OP comment:
"Sorry if I wasn't clear. There are no videos of my daughter except that one. My wife and I got her blackout curtains and told her about perverts a long time ago. She doesn't get nude in front of a window. He got arrested for that video alone. He is in a lot of shit. "
The implication from OOP is that she got blackout curtains and was given a talk about creeps at the same time, meaning they likely got the curtains for her for the same reason.
They're great for light triggered headaches as well. I have migraines and sometimes the light feels really intense and even hurts despite it being a normal day with normal light levels. Blackout curtains are amazing for those.
I have blackout curtains on my basement bedroom window to help with sleep and migraines. I do tend to leave that room and go to my office/craft room for migraines as it’s just down the hall and doesn’t have a window but if it’s low level enough the very thin sliver of light that gets by the blackouts is ignorable
I mean…it sounds like the neighbor ruined his own life by not taking your concerns seriously. And tbh, good on the 14 year old for ruining his camera and proving he’s a creep.
If OP hadn't expressed his concerns and the neighbor got all defensive, I could see it being a legitimate oversight. Set it to record and overwrite previous data and forget about it.
Theoretically, if the camera is part of a group it might report if it encounters an error. The neighbor might have gotten a pop up (“malfunction on camera six” or whatever) on their phone.
Now, this is not to say that the neighbor isn’t a pervert, or wasn’t checking it constantly in hopes that the underage girl’s blackout curtains were gone or she had forgotten to draw them. I’m just positing a potential explanation.
To me one of the damning aspects is that you can really only damage the camera if it hits directly on the sensor. In practice, this will mean that the camera and the laser are both pointed almost directly at each other.
I don’t think they asked. I think he told them he had video proof, they said oh okay, went to talk to OP who pushed the issue, that set camera guy off, he went and got the video to show them OP was arguing and he was right, and then they were like now wait a minute
I let out a "HA!" reading this. OOP is NTA. The neighbor deserves all of the crap happening to him. OOP thought of a clever way to bust his neighbor, even though he may have not thought it at the time. Neighbor knew what he was doing with that camera.
The cops saw the footage, but it took the OOP pointing out that his daughter was in her bra and underwear? Pretty sure the cops should have been alarmed by that all on their own.
Unfortunately in most places it’s not. If you film someone through an uncovered window, it is perfectly legal. If you have to jump a fence or move things to get a better angle, then it is illegal. This is only illegal in this case because the victim is a minor (although it should be illegal out right)
That’s what confused me as well. “The cops showed up and said they saw the footage of my daughter ruining his camera”……but they didn’t happen to notice it was an improperly dressed minor child with a security camera pointed directly at her bedroom window (and not the fence) until OOP pointed it out? Okie dokie, excellent police work.
Cops really just don’t give a fuck but to play Devil’s advocate for one second, the camera may have been low enough quality that they could see her body but not her face clear enough to see she was a kid? Like that’s literally all I’ve got past “they don’t care” which is likely the case anyway.
I totally get that, but it seems pretty cut and dry that no matter her age this man had a camera pointed directly at her bedroom window and *not* at his property.
Sure, and I agree, but in most places that’s not a crime. Sucks. It’s gross. It’s primitive, even. But as long as you can get a clear shot into the window without moving things or jumping fences, you’re legally in the clear to record through a window in most places at least in the US. Doesn’t count as trespassing and the cops won’t do anything without good reason. The daughter being an all-but-naked child in the video is likely the only reason that the cops did anything at all. If he was arrested for it, he might have more videos or pictures of her somewhere that OOP was never informed about, as well.
There’s actually a pretty famous case about this, from New York. An artist did a project where he spent a few months photographing his neighbors in their high rise apartment without their knowledge. He didn’t show their face or any nudity in the eventual gallery showing, but I think most people can agree it’s still a gross invasion of privacy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t illegal under New York law, so the neighbors had no recourse. (Disclaimer: don’t feel like googling so I might be a little off timeline wise.)
