‘Peeping Tom’ legislation moves forward: Window-peepers could be classified as sex criminals

MADISON — “Peeping Toms” would face new penalties — and the possibility of being classified as sex criminals — under legislation approved Tuesday by the Wisconsin Assembly.

The legislation would make window-peeping a separate crime in the state. Under current law, window peepers are usually charged with disorderly conduct because there is no specific crime on the books.

The bill was pushed by its Fox Valley sponsors in part because of the 2002 arrest of Todd Meverden, a Town of Neenah man who since has been sentenced to 120 years for a string of sexual assaults in Winnebago and Calumet counties.

Meverden, who also is charged in Outagamie County, had told investigators his first crimes involved peeping into women’s homes.

“Local law enforcement had asked us to help them with putting some teeth into the law for window peepers,” said state Rep. Becky Weber, R-Green Bay, a cosponsor of the bill. “What we passed is going to give local law enforcement the ability to track and identify Peeping Toms. What it also does is it enhances the court’s options of providing counseling or rehabilitation in their sentencing.”

The bill also gives judges the option of classifying window-peeping as a sex crime, which would make those guilty register as sex offenders with the state. The new crime would carry penalties of up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.

The legislation has been pushed by law enforcement officers, and one of Meverden’s victims testified for the change at a legislative hearing this year.

Here's some background on Meverden. I remember his serial rapes and how terrified people where during his spree.Posted Apr. 10, 2003

Sexual predator sentenced to 120 yearsTodd Meverden will face charges in other counties

By Jim Collar
of the Northwestern
Shu-Ling Zhou/of the Northwestern

Todd Meverden waves goodbye to his family and friends after he was sentenced to 120 years for 19 sexual assault accounts Wednesday in Judge Robert Hawley’s courtroom

A town of Neenah man convicted of six Winnebago County sexual assaults will spend the rest of his life in prison after receiving the maximum possible sentence on each charge.

Todd A. Meverden, 29, was sentenced to 120 years in prison during a Wednesday hearing in Winnebago County Circuit Court. Meverden pleaded no contest to the assault counts in February. As part of a plea agreement, District Attorney William Lennon dropped 15 burglary counts and two misdemeanor charges.

Prosecutors contended that Meverden spread fear throughout the Fox Valley region from August 2000 through July 2002 with a series of home break-ins, many of which included sexual assaults.

Lennon said anything less than the 120-year maximum sentence would depreciate the effects of Meverden’s actions on his victims and the region as a whole. The crimes “violated the sanctity of the home and the privacy of the bedroom,” he said.

“Make no mistake about it,” Lennon said. “This defendant is a dangerous rapist.”

Meverden spoke at length when given the opportunity to address the court. He described his love for his family, the progress he’s made in counseling and the extreme sorrow he has for his crimes. Meverden told his victims that they’ve long been in his prayers and that he doesn’t expect their forgiveness.

“I know the only forgiveness I’ll get is from God,” he said.

Judge Robert Hawley gave details of each of the assaults before issuing his sentence. Lennon said the random and predatory nature of his crimes were only one reason for a severe sentence.

According to the criminal complaint, Meverden in April 2001 stood outside the bedroom of a 16-year-old Menasha girl before pulling off her sweatshirt and bra through the window. In June 2001, Meverden broke into a Menasha home and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old on threats of having a gun.

Meverden last summer assaulted a Menasha woman while her 3-year-old son was in the room, and he assaulted a 16-year-old Neenah girl after breaking into her home, according to the complaint. Initial charges detailed crimes at 15 homes in Neenah, Menasha, the town of Menasha and Appleton. Additional charges were filed in Outagamie and Calumet counties.

Defense attorney Brian Mares asked Hawley for a 10-year prison sentence that would include counseling.

He argued that legal strategies exist to keep Meverden behind bars beyond the sentence if counseling was not effective.

Hawley said his sentence had to address more than Meverden’s rehabilitation and give victims a sense that they do have safety in their homes.

While there’s no chance that Meverden will be released from prison based on the Winnebago County sentence, court actions will continue in two other local counties.

Meverden on Friday will be sentenced in Calumet County on a second-degree sexual assault conviction. On Monday, he’ll appear in Outagamie County Circuit Court for sentencing on another second-degree sexual assault.

Victim Donna Lindell on Wednesday testified that Meverden should never have the chance of being freed.

