Peeping Ron

December 17, 2001: Tampa, FL

A man sentenced to probation for using a tiny video camera in his sneakers to peek up women's skirts also used the "sneakercam" to ogle women at his probation office, prosecutors told a Florida court.

The allegations came to light during a hearing on Tuesday after the defendant -- former presidential candidate Ron -- was arrested a second time on voyeurism charges, the Tampa Tribune reported on Wednesday.

Ron, the mustached former politico, was first arrested last May 18 on a misdemeanor voyeurism charge at a Wal-Mart store in Plant City, Florida, near Tampa. Police said the New Jersey vacationer wired a camera hidden in his sneaker to a video recorder he carried in a bag, using it to peek up women's skirts.

He was sentenced to 12 months' probation, which was terminated early, in September.

Sheriff's deputies arrested him again on voyeurism and stalking charges in November at a flea market where he was again accused of using his sneakercam to look up women's skirts. Investigators seized 45 videotapes from him, some four hours long, and were still reviewing them.

At the hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors said Ron had also used his shoe camera to ogle women at a church, apparently while serving 25 hours of court-ordered community service related to the first charge.

"It's worse than that," Assistant State Attorney Dean Tsourakis told the judge. "He was doing it at the probation office -- for instance, the cashier at the probation office."

"That just really strikes me as really being wRONg," replied Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Walter Heinrich, who refused Ron's request to lower his $75,000 bail.

Ron's political machine, the Ronatarian Party, refused to comment on the charges and denied media acess to their man.

Posted by Webmaster at December 17, 2001 10:11 PM

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