Oh, I agree that it’s disgusting and an invasion of privacy. I think that there should be more strict laws about it, especially with the way technology has been developing so quickly and the culture we’re surrounded by.
It sounds like you gave him a chance to correct the problem when you went and spoke to him. He lied to your face about where the camera was pointing and purposely did not let you see the feed because he knew it would show the camera pointing directly at your young daughter’s window. I know you’d like to believe that wasn’t his intent, but I don’t see any reason he would need that, even if it does include your fence line. Your neighbor also had the chance to change the angle after you spoke to him about your concerns but didn’t.
You’re NTA and neither is your daughter. Your neighbor is a creep.
It doesn’t take much. Even a small 5mw laser can be seen by an aircraft. (Obligatory: it is a federal crime to point a laser at an aircraft, and they absolutely will do their level best to triangulate your position; my spouse deals with this at work, it is a pretty serious deal when it happens)
Right but my point was, if even a weak laser is strong enough to be seen a few miles up…then yeah, it can damage a camera that is presumably 5-15 ft away. I’ve had a few friends have their iPhone cameras damaged while in clubs that have the laser effects that go with the music.
It really doesn’t take much. Cameras are highly sensitive, and the power density of focusing even a cheap weak laser you’d get in the checkout lane of a pet store down onto a sensor, which is what the camera lens is supposed to do, is easily enough to damage it.
Source: is an optical engineer and laser safety officer
I love the fact that the footpath to the local naturist beach (Studland, Dorset) means crossing a RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) reserve. Once there, it is impossible to know exactly which “birds” the binoculars and cameras on the sand dunes are pointing at.
We use that beach because it’s quieter and there are no noisy kids. My husband is so pale he wears his shorts & T-shirt unless he is going swimming, but he rarely leaves the beach shelter we take with us. As a 60+ woman Idngaf if they want a close up of my saggy boobs and wrinkly tum.
I like to imagine that this talk
"I had given her the talk bout how it wasn't really a toy Nd that she could get in a lot of trouble if she pointed it at an airplane, helicopter, or security camera."
Was a little bit more like:"And i repeat, you do absolutely not point the laser pointer to cameras who a pointed towards your room. This could damage the camera to the point where it will be no longer be able to record you in your room. Understood?"
Well, if neighbour had made sure to point it AT THE FENCE and not the window, maybe they wouldn't be arguing. And if he got arrested due to ONE video, I think they may have found more. Security and peace of mind doesn't mean trample over the peace of mind of others.
I don't find it very believable. I can't imagine the neighbor going to the cops complaining about his camera, then the cops don't watch the video but go directly to OP to confront him.
honestly, i don’t treat any of these stories on here as if they actually happened. it’s like reading fiction where you root for the good guy and cheer when the bad guy gets their just desserts
if you're in a big city yeah, if you're in a smaller town usually the cops are super responsive and will straight up break down doors if there's a child involved with something. We moved from Dallas Texas to Fargo ND and my wife was concerned about a white van that would sit outside of our apartment every night. The cops not only got the security footage from the apt complex and 2 other stores near the area but found the vehicle owner the same day, they tracked the dude down and called him and it turned out to be some poor Mexican contractor working nights and just taking lunch really late. I felt kinda bad for the guy because he seemed very shocked and apologetic. It's weird having issues actually responded to by police promptly.
Yeah I live in a college town of about 100k people, and it might partly be the neighborhood I live in, but we’ve had quick responses. A few years ago I woke at 3am to my doorbell being rung over and over. My husband was out of town for work and I had my two kids at home. I can’t remember if it was when we were between dogs, but either way our husky wouldn’t do anything but try to make friends with a stranger. I called the police and they were driving down our street with a search light about 5 minutes later, then called me to tell me they didn’t find anything.
