Man charged after allegedly being caught in ‘disturbing’ act in Target

A 21-year-old who was confronted in the kids aisle of a Target store has been charged after he was allegedly violating an unsuspecting woman.

A US man has been charged with two charges of “secret peeping” after allegedly being recorded placing his phone under the skirt of a woman shopping in Target.

Thomas Ryan Elliott, 21, was arrested at a store in North Carolina on Monday after being confronted by another shopper who filmed him crouching near a woman in the children’s toy aisle.

The man, who reportedly volunteers at a primary school, is currently being held under a $US20,000 (about $A31,000) secured bond, according to the Greenville Police Department.

Police were called to the budget retailer after a shopper began recording a man who she believed was following her around, ABC News 12 reports.

However, while she didn’t catch him doing anything to her, she allegedly recorded him placing his phone on the floor under another woman’s skirt as she crouched to look at something on a bottom shelf.

Mr Elliott was arrested at the scene, and later released on bail, but has since been taken into custody following public outcry after the footage was shared on social media.

The act of “upskirting” is generally defined as taking a sexually intrusive photograph of someone without their permission.

In Australia, it is a criminal offence to filming a person’s private parts without their knowledge or consent.

The unidentified victim told WITN she was “distracted” and hadn’t noticed what was unfolding around her.

“No matter how much you try to think you’re going to be prepared for it, it kind of throws you threw a loop when it actually happens,” she said.

Thomas Ryan Elliott has been charged after allegedly being caught filming up a woman’s skirt in Target. Picture: Supplied

The footage appears to show Mr Elliott put his phone on the floor to film under her black skirt.

When cops detained him, Mr Elliott “denied any wrongdoing and showed us (police) the recent pictures he had on his phone”.

Since being charged, authorities have obtained search warrant for his phone to try, stating police are looking for “deleted information that may be recovered via a forensic examination”, according to WITN.

The incident was described as ‘disturbing’ after it was shared on social media. Picture: Supplied

Mr Elliott was arrested at the scene and later charged with two counts of ‘secret peeping’. Picture: Supplied

The US man is currently being held under a $US20,000 (about $A31,000) secured bond. Picture: Supplied

Police say they have yet to discover anything inappropriate involving children on the phone after fears were raised due to the nature of Mr Elliott’s volunteer work.

“We are disturbed and deeply concerned by video footage of the individual that has been shared on social media and news outlets, and based on the footage, the individual will not be returning to our campuses as a volunteer or hired as an employee,” a spokesperson for the county schools where he’d volunteered previously said, according to MailOnline.

Mr Elliot was also a parishioner at Opendoor church and appears to have been recently baptised.

“Safety and security are of utmost importance to us. We are taking this situation extremely seriously. He is no longer permitted on our properties,” the church said in a statement.

Meanwhile Target is continuing to help police with its investigation.

Originally published as Man charged after allegedly being caught in ‘disturbing’ act in Target