving in the holding tank beneath the toilet and looked more closely, only to discover a man peering up at her and her daughter from the excrement and filth below.
Police and firefighters responded 15 minutes later and pulled 52-year-old Kenneth Webster Enlow from the filth below. The man was covered in feces, and firefighters sprayed him off with a fire hose before he was transported to Oklahoma State University Medical Center in Tulsa for evaluation.
Enlow told police that he was in the tank because his girlfriend had hit him in the head with a tire iron before driving him to Keystone Dam and dumping him in the toilet. However, the woman who reported him said that Enlow did not call for help or seem distressed to be in the holding tank until police arrived. Enlow said that he was unconscious from being struck in the head and was unable to call for help until he came to when police arrived. However, the arrest report indicates that Enlow had numerous scratches to his arms but no injuries consistent with being struck by a tire iron.
After evaluation at the hospital, Enlow was booked into the Tulsa jail on a peeping tom complaint with bail set at $500. He is also being held in connection with embezzlement and trash dumping charges out of Okmulgee County.
If the district attorney files charges in the case, a mental competency evaluation may be requested.
Oklahoma's peeping tom law typically considers the act a misdemeanor; however, a person is photographed or video-recorded by a peeping tom, the act is elevated to a felony. The peeping tom statute is 21 O.S. § 1171:
A. Every person who hides, waits or otherwise loiters in the vicinity of any private dwelling house, apartment building, any other place of residence, or in the vicinity of any locker room, dressing room, restroom or any other place where a person has a right to a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the unlawful and willful intent to watch, gaze, or look upon any person in a clandestine manner, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor. The violator shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than one (1) year, or by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
B. Every person who uses photographic, electronic or video equipment in a clandestine manner for any illegal, illegitimate, prurient, lewd or lascivious purpose with the unlawful and willful intent to view, watch, gaze or look upon any person without the knowledge and consent of such person when the person viewed is in a place where there is a right to a reasonable expectation of privacy, or who publishes or distributes any image obtained from such act, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony. The violator shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not more than five (5) years, or by a fine not exceeding Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
The statute continues by defining taking clandestine photographs or video of an unsuspecting person's "private area" as a misdemeanor offense.
Even as a misdemeanor, having a peeping tom conviction can bring personal embarrassment, professional difficulties, and significant legal ramifications. If you are accused of loitering for the purpose of looking upon another in a clandestine manner, contact an attorney to determine your best course of action for legal defense.