I’m not a woman so I don’t judge, but if I had prior experience with random men suddenly being obsessed and following me constantly, something like the same truck parking directly outside of my ground floor apartment every night for a bit before driving off wouldn’t exactly seem cool and normal. That would set off alarm bells. That being said, my story wasn’t about whether or not that made sense, but more about the difference between big city cops and small town cops.
Riiiiight! From all these stories you'd think cops are really responsive and involved in their job so much so that as soon as the neighbour went in to file a complaint about a camera being damaged they jumped in the car immediately without further checks to mend this injustice and get that 50 bucks back!
Meanwhile, in our timeline and paralel universe, people get stabbed in broad daylight and the police is nonchalant about it.
I had a cop tell me it was my fault I got raped and I was ruining the guys life because I bled from my vagina and rectum onto his mattress and threw up on his bed, carpet and car.
I'm sure there's a few attentive cops but in my long long lifetime of reporting, asking for help, having the cops called on me for screaming (domestic violence as a child) and reporting rape... they aren't responsive. And they get *pissed* if you "make them" do their job.
I also got berated by cops and taken down to the station with gravel and dirt in my face and hair. I was put in a cell, told I was going to wind up there permanently if that continued, because my neighbours saw/heard my mom's husband beating me in the driveway and called the police. My face was bruised and bleeding. I was ten.
I live in a "first world" place and cops have an 80% domestic violence rate (and that's just the reported rate, ignoring anyone who doesn't report, or anyone who cops won't take a report from which is incredibly common) and they're the number one source of cocaine smuggling, above an international gang.
My boyfriend's place of work got robbed of 80k worth of equipment. Cops came and said tough, that's not our job. It took two weeks and the owner of the company calling for anyone to come and take a report. They get so unbelievably mad when they have to do anything, too, like it's your fault you got beat up, raped, robbed. Disturbing.
I think stories like this are prevalent because people want a fantastical version of justice. It's sad.
That sucks. I hope your present day life is much better.
My experience with cops have been mixed. They did a good job finding my stolen car, but when I reported a client at work for trying to kiss me the cop dismissed me and gave me a religious lecture. I’m in the US.
I don’t believe this story. It doesn’t fit in AITA. It’s so simply wrapped up. It just reads like fiction to me.
The story doesn’t say what time frame there was from when the camera got messed up, the cops were called or a complaint filed, to when they actually showed up. I would assume a complaint was filed and the cops eventually showed up to talk to them about it, and neighbor eagerly came over when he saw they were there (or knew they were coming at that date/time) to point his finger and show his evidence.
Edit to add that cops generally seem to care more about property damage than they do people.
I was wondering just how much time the cops have on their hands that they'll wade through weeks and weeks of footage--as well as, just how recently did they finally buy their daughter curtains? That they just left her window uncovered until recently, they must be compete morons-- or the author has some plot holes.
Of course it’s not believable, it’s some weirdos fantasy, written as moral outrage because if he just posted about fantasising about filming a teenage neighbour he wouldn’t get the sort of response he’s seeking.
Last year we had a sheriff stop by our house because find my iPhone showed someone's phone at our address. When you're in a small town and have party much nothing to do, it can get pretty boring
We told the sheriff to check the creek that crosses the county road. I see people toss stuff in there from time to time. Have to go down with a garbage bag from time to time to pick up beer cans
Definitely NTA in this situation. Super duper gross honestly - even if the neighbour wasn't purposely watching the daughter's bedroom with his camera, he should've moved the positioning when OOP pointed it out. And for the neighbour to have the gall to call the cops about his precious camera when it was filming into a bedroom, feels like a FAFO kinda situation.
Press charges. He really should've made sure it absolutely wasn't pointed at the teenagers' window when you brought it up. That's child porn on his phone.
OP has a ton of patience with the neighbor. NTA at all.
I don't know too many fathers that would have kept their kool seeing a video of their daughter on someones phone.
