Charlevoix man offers guilty plea in 2019 photography incident

Charlevoix man offers guilty plea in 2019 photography incident

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GAYLORD — A Charlevoix man has been sentenced to six months in jail and has been placed on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry after pleading guilty to surveilling an unclothed person.

The Michigan State Police Gaylord Post was contacted in 2019 by a woman who was shopping at a store in Gaylord. She said a man took photos up her skirt while she was shopping for shoes.

The victim told police a man was standing uncomfortably close to her in a local store while she was shopping for shoes. The man bent over, and she observed he had his phone in his hand while his camera app was open. She immediately confronted the man and asked if he was taking photographs. He denied the allegation and then showed her photos on his phone.

The victim video recorded her confrontation with the man. She posted the video of the confrontation on Facebookand asked if anyone recognized him. Someone replied and said the man was Tim Bruce of Charlevoix.

Troopers interviewed Timothy Mark Bruce at his residence in Charlevoix. Bruce stated he was at the store in Gaylord shopping and said he remembered the confrontation with a woman, but denied taking any photographs. His phone was seized and sent to the Michigan State Police Computer Crimes Unit in Traverse City for analysis.

The evidence was returned, and a report sent to the Otsego County Prosecutor for review. A warrant was authorized, and Bruce was arrested for one count surveilling unclothed person, a two-year felony.

He was arraigned in 2019 in the 87-A Court in Otsego County. The case was bound over to the 46th Circuit Court in Otsego County. Last June, Bruce plead guilty to surveilling unclothed person and was sentenced recently to six months in the Otsego County Jail and his name will be added to the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Charlevoix man offers guilty plea in 2019 photography incident

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