Sometimes, photography actually is a crime, but you wouldn’t know it by this cop’s sentence.
Justin T. Fahy, 27, who was an agent with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, pleaded guilty Friday for attempting to take photographs of women in bathrooms.
Fahy admitted guilt to a misdemeanor count of attempting to capture an intimate representation.
However, he will not serve any time in jail.
Instead, the former ATF agent was sentenced to 12 months of probation and required to undergo a psychological exam and counseling as a condition of his probation.
Fahy was arrested December 15, 2017, following a report about a man placing his cell phone under an occupied stall and taking pictures in the women’s restroom of Witte Residence Hall at the University of Wisconsin.
At around 2:45 P.M., dispatchers received a report about a man taking photos in a first floor women’s restroom.
After officers responded, Fahy identified himself to the responding officers as a Federal Special Agent at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
“He explained to us there was a misunderstanding and he had mistakenly went into the wrong restroom,” Marc Lovicott, the communications director for UWPD said, according to WQOW,
UW-Madison police, who were suspicious of the report, obtained a warrant to review Fahy’s cell phone videos.
According to the report obtained by Channel3000,
THE COMPLAINT SAID FAHY TOLD THE UWPD OFFICER WHO RESPONDED TO DORM THAT HE WAS SORRY FOR BEING IN THE WOMEN’S RESTROOM AND THAT HE MADE A MISTAKE. HE TOLD THE OFFICER HE HAD COME FROM ANYTIME FITNESS AND NEEDED TO USE THE RESTROOM TO CHANGE HIS CLOTHES. THE OFFICER SAID FAHY WAS WEARING ATHLETIC SHOES, A JACKET, TAN AND GREEN SHIRT, BLACK SHORTS AND HAD A BACKPACK THAT APPEARED TO BE FULL.
After executing the search warrant, police found Fahy was in the women’s restroom for over 14 minutes.
While searching the phone, there was evidence that it was recently reset according to Lovicott.
“He had recently reset or backed up his phone to a previous time this year, indicating to us that he was trying to get rid of evidence,” Lovicott said, According to WQOW,
“Allegations like these cannot and will not be taken lightly,” ATF Special Agent in Charge Kirk Howard said in a statement according to Wisconsin State Journal,
The evidence found against him was so convincing, Fahy was fired and charged with attempting to take photos depicting nudity and disorderly conduct, which could have carried a sentence of up to $11,000 in fines and a year in jail if convicted.
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