“I have to suffer for that night for the rest of my life,” she said. “And I feel Mr. Meverden should have consequences for that.”

Jim Collar: (920) 426-6676 or jcollar@smgpo.gannett.com

Here's the pertinent parts of the bill:

http://folio.legis.state.wi.us/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=100586&infobase=indxauth.nfo&jump=a5&softpage=Browse_Frame_Pg

LRB–0536/2

MGD:jld:rs

2003 – 2004 LEGISLATURE

2003 SENATE BILL 14

January 28, 2003 – Introduced by Senators ROESSLER, DARLING, KANAVAS, A. LASEE

and HANSEN, cosponsored by Representatives WEBER, UNDERHEIM, TOWNSEND,

VRAKAS, PLALE, JESKEWITZ, FREESE, BIES, AINSWORTH, KRAWCZYK, PETROWSKI,

STONE, SERATTI, OLSEN, MCCORMICK, LASSA, GUNDERSON, ALBERS, HINES,

GRONEMUS and LEMAHIEU. Referred to Committee on Judiciary, Corrections

and Privacy.

AN ACT to renumber and amend 938.355 (4m), 942.08 (2) and 973.015 (1); to

amend 51.20 (13) (ct) 1m., 301.45 (1m) (title), 938.34 (15m) (am), 938.345 (3)

(a) (intro.), 942.08 (1) (b), 971.17 (1m) (b) 1m., 973.015 (2) and 973.048 (1m); and

to create 301.45 (1p), 301.45 (7) (e), 938.355 (4m) (b), 942.08 (2) (b), 942.08 (2)

(c), 942.08 (2) (d), 942.08 (2) (e) and 973.015 (1) (b) of the statutes; relating to:

invasion of privacy and providing a penalty.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Under current law, no person may knowingly install a surveillance device in

any private place or use a surveillance device that has been installed in a private

place with the intent to observe any nude or partially nude person without the

consent of the person observed. A person who violates this prohibition may be fined

not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than nine months or both.

This bill prohibits a person from doing any of the following: 1) looking into a

private place that is, or is part of, a facility that is open to the public and in which

a person may reasonably be expected to be nude or partially nude, if the person

looking does so for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification and without the

consent of each person who is present in the private place; or 2) looking into the

dwelling of another from private property for the purpose of sexual arousal or

gratification, with the intent to intrude upon or interfere with the privacy of another,

and without the consent of each person who is present in the dwelling. Comparable

– 2 – 2003 – 2004 Legislature LRB–0536/2

MGD:jld:rs

SENATE BILL 14

prohibitions (minus the consent provisions) apply to cases in which no one is present

in the private place or dwelling. A person who violates one of these “peeping tom”

prohibitions may be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than

nine months or both. In addition, under the bill, if a court finds that a person has

violated one of the peeping tom prohibitions or the existing prohibition regarding

installing or using a surveillance device, the court may order the person to register

with the Department of Corrections (DOC) as a sex offender if the court determines

that the person’s conduct was sexually motivated and that requiring the person to

This bill also contains provisions relating to expunging a delinquency

adjudication or a conviction based on a violation of one of the peeping tom

prohibitions. Under current law, a juvenile who has been adjudged delinquent for

any offense may, after attaining 17 years of age, petition the court to expunge the

record of the adjudication. The court may expunge the record if it determines that

the juvenile has satisfactorily complied with the conditions of the dispositional order

and that the juvenile will benefit and society will not be harmed by the expungement.

Current law also provides that, if a person was under the age of 21 at the time of

committing an offense for which he or she has been found guilty and the maximum

penalty for the offense is imprisonment for one year or less in the county jail, the

court may, if it determines that the person will benefit and society will not be harmed

by this disposition, order at the time of sentencing that the record be expunged upon

successful completion of the sentence. This bill requires the court to expunge a

juvenile’s delinquency adjudication if the peeping tom violation was the juvenile’s

first offense and if he or she complied with the dispositional order. Similarly, the bill

requires the court to order that the record of a person’s peeping tom conviction be

expunged upon successful completion of the sentence if the person was under 18

years old at the time of the offense and he or she had no prior peeping tom convictions.

Finally, if a court required the person to register as a sex offender for violating one

of the peeping tom prohibitions, the court’s expungement order ends that

requirement and DOC must expunge the record of the person’s delinquency

adjudication or conviction from the sex offender registry.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,

the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a

report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to

result if the bill is enacted.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be

printed as an appendix to this bill.

