Washington Voyeur Finally Charged in Casino Bathroom Incident

08:51
10 Dec

A 38-year-old man has finally been charged with first-degree voyeurism after being caught looking at women from under neighbouring bathroom stalls at a Washington casino, after a judge had previously dismissed the incident...

The sordid tale involved Auburn man Ezra George Nelson allegedly spying on female casino employees by poking his head under the stalls separating cubicles at the Muckleshoot Casino.

Auburn Police Department were called to the northwest’s biggest casino in the early hours of October 8th and heard from the victim how she had gone to use the restroom near the gaming floor.

According to reports, the woman told officers that a few minutes after entering the stall she ‘looked down and saw a man’s face peering up at her from the stall to her left’.

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Multiple incidents

The man left quickly after the victim jumped up and screamed, but reportedly repeated the same actions in other women’s bathrooms in the casino.

The first victim had a clear look at the perp’s face as he spied on her and was later able to identify Nelson as the voyeur.
However, the charges took almost 3 weeks to be laid against the alleged pervert, after a judge initially claimed there was no element of “sexual gratification” apparent in his actions.

Incredibly, on the day he was arrested, Nelson was allowed to go free with no conditions after the unnamed judge found “no probable cause” to charge Nelson.

It wasn’t until October 27th that King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office formally charged Ezra George Nelson with one count of first-degree voyeurism.

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Charles Sergis, unhappy at the judge’s earlier ruling, stated:

“This ruling was made despite the evidence that the defendant looked at the victim while she was sitting on the toilet by leaning under the partition of the stall in the women’s bathroom. Then he went to a different women’s bathroom and did the same thing there.”

Voyeurism is a felony sex offense in Washington, and if convicted of this offense Nelson will be required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of ten years and face the possibility of a long jail or prison sentence.

Nelson’s bail was set at $30,000, and he has been forbidden from contacting any of the women he allegedly victimized.

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Casino a favourite haunt for voyeurs?

The Muckleshoot Casino, located some 28 miles south of Seattle, is owned and operated by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. Last year it witnessed a separate but similar incident of voyeurism.

John Matthew Lair, 44, of Seattle, Washington, is alleged to have used his mobile phone to record a casino employee in a neighbouring toilet booth. Upon realising they were being filmed, the employee took out his own cell phone to record the episode.

Kent reporters, a local Washington state newspaper, found during their investigations that Lair had previously been convicted of voyeurism. That incident, at the Port of Seattle, saw Lair filming and photographing his victim urinating.