Gwinnett man accused of photographing under women's skirts
He said he is 'addicted to to pornography,' police say


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/13/08

Alert Wal-Mart employees spotted a man in the aisles who apparently was looking for more than bargains. They used a cell phone camera to catch him — using his cell phone camera — allegedly reaching under women's skirts and taking photos.

Phillip Daniel Earley, 24, was arrested Tuesday night at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Lawrenceville Suwanee Road and charged with two felony counts of Peeping Tom, according to a Suwanee police report.

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Earley lives in Suwanee off Smithtown Road with his wife and their two-year-old son. Attempts to reach Earley by telephone were unsuccessful.

He was taken to the Gwinnett County Jail, where he was released after posting a $12,000 bond.

"This kind of Peeping Tom isn't one I see all the time," said Suwanee Police Spokesman Captain Clyde Byers. "Normally, a Peeping Tom is looking in someone else's windows. But I've learned recently there are websites for such photos."

According to Byers, a video taken with a cell phone by Wal-Mart's loss prevention officer implicates Earley, who was in the store Tuesday evening around 7 p.m. with his young son.

The video shows Earley in an aisle with a female customer who has her back to him as she examines merchandise on a shelf. While his son sits in a shopping cart, Earley squats down, reaches under the customer's "long gray skirt" with his phone and snaps a photo without her knowing it, the report says.

The store's loss prevention officer told the police she also had seen Earley taking a photo under the skirt of the assistant manager. Two other employees had told the loss prevention officer they had seen Earley in the store on a different occasion, taking photographs up customers' skirts.

The earlier incident didn't result in an arrest, Byers said, because Earley had probably left the store before employees could alert the police.

The police report says after Earley was arrested, he was waiting for his in-laws to retrieve his two-year-old. He told the arresting officer he "was addicted to pornography" and "needed help." He also said he hadn't taken a photo but he had put his hand under the customer's skirt and "he knew he shouldn't have done so."

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