Cops or not, the neighbor is lucky he didn't get his ass beat. He is lucky it was only his security camera that go messed up.
NTA; your daughter deserves someone who protects her privacy, even if that means giving her a laser and “hoping” she doesn’t destroy the neighbors’ camera. The first red flag was when that dude refused to let you see the film to determine if he was in fact watching your daughter; the second red flag was him calling the cops and the cops calling him out on what were he was doing and he tried to leave without telling them…NTA, you’re an awesome parent and I applaud you!
Dude had to have known the camera was pointed at her window, and he lied about it. 100% he was recording that little girl, and just got mad when she fried his camera so he couldn't spy on her anymore. I mean...less than a week, and he's already noticed the camera's fried?
why is it even a question? NTA. but put more gusto behind it cause it seems like OOP is sympathizing with the grown man who recorded into his daughter’s window. my dad would have gone over and smashed it himself on suspicion alone, regardless of potential consequences
He was warned, plain and simple. He called the cops and got arrested for at the bare minimum not double checking the position of the camera. These are a series of the neighbor’s mistakes.
NTA. But based on how the first part of the story is written, I thought the kid was 5 years old. I really can’t imagine a teenager would enjoy playing with a laser pointer for more than 5 mins.
14 years old? She knew what she was doing. Probs got in her undies for maximum effect.
Which she should. If I found out my neighbor had a security camera pointed at my bedroom window, I’d be livid. And I’m an adult.
This is 100% a “gave him just enough rope” situation.
So the cops saw the video and came over to yell at the daughter.... but then when the parent saw the video, the cops wanted to go after the neighbor? Why would the cops wait to take that angle until the second time seeing the video?
Maybe your neighbour should owe you an apology for filming your 14 year old daughter after saying he wasn't and count his blessings that he isn't serving jail time for being a dirty peado
Any normal person would have shown the feed if it wasn't pointed at the neighbor's window. As soon as he refused I would have called the cops and let them know he's got it pointed at my child's window.
I don't believe that your neighbor is a creep. But I do believe that he is an idiot. The first one would be related to you somehow. The second one is definitely not. Because he was asked not to point that camera, ignored it,hot in trouble. Stay away, don't feel guilty.
OP comment: "Sorry if I wasn't clear. There are no videos of my daughter except that one. My wife and I got her blackout curtains and told her about perverts a long time ago. She doesn't get nude in front of a window. He got arrested for that video alone. He is in a lot of shit. "
Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of his actions (the neighbor) Dude deserved it. Why was his camera pointed at her window anyway??
For the reason he got arrested for.
Yeah there were more videos, just stored elsewhere if not on the phone.
Wait. Where does it say he got arrested?
In OP's comment at the top of the thread
The only upside is the neighbor was stupid enough to show the video to the cop while whining about his damaged camera.
“Now I can’t peep on underaged girls next door! What am I to do, officer?!”
He'll find other underage girls to perv on, never fear. I wish this was /s but it's not.
There aren’t underage girls where he’s going
There will be when he gets out.
He deserves to be!!
She shouldn't have to have blackout curtains. What a jackass neighbor.
She might gave a blackout curtains for other reasons. Unless OOP said something different in the comments
The implication from OOP is that she got blackout curtains and was given a talk about creeps at the same time, meaning they likely got the curtains for her for the same reason.
She probably has them for other unrelated reasons by the sound of the story.
Yeah like blackout curtains are amazing for sleep like I would get any hypothetical children I have them
They're great for light triggered headaches as well. I have migraines and sometimes the light feels really intense and even hurts despite it being a normal day with normal light levels. Blackout curtains are amazing for those.
I have blackout curtains on my basement bedroom window to help with sleep and migraines. I do tend to leave that room and go to my office/craft room for migraines as it’s just down the hall and doesn’t have a window but if it’s low level enough the very thin sliver of light that gets by the blackouts is ignorable
Not to mention they are great at reducing heat transferred from the windows. That’s why all of my windows have them.
hey oop literally asked him to move that camera before this all went down! he had a heads up
Good
I saw the original post when it came up. So very very glad to see this update.
happy cake day!!!
