By MARY LANDRIEU

When Monroe residents Susan and Gary Wilson moved into their dream house, they had no idea that their spacious, four-bedroom home would be turned into a movie set. A trusted friend and neighbor had secretly installed cameras and videotaping equipment in the Wilsons’ master bathroom and bedroom, and was surreptituously taping the couple’s most intimate moments. Horror quickly turned to outrage when the Wilsons visited the authorities – the neighbor’s actions were not considered illegal under Louisiana’s statutes and there were no laws to protect the Wilson family – or anyone – from such a hideous invasion of personal privacy.

While Susan and Gary initially tried to protect their children and family by keeping the frightening discovery a secret, they eventually learned that the neighbor’s stalking had not only touched their family, but others in the community as well. They could keep silent no longer.

Susan felt herself accountable to other women and communities who might be subjected to the same horror that had descended upon her life. With the support of her family, she took her experience to State Representatives Walsworth and Hunter and to our state legislature where she successfully lobbied for the passage of a new state law declaring video voyeurism a felony offense in Louisiana. On June 22, 1999, the bill (HB 67) passed and was signed into law. Sadly, only a handful of states currently have laws criminalizing video voyeurism. Susan recently joined me in Washington to make “video voyeurism,” the name given to this crime, a federal law.

In the privacy of our own homes, none of us should have to wonder whether or not we are being secretly watched – and even recorded. Unfortunately, our federal laws have not kept up with the new technology that makes this kind of invasion of privacy very easy to accomplish. This act of “video voyeurism” is not addressed by our federal legal system, and in most states, it’s not even a crime. The legislation helps fill this gaping hole in our privacy laws, so that if someone is secretly watching you, under this bill, it will be a punishable crime.

Mirrored after Louisiana’s new law, the legislation I introduced would make “video voyeurism” a crime punishable by up to three years in prison in case of adult victims, and up to 10 years in prison where a child is involved. Under this bill, the “Family Privacy and Protection Act,” any person who uses a camera or similar recording device to record another individual either for a lewd or lascivious purpose without that person’s consent is in violation of the law.

I hope this legislation will act as a deterrent to would-be voyeurs – but if it doesn’t, at least victims will have the confidence that the perpetrator can be brought to justice.

MARY LANDRIEU serves Louisiana in the United States Senate.