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James Thomas Shoemaker: Man Arrested After Allegedly Hiding In Women’s Bathroom, Taking Photos Of Little Girls

By Meaghan Ellis
Published on: 11:31 PST, Apr 23, 2016

A Pennsylvania man was recently arrested after he was caught inside a women’s bathroom stall allegedly in hopes of capturing disturbing images. According to Fox 43, James Thomas Shoemaker is facing charges for invasion of privacy and child pornography following his attempts to snap photos of unassuming young girls using a public restroom.

It has been reported that Shoemaker was found hiding inside a bathroom stall at Sheetz Mini Market on Manheim Pike. According to several news outlets, store employees claimed Shoemaker had gone to the bathroom at least an hour before he was discovered.

He claimed he was only using his cell phone camera to check and see if anyone was in the adjacent bathroom stall, according to Penn Live, but the investigation proved otherwise. He’d reportedly been using the vacant stall to hide while using his cell phone camera to view women and young girls using the restroom. Although his bathroom debacle led to the invasion of privacy charges, an investigation conducted by the Lancaster Police Department uncovered other disturbing images found in his phone that led to child pornography charges.

Apparently, Shoemaker’s arrest on suspicion of invasion led to a more in-depth investigation involving the confiscation of his cell phone. He reportedly consented to investigators looking through his cell phone, but what they found led to the additional charges. Shoemaker also had nude photos of his girlfriend, but the problem centers around her age, which is why the additional charges were categorized as child pornography. Apparently, his girlfriend is only 16 years old. Since she’s legally considered a minor, the explicit photos in Shoemaker’s phone are considered child pornography.

The latest reports involving Shoemaker’s arrest follow a string of news reports about Donald Trump’s latest push to slam the advocacy that would allow transgenders to use public restrooms commonly reserved for what would normally be considered “the opposite sex.”

According to Breitbart, the Republican presidential hopeful actually has no problem with individuals born as men to use women’s public restrooms and vice versa. However, he does oppose the creation of public bathrooms designated for transgenders.

“‘There’s a big move to create new bathrooms … for transgender [people] … that would be discriminatory in a certain way [and] that would be unbelievably expensive for businesses in the country,’ Trump said April 21. ‘Leave it the way it is,’ he added.”

Shoemaker’s arrest has sparked a heated debate about why public transgender restrooms should be created. Since transgenders are hoping to use the bathrooms of their choice, that raises the possibility of those with ill intent having the “right” to walk into the public restroom of their choice.

In fact, Shoemaker’s arrest follows the arrest of a cross-dressing man in California who was caught inside the women’s restroom at a Macy’s location snapping lewd photos of women. Some Americans have strongly opposed the idea of allowing transgenders to choose the bathrooms they desire as they feel the lines should never be crossed.

According to Lancaster Online, the police department is asking that anyone with information about this incident contact the law enforcement agency as soon as possible. “Police ask anyone with information on this incident or Shoemaker to call them at 717-735-3300 or Lancaster City-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-322-1913. You can also click the Submit a Tip button at www.lancasterpolice.com, or Text a Tip to Crime Stoppers by texting LANCS plus your message to 847411. Tipsters may remain anonymous and do not have to give their name,” the publication reported.

[Image via Lancaster Police Department]

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