Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies arrested a Canyon Country man on suspicion he was illegally filming women without their consent — allegedly through the use of a camera on his shoes.
Stephen Martin, 35, was arrested after deputies served a search warrant at his home Tuesday morning, according to Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station, in a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon.
“It was based on an incident that was reported to us last July by the local mall,” Miller said, referring to the Valencia Town Center. “This individual, allegedly he had a camera on his foot, on the top of his shoe, and he was noticed following women and girls on the escalator and positioning his foot.”
The allegation listed in the department’s booking log was a violation of California Penal Code section 647(j)(2), which criminalizes the surreptitious filming of someone in their undergarments.
The case is still under investigation, but that’s what the arrest was related to, Miller said.
There was no public record as of Thursday afternoon regarding the filing of a charge.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for charging information Thursday.
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department custody records available online indicate that Martin was released from custody on $50,000 bail four hours after his arrest and given an April 13 date to return to court at the Santa Clarita Courthouse.