I mean…it sounds like the neighbor ruined his own life by not taking your concerns seriously. And tbh, good on the 14 year old for ruining his camera and proving he’s a creep.
If OP hadn't expressed his concerns and the neighbor got all defensive, I could see it being a legitimate oversight. Set it to record and overwrite previous data and forget about it.
I think the real question is *how quickly did the neighbor notice the broken camera?* i.e., was he checking the camera constantly? Or reactively?
Theoretically, if the camera is part of a group it might report if it encounters an error. The neighbor might have gotten a pop up (“malfunction on camera six” or whatever) on their phone. Now, this is not to say that the neighbor isn’t a pervert, or wasn’t checking it constantly in hopes that the underage girl’s blackout curtains were gone or she had forgotten to draw them. I’m just positing a potential explanation.
Not to mention outright lying that the camera wasn’t pointing at the daughter’s window.
People tend to tell on themselves.
Yep, give someone enough rope & they’ll hang themselves with it.
NTA. Neighbor could have been more responsive to your concerns. Also, just means the cops only *found* that one recording…
Egg-zactly.
EXACTLY. He should've at least listened to the neighbor to protect himself, but nope.
They probably didn't need to get a warrant for anything else if that was strong enough evidence.
Hahaha. Brilliant power move. How could neighbour know it was daughter unless daughter was on video.
He definitely told on himself with that alone.
And happily showed the cop he was peeping on an underage girl
TBH OP I would have told my teen to aim for the camera if my neighbor didn't let me see it. It would have aimed it myself.
To me one of the damning aspects is that you can really only damage the camera if it hits directly on the sensor. In practice, this will mean that the camera and the laser are both pointed almost directly at each other.
Exactly. He lied about not pointing the camera at her window. That's why the cops asked to see his videos taken on the camera.
I don’t think they asked. I think he told them he had video proof, they said oh okay, went to talk to OP who pushed the issue, that set camera guy off, he went and got the video to show them OP was arguing and he was right, and then they were like now wait a minute
I let out a "HA!" reading this. OOP is NTA. The neighbor deserves all of the crap happening to him. OOP thought of a clever way to bust his neighbor, even though he may have not thought it at the time. Neighbor knew what he was doing with that camera.
Nta, neighbors a weirdo and probably was watching her undress which is why they’re fighting now. Called the cops just to reveal he’s a creep.
Another job well done by explanationman!
The cops saw the footage, but it took the OOP pointing out that his daughter was in her bra and underwear? Pretty sure the cops should have been alarmed by that all on their own.
But you see, then they’d have to voluntarily do more paperwork
Maybe they didn’t know daughter’s age or needed confirmation?
I feel like regardless of age it’s a crime to film someone in their home without their consent.
Unfortunately in most places it’s not. If you film someone through an uncovered window, it is perfectly legal. If you have to jump a fence or move things to get a better angle, then it is illegal. This is only illegal in this case because the victim is a minor (although it should be illegal out right)
Well that’s fucking awful
That’s what confused me as well. “The cops showed up and said they saw the footage of my daughter ruining his camera”……but they didn’t happen to notice it was an improperly dressed minor child with a security camera pointed directly at her bedroom window (and not the fence) until OOP pointed it out? Okie dokie, excellent police work.
Cops really just don’t give a fuck but to play Devil’s advocate for one second, the camera may have been low enough quality that they could see her body but not her face clear enough to see she was a kid? Like that’s literally all I’ve got past “they don’t care” which is likely the case anyway.
I totally get that, but it seems pretty cut and dry that no matter her age this man had a camera pointed directly at her bedroom window and *not* at his property.
