CINCINNATI – After a guy in Ohio was arrested for voyeurism charges for the ninth time, an Ohio lawmaker thought about changing the law.
After Local 12 reported on Kevin Ayers, reporter David Winter told State Representative Cecil Thomas about it. Ayers was just arrested once more.
Voyeurism is a misdemeanor, as are most sexual crimes against adults that don’t involve touching the victim. Because of this, Ohio law does not yet have a way to turn repeated offenses into felonies.
In March, Ayers was arrested on charges that she broke into a woman’s room at an assisted living home in Anderson Township and watched her sleep.
This is not his first crime, though. When Ayers was caught on camera looking into windows in Liberty Township two years ago, he got 30 days in prison in Butler County. Aside from that, there were six other charges of sexual crimes without touching between 2012 and 2016.
In Ohio, the most time you can be jailed for voyeurism with an adult subject is 90 days. It may be a crime if the victim is a child. In the past, Ayers has only been jailed for crimes involving adults and has sought help.
Local 12 asked Scott McVey, who is the executive head of River City Correctional Center if someone who has been in jail six, seven, eight, or nine times could still be fixed.
McVey said, “I would tell you that they are.”
At River City Correctional Center, people who have committed sexual offenses and other crimes get help to make sure they don’t do it again.
They go to 55 classes over the course of six months. McVey talked about what these meetings are all about.
“Of course, how did I get myself in this mess?” How can I stay away from these things? “What sets me off,” McVey said. “Then making plans to stay away from those things in the future.”
The news station Local 12 asked if they don’t think they’ll see people who have graduated from one of these intense programs again.
McVey said, “Yes.” “We don’t think so. That doesn’t mean we won’t. People will do it again.”
Studies have shown that only 25% of people who commit non-contact sexual offenses do it again, and only 5 to 10% of those people go on to commit contact sexual offenses.
Rep. Thomas said there should be a law for people who do that.
“Clearly the system is failing the people,” Thomas said when asked what he thought about people being caught over and over for the same minor crime.
“If the sentencing structure is not having the impact, which it’s obviously not, then we may want to think about increasing the penalty for that kind of offense,” Thomas said.
Local 12 asked him if he would support a bill to fix this.
“Certainly,” Thomas replied. “I’m very worried about it now that you’ve told me about it.”
Local 12 will check in with Thomas to see if he is moving forward with a plan that would make repeat sexual offenses without touching more serious.
Ayers is currently out on bond while he waits for his next court date in Hamilton County for this new crime.
