Woman’s experience at Target not ‘safe and welcoming’

Another incident involving a man allegedly taking photos of a woman inside a Target changing room is in the news, and the person the victim credits for helping her has a solution that might sound familiar.

The incident happened last week at a Target store north of Houston, Texas, in The Woodlands area. A woman was trying on clothing in the changing room when she looked in the mirror and saw a reflection of a camera. Surveillance video posted by ABC affiliate KTRK shows her confronting the man outside the changing area. Two Target employees were present at the time, but they did nothing.

“I was just thinking that I have to do something and I have to stop it,” said the woman, whom KTRK identified as “Leslie.”

A shopper identified as Russell Sevier chased the man outside the store and took a picture of him. That photo is now being used by police in the investigation. “I really think they should separate the men and women’s fitting rooms so this won’t happen,” said Sevier.

The American Family Association has been saying as much for over a year.

“We’re saying what this man said, and what they’ve been doing in retail stores for generations – that being men go over here, women go over there,” said AFA executive vice president Ed Vitagliano in reference to the incident reported by KTRK.

“You want to corral human nature, you want to prevent perverts from access to victims – and apparently Target just doesn’t care,” Vitagliano said Monday on American Family Radio.

Walker Wildmon, a spokesman for the pro-family group, pointed out that while it’s illegal to record video of individuals in dressing rooms, it’s not against Target’s policy for a man to be in the women’s dressing room.

“That’s been the problem all along,” said Wildmon.

AFA has been boycotting Target for a little more than a year, saying the retailer’s policy allowing transgender customers and employees to use the bathrooms of their choice puts women and children at risk of sexual predators who take advantage of the transgender policy.

In response to the incident in The Woodlands, Target did issue the following statement to KTRK:

“We want all of our guests to have a safe and welcoming experience whenever they shop at our stores. We will not tolerate this behavior and we are working closely with law enforcement by offering whatever support is needed. Since this is an active investigation, we ask that you direct all further questions to law enforcement.”

Target issued a similar comment in March after a “Peeping Tom” was caught in the act at a store in Knoxville, Tennessee. That incident was reported by NBC affiliate WBIR, which was told by police that the suspect had been in and out of the dressing room for over an hour before he was caught taking photographs of the victim.

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