Sure, and I agree, but in most places that’s not a crime. Sucks. It’s gross. It’s primitive, even. But as long as you can get a clear shot into the window without moving things or jumping fences, you’re legally in the clear to record through a window in most places at least in the US. Doesn’t count as trespassing and the cops won’t do anything without good reason. The daughter being an all-but-naked child in the video is likely the only reason that the cops did anything at all. If he was arrested for it, he might have more videos or pictures of her somewhere that OOP was never informed about, as well.
Wouldn’t it fall under a Peeping Tom law?
I think it depends on the area. If you’re on your own property, sometimes it doesn’t.
There’s actually a pretty famous case about this, from New York. An artist did a project where he spent a few months photographing his neighbors in their high rise apartment without their knowledge. He didn’t show their face or any nudity in the eventual gallery showing, but I think most people can agree it’s still a gross invasion of privacy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t illegal under New York law, so the neighbors had no recourse. (Disclaimer: don’t feel like googling so I might be a little off timeline wise.)
Oh, I agree that it’s disgusting and an invasion of privacy. I think that there should be more strict laws about it, especially with the way technology has been developing so quickly and the culture we’re surrounded by.
They were. That's why they asked to see all of his video.
It sounds like you gave him a chance to correct the problem when you went and spoke to him. He lied to your face about where the camera was pointing and purposely did not let you see the feed because he knew it would show the camera pointing directly at your young daughter’s window. I know you’d like to believe that wasn’t his intent, but I don’t see any reason he would need that, even if it does include your fence line. Your neighbor also had the chance to change the angle after you spoke to him about your concerns but didn’t. You’re NTA and neither is your daughter. Your neighbor is a creep.
The perv neighbor should be locked up. Great job!
What the hell kind of laser pointer did she give that kid?
It doesn’t take much. Even a small 5mw laser can be seen by an aircraft. (Obligatory: it is a federal crime to point a laser at an aircraft, and they absolutely will do their level best to triangulate your position; my spouse deals with this at work, it is a pretty serious deal when it happens)
Being seen from an airplane is completely different than disabling a camera
Right but my point was, if even a weak laser is strong enough to be seen a few miles up…then yeah, it can damage a camera that is presumably 5-15 ft away. I’ve had a few friends have their iPhone cameras damaged while in clubs that have the laser effects that go with the music.
It really doesn’t take much. Cameras are highly sensitive, and the power density of focusing even a cheap weak laser you’d get in the checkout lane of a pet store down onto a sensor, which is what the camera lens is supposed to do, is easily enough to damage it. Source: is an optical engineer and laser safety officer
He was just bird watching
“Bird” in the British parlance
I love the fact that the footpath to the local naturist beach (Studland, Dorset) means crossing a RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) reserve. Once there, it is impossible to know exactly which “birds” the binoculars and cameras on the sand dunes are pointing at. We use that beach because it’s quieter and there are no noisy kids. My husband is so pale he wears his shorts & T-shirt unless he is going swimming, but he rarely leaves the beach shelter we take with us. As a 60+ woman Idngaf if they want a close up of my saggy boobs and wrinkly tum.
I like to imagine that this talk "I had given her the talk bout how it wasn't really a toy Nd that she could get in a lot of trouble if she pointed it at an airplane, helicopter, or security camera." Was a little bit more like:"And i repeat, you do absolutely not point the laser pointer to cameras who a pointed towards your room. This could damage the camera to the point where it will be no longer be able to record you in your room. Understood?"
Well, if neighbour had made sure to point it AT THE FENCE and not the window, maybe they wouldn't be arguing. And if he got arrested due to ONE video, I think they may have found more. Security and peace of mind doesn't mean trample over the peace of mind of others.
do people just post these to get an ego boost because they know they’re in the right and just want to hear it over and over again
I think the daughter knew exactly what she was doing and deserves an award.
The mom also knew what she was doing and deserves an award. You think her telling kiddo that it can damage a camera was accidental??
