A 31-year-old man is accused of taking video of a woman and her 12-year-old daughter as they tried on clothes Friday at a clothing store, according to the Olympia Police Department.
The incident took place at Forever 21, a store at Capital Mall in west Olympia.
Efrain Ramirez-Ventura appeared Monday before Thurston County Superior Court Commissioner Nathan Kortokrax. The commissioner found probable cause to charge Ramirez-Ventura with two counts of voyeurism, and set bail at $3,500.
He also was ordered not to visit shopping malls or facilities with dressing rooms.
When police searched Ramirez-Ventura’s phone, they found more than 80 videos filmed in dressing rooms, according to court documents. He allegedly told police that he had been recording women in dressing rooms for “a while.”
“I’m a guy, man, so this kind of stuff happens,” Ramirez-Ventura said, according to court documents.
The Olympia Police Department responded to Forever 21 on Friday after a store employee saw an iPhone sitting in a shoe on the floor of one of the dressing rooms. She noticed that the phone was recording video of the neighboring fitting room.
A mother and her 12-year-old daughter were in the second fitting room trying on clothes.
When officers arrived, they arrested Ramirez-Ventura and confiscated two iPhones, according to court documents. Ramirez-Ventura initially said that he planned to take the phones to be repaired after trying on clothes.
He said that he used one of the phones to take photos of himself in the fitting room. He also said that the phone sometimes starts recording by itself, according to court documents.
However, Ramirez-Ventura eventually admitted to using the phone to record women changing.