Man Suspected Of Photographing Child Gets Threatened, Then Warned

July 25, 2011 @ 12:04PM

Man Suspected Of Photographing Child Gets Threatened, Then Warned

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A man who was accused of photographing a shirtless boy in a public park was threatened by the mother’s boyfriend, then investigated by deputies.

The mother spotted the man in his car taking pictures towards them, so her boyfriend stormed up and threatened to pull him out of his car.

The man drove off but was then pulled over by deputies, who looked at his camera and found no images of the boy.

The man told deputies that he was photographing the lake instead, according to the Niagara Gazette (second story from the top).

The boy’s mother told police she was “creeped out” by the photographer even though he apparently didn’t even step out of his car.

Deputies let him go with a warning. For what, I am not really sure because the article doesn’t say.

This is always a sensitive topic, but we really need to get a grip here.

Earlier this month, we had the incident at Boston Common where a pair of photographers were told they were not allowed to photograph children playing in water.

And earlier this year, New Jersey attempted to pass a law that would forbid the photographing of children without parental consent.

Here he have a case of a man threatening another man for something that we’re not even sure he did, but even if he did, it wouldn’t be illegal.

But it doesn’t appear that deputies warned the mom’s boyfriend for threatening to pull him out of his car.

I took the above picture in Cuba a few years ago as I was strolling the streets of Havana.

The kids spotted me with my camera and walked up to me, then started posing. I had no choice but to take their picture. I didn't even think twice about it.

In fact, I took several photos and I ended up giving the kids chewing gum. And all this went on under the eyes of their parents - who laughed at the whole episode - and police (because nothing happens in Cuba without police looking on).

I also kneeled down to show the kids the pictures I took. And they were climbing all over me the way kids do when trying view to a tiny picture on a camera.

And all this all happened in communist Cuba. I hate to think what would have happened if this had taken place in the United States.

Comments

Phil

9 months ago

Last Summer I was invited to a friend's granddaughter's birthday party that was held in a public park with wonderful playground equipment. I was taking pictures of the girl and her younger sister and I could see and feel tension building amongst the parents watching their kids. Who is this 70 year old man and why is he taking photos of kids?

Interestingly enough all this tension and watchfulness went away when my friend, a woman, came over and chatted with me as I was taking photos. I guess because I had a woman with me I was no longer a pervert. LOL

hal

9 months ago

better safe then sorry is just so much BULLSHIT! in this instance, the parent need to really get a grip and have a reality check before someone gets hurt, and hopefully it wont be the photographer that wasnt even shooting what those assholes thought he was. I had some dude come up to me, after walking towards me for about a 100 yards or so. he said something about how I was shooting his girlfriend and that i had better stop, or something to that effect. I gave him a few, "what ever's" and let him know, if he was going to do something, do it or stfu and just walk away. he walked away, and didnt do a damn thing. what a jerk. and so are those parents and hmmm, boyfriend/asshole that threatened to take the guy out for the car.

KBCraig

9 months ago

It's a Nancy Grace Nation now.

John Howard

9 months ago

I live across the street from a grade school.

One day, a plane kept circling for several minutes. I couldn't make out the tail number, so I got out the telephoto lens to take a picture in hopes of reading the number from the photo.

Shortly afterwards, a cop was knocking on the front door. He was 'investigating a complaint' that a guy in camoflage clothes was photographing the children out in the schoolyard.

I was wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt
I was aiming up into the air
I was 100 ft from the street
I was 300 ft from the playground

I got the 'people are naturally concerned' routine but other than than the cop gave me the impression he thought the whole thing was silly but he had to respond to the call.

He neither asked to see nor asked me to delete any photos. I retrospect, I am sorry I didn't insist we walk across the street and talk with the complainant.

Robert

9 months ago

God, this friggen paranoia is driving me insane.

Like the great Farnsworth said, I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

kilroy238

9 months ago

Sadly we live in an imaginary world of fear and tear. We are bombarded with terrible stories all day and every day.

There is bad in this world sure and lots of it but the amount of time spent on these stories don't match up with statics or the reality of the danger level but that doesn't matter. So what do you get? People are scared, so they buy extra locks, guns, self defense and look at every other person they don't know with a tinge of fear because strangers will steal our children or murder our loved ones because the news tells them to be scared.

Then the circle gets worse because we see so much we start to become oversensitized so the media has to up the dose with more murder, rape, child killings, blood and carnage etc etc.

People are like drug addicts with the media starring as our dealers. All in the name of higher ratings because that equals more revenue. I'm surprised all this phone hacking crap didn't start sooner.

Living in China I always complain about censorship to people here but having the news harmonized just a bit certainly seems to help.

I can't and won't condone forced harmonization but something is going to have to give sooner or later.

Chuck De La Rosa

9 months ago

"Sadly we live in an imaginary world of fear and tear."

