A 22-year-old Vancouver man previously accused of voyeurism for allegedly taking an upskirt photo of a female customer while he was working at Fred Meyer was back in court Thursday, facing more than two dozen counts of the same charge.
Kirk Addison Williams now faces 27 counts of voyeurism. Vancouver police had arrested Williams in May on suspicion of a single count of voyeurism.
The new allegations stem from a search of Williams’ phone, which was seized at the time of his arrest, according to comments made by Clark County Superior Court Judge Bernard Veljacic during Williams’ first appearance.
Officers were called May 3 to the Fred Meyer at 2500 Columbia House Blvd., to investigate the incident involving an employee, according to a probable cause affidavit.
An officer called the victim, who said she was at the store the afternoon of the day before.
According to court records, the woman told police she was in the store’s cosmetic aisle when she felt something tap the back of her knee. She turned around to find a man in his early 20s wearing a Fred Meyer shirt, later identified by other employees as Williams. She said he was holding a red phone and appeared nervous. Afterward, she told the customer service department what happened.
An officer reviewed store surveillance camera footage, court records say, and it showed a man holding a device under the woman’s skirt as she looked at some merchandise.
Officers interviewed Williams, and he admitted to taking a photo up the woman’s skirt for the purpose of sexual gratification, according to court records.
The new allegations predate the incident that led to Williams’ arrest in May, according to statements made in court by a probation officer. The prosecution will likely merge the two cases because they appear to be related, Deputy Prosecutor Julie Carmena said.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the new case, investigators searched the phone Sept. 5 and “observed a total of 27 different images and video” that could be legally defined as voyeurism. Police tried to contact Williams that same day but were unable.
On Wednesday, officers went to Williams’ apartment and arrested him, as he had posted $5,000 bail in the original case. They told him photos were found on the seized phone. Little else was said during the arrest, according to the affidavit.
Carmena requested the judge set bail at $100,000 based on the number of victims and photos found on Williams’ phone.
Veljacic set a total bail amount of $70,000 for both cases against Williams.
An arraignment hearing was set for Oct. 25.
