Steff Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/259...p-9026498c.html By RUTH SHEEHAN, Staff Writer Carrie Seck and her 3-year-old daughter were splashing around in the Ridge Road public pool in Raleigh when she first noticed the guy sitting alone at the edge of the lawn, near the deep end. Soon she and a few other mothers, whose stranger radars had also been activated, began watching him and chatting. He had something next to him on the ground, partially covered with a canvas bag. Every now and then he'd adjust the angle. "He's taping the kids!" one of the mothers said. When he noticed he was being observed, he shoved the camera into his bag and headed over to his chair and towel on the other side of the pool. One of the mothers, more brazen than I, hopped out of the pool and followed. She asked why he was surreptitiously filming the kids. He replied that he liked to film children in their natural environment, especially little boys. Yikes. The mother turned away and headed back to talk with her husband and to find the pool manager. Meanwhile, Seck saw the man jump up, snatch his bag and hightail it out of the pool. "He wasn't running, but he was definitely walking fast," she said. Seck said the man left his chair and towel where they were and never looked back. Now, let's be clear, this man was not doing anything illegal per se. "Honestly, if he'd been filming the kids out in the open, we probably wouldn't have thought much about it," Seck said. So many parents film so many moments of their kids' lives, and at a crowded pool on a warm summer Saturday, it's often hard to tell which kids are with which grown-ups. But, as Seck put it, kids playing in a pool are "as near to naked as children can be in public." And here's the kicker: Seck later looked through the state's sex offenders registry (http://sbi.jus.state.nc.us/ DOJHAHT/SOR/Default.htm) and found the guy's photo among the Raleigh listings. "I felt a chill go up my spine," Seck said. He'd been convicted of two counts of sexual exploitation for having photos of minors engaged in sexual activity on his computer. At first, Seck wasn't quite sure what to do. Then she decided that if another parent had had this experience, she'd want them to do something. So Seck called the police. Officers came out, investigated and urged her to file a report. Seck also printed the man's information and asked the folks at Ridge Road and other local pools to be on the lookout. I am not naming him here because he has not been charged with a crime in relation to this incident, which occurred in June. Apparently, however, he knew what I was talking about when I left phone messages at his home. In an e-mail message to me, the man said he had never been to "Ridgewood pool." In a world where, recently, several children have been abducted by sexual predators, Seck and the other parents won high praise from the Raleigh police for a) being alert, B) checking the registry and c) calling them. Bottom line: Creeps won't be filming our kids at local pools if they know we're watching them, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosMediasBlancas Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 I was at a huge street festival a few years ago and there was a guy walking around filming. Didn't seem unusual until he happenned to be standing in front of me and I could see into his viewfinder and noticed he was zooming in on pre teen girls.....and I don't mean their faces. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked: "You working on some kind of project?" He jumped and said: "No, I just bought this camera and I'm checking it out", I said: "Huh, that's interesting". He got the point and left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 I can't believe how many sick f***s there are in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Gleason Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 This past weekend I was my yearly...ummm...convention...with my wife and kids. While there I did a bunch of video taping, but I made for dang sure that I got MY kids on camera, and if there were other kids in the area, I made a point of NOT getting them in the camera, unless they were interacting with my kids. Same thing with taking pictures, I just made sure that it was only my kids and friends that got in the lens, and I didn't take any pictures where somebody might feel uncomfortable. I always question a person that has an obvious disregard to a persons privacy, adult and or childs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 11:28 AM) I can't believe how many sick f***s there are in the world. Notice they are almost always guys I couldn't imagine how difficult dating is for women and gay men. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxy Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 QUOTE(Texsox @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 12:38 PM) Notice they are almost always guys I couldn't imagine how difficult dating is for women and gay men. People suck. Most men aren't evil like that, but the few definitely taint the good apples in the dating pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pauly8509CWS Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 (edited) QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 01:04 PM) People suck. Most men aren't evil like that, but the few definitely taint the good apples in the dating pool. Sorry, the whole pool thing seemed funny to me. EDIT: Not the situation that happened at the pool, but the choice of words... Edited July 14, 2005 by Pauly8509CWS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxy Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 QUOTE(Pauly8509CWS @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 01:18 PM) Sorry, the whole pool thing seemed funny to me. EDIT: Not the situation that happened at the pool, but the choice of words... Crap, sorry. I mean to finish it off with barrel, but dating barrel doesn't sound right. Looooooooong day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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