Sadly, there are too many people with their heads buried in the sand that refuse to face the ugly realities that are out there. I wish I shared your rosy view of things. But its not that way when it comes to pedophiles. Don't believe me? Look up the sex offender database in your area. Yes, many of those sex offenders are not pedophiles. But many are. It may shock you to find out how many live within a few miles of your home. I personally know several adults who were victims of pedophiles. They can never have a normal life as the rest of us know it. And though I do agree though that the media makes a lot more of everything than they need to all for ratings, this is an issue that hits home to everyone that's ever raised or is raising a child.

And from the comments, I'm betting very few if any have children. No child, not one single child should ever have to experience that terror. Most parents share that view and as such are fearful and protective.

Just because we have a right to shoot, doesn't mean that asserting that right is always appropriate. When out I'm shooting alone, I am very careful to respect the fears of parents and avoid shooting where children are present. If my wife is with me, it's a completely different story. As already stated, people are less fearful in those situations. But I can't blame them for being fearful. As I said, like it or not, the bogey man is real.

Carlos, your experience in Cuba is far different from that of a man in his car aiming his camera in the direction of children. You were very open about it. I can't see how the two even compare. The Niagara County mother had no idea the man wasn't photographing children, but she became alarmed. And I can't blame her. the man was in his car, she probably interpreted it as being hidden. The police did what they were supposed to do, they checked it out, found nothing remiss, and the man was allowed to go on with his life. The boyfriend however was a clod. He should have been cited for making threats.

Rob LaRosa

9 months ago

So how exactly is photographing a child in public a sex offense against children? You're linking two things that don't necessarily have to do with one another. It's true that some molesters have taken photos of children, but it's even more true that the majority of people who have taken photos of children in public are NOT molesters.

This is the entire point. You can't label everyone with a camera shooting photos as a potential molester. Get a grip and put the situation in context and then determine if the activity is suspicious. Don't automatically think anyone with a camera is suspicious.

Guy Fawkes

9 months ago

Everyone wants to blame the media, but lets be real, a LOT of parents are just fucking assholes. Need examples? How about the sports douche bags that have no problem screaming at and threatening some 12 year old umpire because he called an out on their precious little Tommy boy at his little league game. Or parents who think it's just sooo cute watching their little monster run around a store screaming and knocking over trash barrels(a real example, and they didn't like it one bit when my stepbrother who worked there berated them with the words "control your child"). Of course if you have a colicky baby it's an absolute MUST that you take him/her to movies and restaurants so everyone else can enjoy the screaming too. Why is it surprising these same morons and fucktards are abusive to photographers? "What, that pedo with a camera is photographing MY kid, how DARE HE!!!!" Any attempt to explain the law by anyone other than a cop will fall on deaf ears. In this case I don't believe it's the media; some parents just suck.

Jeff Wilcox

9 months ago

Maybe a few of you can contact the Niagara Gazette and ask a few pointed question. It almost sounds like they are implying it's illegal to take photos in a public location. Of course, the same rules apply - there is no expectation of privacy in a public space.

http://niagara-gazette.com/contactus

Rance

9 months ago

The photographer shouldn't have even allowed the deputies to look at his photos in the first place. The photos are none of their business, regardless of the subject matter (unless of course, the photographer has designed a camera lens capable of defying physics and upskirting from inside his vehicle).

The deputies should have told the complainant to get a life, though as KBCraig mentioned, we live in a "Nancy Grace nation" where everyone is a child predator.

Guy Fawkes

9 months ago

"we live in a "Nancy Grace nation" where everyone is a child predator."
Naww, that's just the photogs that take pics of kids. The ones who take pics of buildings, trains, or bridges are terrorists.

Rance

9 months ago

lol, my mistake.

Bapab

9 months ago

Similar type of story happened to me and my girlfriend in France when we were waiting for the train taking us to the airport. We had one hour left before the train comes so we decided to take a round in the park nearby. My girlfriend was taking some pictures of the trees, while a group of children was standing not far from us. None photos were taken in the direction of these children, however, the person in charge of the group came to us with a quite annoyed looking and told us to stop to take pictures here because parents don't want their children to be photographed. The worst in the story is that my girlfriend didn't even use any heavy gear like DSLR with 70-200 mm, but a simple panasonic LX3 :D
People paranoid gets more and more ridiculous

The Packetman

9 months ago

From the linked article:

"She said she approached the man and asked him what he was doing and said she saw pictures of her son on the camera’s screen. She said the man told her he was just looking through the camera at the water."

Note that Carlos' take is that the gentleman was innocent of any nefarious activity, that he was only 'looking at the lake'. The mother's statement to police contradicts that.

I'm sure that all the photogs here are familiar with the 'Delete All?' procedures on their camera?

Jeff Wilcox

9 months ago

Taking photos of people in public is "nefarious activity?" And just how did she see pictures of her son on his camera without him showing her? Maybe he had the LCD on 'thumbnail' mode as to show several photos at once...

I'm going to say this again... Taking photos of people in public, regardless of age, does not constitute nefarious activity.

Oldphoto678

9 months ago

I just don't see how taking a photo of a child can cause any harm to anyone. I don't care if the person taking the photo is a perv or not. How is it harming the child?