<snip>

SECTION 9. 942.08 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

942.08 (1) (b) “Private place” means a place where a person may reasonably

expect to be safe from surveillance being observed without his or her knowledge and

consent.

SECTION 10. 942.08 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 942.08 (2) (intro.) and

amended to read:

942.08 (2) (intro.) Whoever knowingly does any of the following is guilty of a

Class A misdemeanor:

(a) Knowingly installs a surveillance device in any private place, or uses a

surveillance device that has been installed in a private place, with the intent to

SECTION 10 SENATE BILL 14

observe any nude or partially nude person without the consent of the person observed

is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

SECTION 11. 942.08 (2) (b) of the statutes is created to read:

942.08 (2) (b) For the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification and without the

consent of each person who is present in the private place, looks into a private place

that is, or is part of, a public accommodation, as defined in s. 134.48 (1) (b), and in

which a person may reasonably be expected to be nude or partially nude.

SECTION 12. 942.08 (2) (c) of the statutes is created to read:

942.08 (2) (c) For the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification, looks into a

private place that is, or is part of, a public accommodation, as defined in s. 134.48 (1)

(b), and in which a person may reasonably be expected to be nude or partially nude

but in which no person is present.

SECTION 13. 942.08 (2) (d) of the statutes is created to read:

942.08 (2) (d) Enters private property and, for the purpose of sexual arousal

or gratification, with the intent to intrude upon or interfere with the privacy of

another, and without the consent of each person who is present in the dwelling, looks

into the dwelling of another.

SECTION 14. 942.08 (2) (e) of the statutes is created to read:

942.08 (2) (e) Enters private property and, for the purpose of sexual arousal or

gratification and with the intent to intrude upon or interfere with the privacy of

another, looks into the dwelling of another in which no person is present.

SECTION 15. 971.17 (1m) (b) 1m. of the statutes is amended to read:

971.17 (1m) (b) 1m. Except as provided in subd. 2m., if the defendant under

sub. (1) is found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect for any violation, or

for the solicitation, conspiracy, or attempt to commit any violation, of ch. 940, 944,

or 948 or ss. 942.08 or 943.01 to 943.15, the court may require the defendant to

comply with the reporting requirements under s. 301.45 if the court determines that

the underlying conduct was sexually motivated, as defined in s. 980.01 (5), and that

it would be in the interest of public protection to have the defendant report under s.

301.45.

SECTION 16. 973.015 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 973.015 (1) (a) and

amended to read:

973.015 (1) (a) When Subject to par. (b), when a person is under the age of 21

at the time of the commission of an offense for which the person has been found guilty

in a court for violation of a law for which the maximum penalty is imprisonment for

one year or less in the county jail, the court may order at the time of sentencing that

the record be expunged upon successful completion of the sentence if the court

determines the person will benefit and society will not be harmed by this disposition.

SECTION 17. 973.015 (1) (b) of the statutes is created to read:

973.015 (1) (b) The court shall order at the time of sentencing that the record

be expunged upon successful completion of the sentence if the offense was a violation

of s. 942.08 (2) (b), (c), (d), or (e), and the person was under the age of 18 when he or

she committed it.

SECTION 18. 973.015 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

973.015 (2) A person has successfully completed the sentence if the person has

not been convicted of a subsequent offense and, if on probation, the probation has not

been revoked and the probationer has satisfied the conditions of probation. Upon

successful completion of the sentence the detaining or probationary authority shall

issue a certificate of discharge which shall be forwarded to the court of record and

which shall have the effect of expunging the record. If the person has been

imprisoned, the detaining authority shall also forward a copy of the certificate of

discharge to the department.

SECTION 19. 973.048 (1m) of the statutes is amended to read:

973.048 (1m) Except as provided in sub. (2m), if a court imposes a sentence or

places a person on probation for any violation, or for the solicitation, conspiracy, or

attempt to commit any violation, under ch. 940, 944, or 948 or ss. 942.08 or 943.01

to 943.15, the court may require the person to comply with the reporting

requirements under s. 301.45 if the court determines that the underlying conduct

was sexually motivated, as defined in s. 980.01 (5), and that it would be in the interest

of public protection to have the person report under s. 301.45.

SECTION 20.0Initial applicability.

(1) This act first applies to offenses committed on the effective date of this

subsection.

(END)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.