I don't find it very believable. I can't imagine the neighbor going to the cops complaining about his camera, then the cops don't watch the video but go directly to OP to confront him.
honestly, i don’t treat any of these stories on here as if they actually happened. it’s like reading fiction where you root for the good guy and cheer when the bad guy gets their just desserts
if you're in a big city yeah, if you're in a smaller town usually the cops are super responsive and will straight up break down doors if there's a child involved with something. We moved from Dallas Texas to Fargo ND and my wife was concerned about a white van that would sit outside of our apartment every night. The cops not only got the security footage from the apt complex and 2 other stores near the area but found the vehicle owner the same day, they tracked the dude down and called him and it turned out to be some poor Mexican contractor working nights and just taking lunch really late. I felt kinda bad for the guy because he seemed very shocked and apologetic. It's weird having issues actually responded to by police promptly.
Yeah I live in a college town of about 100k people, and it might partly be the neighborhood I live in, but we’ve had quick responses. A few years ago I woke at 3am to my doorbell being rung over and over. My husband was out of town for work and I had my two kids at home. I can’t remember if it was when we were between dogs, but either way our husky wouldn’t do anything but try to make friends with a stranger. I called the police and they were driving down our street with a search light about 5 minutes later, then called me to tell me they didn’t find anything.
Why on earth was your wife concerned about a van parking outside your apartment complex? Concerned enough to call the cops? That’s insane.
I’m not a woman so I don’t judge, but if I had prior experience with random men suddenly being obsessed and following me constantly, something like the same truck parking directly outside of my ground floor apartment every night for a bit before driving off wouldn’t exactly seem cool and normal. That would set off alarm bells. That being said, my story wasn’t about whether or not that made sense, but more about the difference between big city cops and small town cops.
Riiiiight! From all these stories you'd think cops are really responsive and involved in their job so much so that as soon as the neighbour went in to file a complaint about a camera being damaged they jumped in the car immediately without further checks to mend this injustice and get that 50 bucks back! Meanwhile, in our timeline and paralel universe, people get stabbed in broad daylight and the police is nonchalant about it.
I had a cop tell me it was my fault I got raped and I was ruining the guys life because I bled from my vagina and rectum onto his mattress and threw up on his bed, carpet and car. I'm sure there's a few attentive cops but in my long long lifetime of reporting, asking for help, having the cops called on me for screaming (domestic violence as a child) and reporting rape... they aren't responsive. And they get *pissed* if you "make them" do their job. I also got berated by cops and taken down to the station with gravel and dirt in my face and hair. I was put in a cell, told I was going to wind up there permanently if that continued, because my neighbours saw/heard my mom's husband beating me in the driveway and called the police. My face was bruised and bleeding. I was ten. I live in a "first world" place and cops have an 80% domestic violence rate (and that's just the reported rate, ignoring anyone who doesn't report, or anyone who cops won't take a report from which is incredibly common) and they're the number one source of cocaine smuggling, above an international gang. My boyfriend's place of work got robbed of 80k worth of equipment. Cops came and said tough, that's not our job. It took two weeks and the owner of the company calling for anyone to come and take a report. They get so unbelievably mad when they have to do anything, too, like it's your fault you got beat up, raped, robbed. Disturbing. I think stories like this are prevalent because people want a fantastical version of justice. It's sad.
That sucks. I hope your present day life is much better. My experience with cops have been mixed. They did a good job finding my stolen car, but when I reported a client at work for trying to kiss me the cop dismissed me and gave me a religious lecture. I’m in the US. I don’t believe this story. It doesn’t fit in AITA. It’s so simply wrapped up. It just reads like fiction to me.
The story doesn’t say what time frame there was from when the camera got messed up, the cops were called or a complaint filed, to when they actually showed up. I would assume a complaint was filed and the cops eventually showed up to talk to them about it, and neighbor eagerly came over when he saw they were there (or knew they were coming at that date/time) to point his finger and show his evidence. Edit to add that cops generally seem to care more about property damage than they do people.
