As technology advances, society finds itself faced with new types of crimes. Whether it be sharing knowledge or cyberbullying, scientific advances seem to bring out the best and the worst of humanity. Most recently, a Cypress, Texas, father made his mark and has been praised as a hero for the way he dealt with a disgusting, technological crime.
Ismael Duarte and his wife and daughter were shopping at Target in Cypress on July 29 when a fellow shopper caught Ismael’s eye.
The stranger was getting increasingly close to his daughter, and Ismael immediately sensed something was wrong.
The stranger, who appeared to be in his late 20s, was holding a cell phone down low with the screen pointed upward. In an interview with CBS Los Angeles, Ismael said:
“What caught my attention when he got close to my daughter was the [phone was in] camera mode.”
Ismael squeezed between the stranger and his daughter, keeping the man away. They lost track of the stranger as they continued shopping but spotted him again while they were waiting to pay.
While the family was waiting in line at the cash, Ismael noticed the same man kneeling, secretly recording video up another woman’s skirt.
“We were coming up to the register and here he comes again,” Ismael said. “[He] pops up following another girl with a dress.”
Realizing what had been going on, Ismael jumped into action, kicking the man’s phone out of his hand and attempting to tackle him to the ground.
“My daughter and the girl that actually was getting their picture taken without her being known— that’s what got to me,” he told The Mirror UK.
In the store’s security footage, you can see Ismael rushing towards the “photographer” and kicking his phone to the ground.
The man must have known he was busted because he scrambles to get it before the angry father.
According to reports, the suspect, 29-year-old Jorge Anthony Ibarra Jr., fled from the scene in his car— but not before Ismael and his wife managed to pursue him and take photos of his face, license plate, and car.
Security footage from before the incident shows Ibarra Jr. targeting other women earlier that day. In fact, according to CBS Los Angeles, staff had been warned of a man fitting the suspect’s description only one hour before. Luckily for police, Ismael’s information and photos helped them arrest Ibarra Jr. under the suspicion of invasion of privacy. Ismael’s wife Angelica later expressed her disgust in an interview, saying:
“It’s disgusting that he knew exactly what he was doing. If he went to different Targets to do this, how many stores did he go to?”
‘Upskirting’ is the term used to describe taking a photograph up someone’s skirt without their permission. With the popularity of mobile recording, it’s becoming increasingly popular amongst voyeurs. For a long time, upskirting was legal in the United States because laws to protect victims from voyeurism did not apply to public places. Later, however, the United States enacted the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004 in order to prevent it. Still, however, the charge for upskirting is only a misdemeanor.
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