Mom, 6-year-old girl among victims secretly filmed in Blue Springs QuikTrip restroom
Police have confirmed 18 females, about half who remain unidentified, were victims of a teen who secretly videotaped them in a QuikTrip restroom in Blue Springs, a police spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Charges against the 17-year-old male suspect are pending with Jackson County Juvenile Court, where he remains in custody, said Jennifer Brady, a spokeswoman for the Blue Springs Police Department.
Two of the victims include a mother and her six-year-old daughter, according to an application for a search warrant police filed to search the suspect’s phone.
The mother called police about 5 p.m. March 25 from the QuikTrip at 1301 NW Woods Chapel Road in Blue Springs. She told an officer that a male assailant had been videotaping them while they were in the women’s restroom, according to an affidavit for the search warrant.
The officer viewed QuikTrip security video and was able get a description of the teen, including the clothing he was wearing and that he had left on a bright green bicycle.
Other officers converged on the area and found the bicycle at a nearby Casey’s General Store, 1914 NW Woods Chapel Road. Officers, however, could not find him inside the store or in the men’s restroom, according to the court document.
A female officer entered the women’s restroom and found a person in the center stall with their pants down around their ankles. When the officer announce her presence, a male voice answered and he came out of the stall.
The officer who spoke with the mother identified the teen as the person seen on the QuikTrip surveillance video. Police seized his cellphone and applied for the search warrant for the data on the cellphone or a linked cloud storage account that might show female victims. The warrant included photos, videos, text, location data, chat messages and deleted files.
Earlier this month, police announced that they were investigating an “invasion of privacy” at the QuikTrip where the teen allegedly committed “lewd and lascivious acts” on women in the restroom.
The acts occurred during March and April and police were trying to identify the victims, who were likely unaware that they were being filmed. Police were also looking for other victims who may have had something unusual or suspicious happen to them by a teen around the Woods Chapel Road corridor.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Det. Kate Tipton at 816-622-4196.
Police received several calls since the news of the crimes broke, but none of the callers were identified as victims, Brady said. Detectives continue to follow up on leads in an attempt find more victims and to identify confirmed victims.
