Harris County Invasive Visual Recording Attorney
In June 2015, the Texas Legislature enacted the new penal code statute of Invasive Visual Recording to replace the previous statute of Improper Photography. In 2014 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in the case of Ex Parte Thompson struck down the former statute as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. The court struck down the specific portions that criminalized photographing someone not in a private area, without that person’s consent, and with the intent to arouse or gratify any person’s sexual desire. In response, the Legislature made changes and re-titled the “up skirt/down blouse” offense to Invasive Visual Recording.
Lawyer for Invasive Visual Recording in Houston, Texas
If you were arrested in southeast Texas for allegedly videotaping or taking photographs of another person without his or her consent, it is important to retain experienced legal counsel as soon as possible. The attorneys with James G. Sullivan & Associates fight for clients all over the Greater Houston area.
James Sullivan is an experienced criminal defense attorney in Houston who represent clients accused of sex crimes in Houston, Spring, Cypress, Katy, Pasadena, Conroe, The Woodlands, Hempstead, Waller, Richmond, Sugar Land, Pearland and Angleton. Call Sullivan at (281) 546-6428 for a thorough and honest evaluation of your case.
Invasive Visual Recording Charges in Harris County
According to Texas Penal Code § 21.15(b), a person can be charged with invasive visual recording if the person, without the other person’s consent and with intent to invade the privacy of the other person, does any of the following:
- (1) photographs or by videotape or other electronic means records, broadcasts, or transmits a visual image of an intimate area of another person if the other person has a reasonable expectation that the intimate area is not subject to public view;
- (2) photographs or by videotape or other electronic means records, broadcasts, or transmits a visual image of another in a bathroom or changing room; or
- (3) knowing the character and content of the photograph, recording, broadcast, or transmission, promotes a photograph, recording, broadcast, or transmission described by Subdivision (1) or (2).
According to this statute, “intimate area” means the naked or clothed genitals, pubic area, anus, buttocks, or female breast of a person; “female breast” means any portion of the female breast below the top of the areola; and, “changing room” means a room or portioned area provided for or primarily used for the changing of clothing and includes dressing rooms, locker rooms, and swimwear changing areas.
According to Texas Penal Code § 43.21(a)(5), “promote” means to manufacture, issue, sell, give, provide, lend, mail, deliver, transfer, transmit, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, present, exhibit, or advertise, or to offer or agree to do the same.
Invasive Visual Recording Punishment in Texas
Invasive visual recording is a state jail felony punishable by:
- Between six months to two years in state jail; and/or
- A fine of up to $10,000.
James G. Sullivan & Associates | Houston Invasive Visual Recording Attorney
If you were arrested for invasive visual recording in southeast Texas, it is extremely important to retain legal counsel. The defense attorneys at James G. Sullivan and Associates defend individuals all over the greater Houston area, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Fort Bend County, Brazoria County, and Waller County.
James Sullivan graduated from Baylor University in 1990 with a degree in Journalism, the ideal degree for investigating, discovering and telling winning stories in court. In 1993, Sullivan graduated from South Texas College of Law, which is nationally recognized as the top law school for trial advocacy. Sullivan later graduated from Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming. Founded in 1994, it is the most selective and prestigious trial advocacy program in America.
Harris County criminal defense attorney James Sullivan will work to help you receive the most favorable outcome to your case. Call Sullivan at (281) 546-6428 for a free confidential consultation to review your case and discuss your legal options.
Client Review on an Invasive Recording Case
He was an answer to our prayers!
I want to express my sincere appreciation to Mr. Sullivan, for the care, consideration and respect he showed my family and son, he is truly an answer to our prayers. A few months ago, our 14 yr old son who is kind, funny, caring and who had never been in any trouble EVER, made a poor decision that resulted in him being arrested at school and sent to ALC for 30 days awaiting a court date. Our son heard of some other boys at his school going into the girls bathroom on a dare to see if they could get in and out without getting caught. Due to immaturity and curiosity our son decided he’d try it and was caught by a female student. He had his cell phone out and was accused of trying to film a girl in a stall, a serious invasion of her privacy. Our sons cell phone was taken away, searched and no recordings were found, however the officer scared our son into saying he was trying to film her. The parents of the girl pressed felony Invasive Recording charges against our son.
This was a very scary and stressful time for our family, we felt like we were in a nightmare, we were frantic to help our son. Mr. Sullivan has a great reputation working with juveniles, so we met with him. He spent over 2 hours talking to us, getting to know us and our son, asking the why’s, when’s, and how’s of my son’s actions that day. I appreciated the personal stories he had to offer and love the fact that he is a strong Christian man.
I remember his advice to our son about having a strong “moral compass”, how every decision in life is a choice and that a moral compass would guide him to make the right decisions. Mr. Sullivan explained the wisdom of learning from mistakes and staying on the right path in life, and that the wrong path can easily become a “slippery slope” of one bad decision after another leading to painful consequences and a difficult life.
Mr. Sullivan is kind, understanding and non-judgmental and gave our son some powerful words. He calmed our fears by telling us we needed to take care of our son and ourselves and he’d be working hard to get us through this with the best possible outcome. My husband and I tried hard not to worry, but our son’s future was at stake. Mr. Sullivan made us feel confident and gave us wonderful words of wisdom to help us through.
Fast forward to our court date, our son had the real possibility of being convicted of a felony, which would have hurt our son’s life. Mr. Sullivan felt strongly that our son wasn’t a bad or deviant kid but a teenage boy who is immature, didn’t think his decision through and acted impulsively.
Being in the juvenile courthouse and standing with our son in front of the judge was a very overwhelming experience and which I don’t ever want to do again. Mr. Sullivan’s argument to the judge was strong, precise and valid and resulted in an outcome that was better than we could have hoped. Our son received a pretrial diversion, an alternative to prosecution, where our son remains under our supervision with some restrictions and after 6 months results in the felony being dismissed and the opportunity to get his record sealed. Mr. Sullivan then had a very heartfelt conversation with our son explaining the importance of taking the pretrial diversion seriously and successfully completing it and also the dire consequences should he not do so.
As a parent of two great sons, I NEVER imagined that we would ever be dealing with anything like this. I want to thank Mr. Sullivan for not only defending our son in such a professional and kind manner but also how he put himself in our shoes by looking at our situation as if he were the teen in trouble and also the anxious parent! I truly believe this could have gone very bad, but thanks to this brilliant man our son has his future back!
With the deepest respect and appreciation,
DT–Avvo review posted by Dena on February 26, 2018
