Posted on: November 22, 2022, 08:17h.
Last updated on: November 22, 2022, 08:17h.
An alleged voyeur was charged last month after at least one woman claimed he looked at her in a restroom at Washington State’s Muckleshoot Casino. But the case ran into some challenges in a local court, according to a report this week.
The incident began when Ezra George Nelson, 38, of Auburn, Wash., allegedly walked into the women’s restroom at the casino on Oct. 8. He entered a stall.
He then looked under a neighboring stall and viewed a female employee who was using a toilet, authorities said.
Upon seeing his face, the victim jumped and screamed, authorities added. The suspect fled and then went into at least one other women’s restroom at the gaming property.
The initial victim confirmed the suspect’s identity. She had seen an unobstructed view of his face. Police investigated her claims.
On Oct. 27, Nelson was charged a single count of first-degree voyeurism, according to the Auburn Reporter, a local newspaper.
No Probable Cause
But when he appeared in court that day, an unnamed judge ruled there was no probable cause in the case. The judge pointed out the prosecutor’s case did not include proof of sexual gratification, a requirement to prove the charge, the Reporter said.
The judge then released Nelson. Under Washington State law, a defendant gets released without conditions if there is no probable cause. But a prosecutor disagreed with the judge’s ruling.
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,” King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Charles Sergis was quoted by the Recorder.
“Then he went to a different women’s bathroom and did that same thing there,” Sergis said.
Nelson was previously ordered not to have contact with any victims, the report said.
The gaming property is owned and operated by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. It is located about 28 miles south of Seattle.
Prior Voyeurism Allegation
Last December, in unrelated incident, another man was arrested for voyeurism also at Muckleshoot Casino.
John Matthew Lair, 44, of Seattle, Wash., was charged with first-degree voyeurism, the Kent Reporter, a Washington State newspaper, said. He allegedly recorded an employee at casino with a cell phone while the victim was on a toilet in a neighboring stall.
Given his concerns, the employee took out his own cell phone to record the episode.
Based on its investigation, the Kent Reporter also reported that in 2019, Lair was convicted of attempted voyeurism for an earlier incident at the Port of Seattle.
The 2019 incident also involved a cell phone camera. It allegedly was used to take photographs and videos. That victim was urinating during the incident, the Reporter revealed.
It is unclear what happened to the charges against Lair in local courts.
