Cape man acquitted of privacy invasion charge

A man was acquitted Monday of a charge accusing him of using a cell phone to peek at his female roommate while she lay in bed.

Christopher D. Hensley, 21, of 111 N. Clark Ave., stood trial Monday for misdemeanor invasion of privacy.

His former roommate, Melinda Reid, testified she woke up the morning of Aug. 9 and heard someone stop in front of her bedroom door.

Through the transom window above her door, she saw a hand holding a cell phone.

Reid said she called out asking who was there, and after a brief pause, Hensley responded.

"He wanted to see what I looked like drunk in my bed," Reid said.

Under questioning from both assistant prosecuting attorney Brent Nelson and Hensley's attorney Travis Statler, Reid said she was wearing a T-shirt and underwear while in bed. She could not remember if any blankets covered her or if she was exposed.

When Reid's testimony concluded and the state rested their case, Statler filed a motion for acquittal, which Judge Gary A. Kamp granted.

Nelson said Hensley was likely acquitted because the prosecutor was unable to establish that Reid was nude.

According to the charging statute, a person commits invasion of privacy when the defendant views or photographs another while in a state of either full or partial nudity in an area of privacy.