Royal City man gets 90 days for voyeurism

ROYAL CITY — A man who videotaped a young girl as she was showering was sentenced to serve 90 days in jail for voyeurism.

Jose Becerra, 35, of Royal City, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to a single count of voyeurism and was sentenced to a total of 90 days in jail. Charges of first-degree child molestation, first-degree child rape and first-degree attempted child rape were dismissed in a plea agreement between the prosecution and defense.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office was first made aware of Becerra and the voyeurism allegation in 2015 after a woman alleged Becerra videotaped a young girl in the shower. Becerra fled the area to Florida the next day and the case was investigated by the sheriff’s office. No report was sent to the prosecutor’s office after the allegation was investigated and the decision was ultimately made to close the case.

A detective with the GCSO Major Crimes Unit reopened the case in October 2017 and the girl’s mother was interviewed. The woman confirmed to the detective Becerra videotaped her daughter with a cell phone while she was in the shower. The girl’s mother said the phone ended up in the washing machine after she confronted him and it was later smashed and thrown away, according to court documents.

The woman said Becerra admitted to taking the video and she said other people had seen the video. The victim said she noticed the video after she got the phone back from Becerra and scrolled through the camera roll, with the videos, which there was reportedly five of, found in the recently deleted folder. The girl admitted to not seeing Becerra filming her and claimed she threw the phone on the ground and broke it because “she was mad.” Court records also lay out several instances of alleged sexual assault committed against the same victim by Becerra.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.