Atmore man charged
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore man is free on $100,000 bond after an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigation determined that he was engaged in illegal surveillance of a young woman.
Robert Gray Boyter, 32, was arrested May 26 and charged with one count of aggravated criminal surveillance, a Class A misdemeanor under Alabama law. He was released from the Escambia County Detention Center May 28, when bond was posted on his behalf.
Sheriff Heath Jackson said ECSO investigators were contacted May 23 by a Ewing Drive resident who reported finding a video camera hidden in the flooring of her 19-year-old daughter’s shower. County detectives discovered that the camera was linked to a modem that had been set up under the house.
“We checked into it and were able to link the camera back to the suspect,” the sheriff said. “We wanted to get our ducks in a row. When we did, we arrested him.”
The suspect and the victim are related by marriage.
According to Alabama Code Section 32-11-32.1, aggravated criminal surveillance occurs when an individual engages in surveillance of another individual “in any place the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy,” without the individual’s “express or implied consent.”
Jackson said Boyter had never run afoul of the law before, at least not to such a degree. But, he pointed out, “People do stupid things sometimes.”