New Penalties for Upskirt A videocamera can now be counted as a criminal tool Video Peeping Ohio Hikes Jail Time and Fine for High-Tech Toms Oct. 10, 2000 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Gina Bell was waiting for a carnival ride at a church festival with her baby daughter when she became spooked by the man behind her. When she shifted in line, he would move with her. "As I crouched down to put the baby in my stroller, I saw a video camera sticking out of his bag, taping up my dress," the 34-year-old former kindergarten teacher recalled Monday. "It rocked my whole sense of security." Ban secret taping in public Beginning today, Ohio law increases the penalties for secretly taking pictures up a womans skirt or down her shirt, called "upskirting" and "downblousing." Most states have laws that prohibit taking pictures of people in private places such as dressing rooms or restrooms, but only Ohio and California specifically ban the practice of secretly filming someone under their clothing in public places for sexual gratification, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Similar legislation is pending in New York. Web sites promote voyeurism The Internet has made the practice more common, with Web sites posting images, buying pictures from high-tech Peeping Toms and telling users where to buy hidden cameras, the laws supporters say. "These Web sites basically promote the practice and encourage people to go out and try to do this to as many women as possible -- kind of like a mission impossible challenge," said state Rep. Ed Jerse, who sponsored the Ohio legislation after hearing Bells story. The man who photographed Bell, David Bartolucci, pleaded no contest to voyeurism and possession of criminal tools and served 10 days in jail. He was also ordered to spend 30 days in home detention, serve 200 hours of community service and enroll in a therapy program. Suspect photographed himself Bartolucci had secretly photographed 13 women that day and had unknowingly filmed his own face, which police used to identify him, police said. Bartoluccis attorney, John Luskin, says his client was under the influence of alcohol. California lawmakers banned upskirting and downblousing after police discovered hidden cameras had filmed women at Disneyland, the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival and an Orange County, Calif., beach. Many of those images were transmitted on the Internet, but police couldnt file charges against the photographers because there was no specific law against the activity. The new Ohio law increases penalties to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, from the current 30 days and $500 fine. California, where the law went into effect Jan. 1, has the same punishment.