The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station has not yet presented a case against a man accused of surreptitiously filming female patrons at the Valencia Town Center mall with a camera on his shoes, according to a station spokeswoman.
“Detectives are still gathering additional evidence, and it will be presented to (the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office) once they are done with investigation,” Shirley Miller, station spokeswoman, wrote in an email Thursday.
Stephen Martin, a 35-year-old Canyon Country resident, had a search warrant served at his home in January in connection with an investigation into the allegations made against him over the summer, according to a previous statement from Miller.
“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.
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department custody records available online indicate that Martin was released from custody four hours after his arrest on $50,000 bail and given an April 13 date to return to court in Santa Clarita.
The incident is under investigation by the station’s Detective Bureau, which can be reached at 661-260-4000. Anyone who would prefer to provide information anonymously can call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), use a smartphone by downloading the “P3 Tips” Mobile APP on Google play or the Apple App Store or by using the website lacrimestoppers.org.