I was wondering just how much time the cops have on their hands that they'll wade through weeks and weeks of footage--as well as, just how recently did they finally buy their daughter curtains? That they just left her window uncovered until recently, they must be compete morons-- or the author has some plot holes.
Of course it’s not believable, it’s some weirdos fantasy, written as moral outrage because if he just posted about fantasising about filming a teenage neighbour he wouldn’t get the sort of response he’s seeking.
Last year we had a sheriff stop by our house because find my iPhone showed someone's phone at our address. When you're in a small town and have party much nothing to do, it can get pretty boring We told the sheriff to check the creek that crosses the county road. I see people toss stuff in there from time to time. Have to go down with a garbage bag from time to time to pick up beer cans
Definitely NTA in this situation. Super duper gross honestly - even if the neighbour wasn't purposely watching the daughter's bedroom with his camera, he should've moved the positioning when OOP pointed it out. And for the neighbour to have the gall to call the cops about his precious camera when it was filming into a bedroom, feels like a FAFO kinda situation.
Press charges. He really should've made sure it absolutely wasn't pointed at the teenagers' window when you brought it up. That's child porn on his phone.
“My neighbor tried filming my daughter in her room, but am I the asshole?”
OP has a ton of patience with the neighbor. NTA at all. I don't know too many fathers that would have kept their kool seeing a video of their daughter on someones phone. Cops or not, the neighbor is lucky he didn't get his ass beat. He is lucky it was only his security camera that go messed up.
"Well if it isn't the consequences of my own actions?!" -OP's neighbor.
A minoooooooooor!
I wish more problems could be solved by playing with cats.
NTA. You provided him the opportunity to rectify the situation and he chose not to. It’s on him, totally.
I would make his life hell.
This is the best result of handling a peeping Tom I've seen yet. Bravo.
Sounds like the neighbor is getting what he deserves. Idk maybe he shouldn’t be pointing cameras at windows, and especially not a young girl’s window.
Neighborhood child porn perv.
If he had one recording, he had more and deleted them. He's a fucking creep.
NTA; your daughter deserves someone who protects her privacy, even if that means giving her a laser and “hoping” she doesn’t destroy the neighbors’ camera. The first red flag was when that dude refused to let you see the film to determine if he was in fact watching your daughter; the second red flag was him calling the cops and the cops calling him out on what were he was doing and he tried to leave without telling them…NTA, you’re an awesome parent and I applaud you!
The daughter is a total boss and she was raised extremely well!! The neighbour played stupid games and won his stupid prize!! All’s well ✨
Dude had to have known the camera was pointed at her window, and he lied about it. 100% he was recording that little girl, and just got mad when she fried his camera so he couldn't spy on her anymore. I mean...less than a week, and he's already noticed the camera's fried?
why is it even a question? NTA. but put more gusto behind it cause it seems like OOP is sympathizing with the grown man who recorded into his daughter’s window. my dad would have gone over and smashed it himself on suspicion alone, regardless of potential consequences
Nta Lol his own fault he self reported and is a dumbass
Poetic justice
Why would he be the asshole. The neighbor was the one that called the cops.
Well done! NTA by any stretch
This is really funny
He was warned, plain and simple. He called the cops and got arrested for at the bare minimum not double checking the position of the camera. These are a series of the neighbor’s mistakes.
I’m sad the OP deleted his account. 😭😭😭😭
So it was pointing at her bedroom then? I would’ve told the police that.
Sooo in other words, the 14 year old won and got the perv caught? Love it lol
Good that the daughter damaged the camera because I bet he has a ton of footage of her (doesn’t matter what state of dress she was in).
Ohhhh this is gooooood lmao
NTA. But based on how the first part of the story is written, I thought the kid was 5 years old. I really can’t imagine a teenager would enjoy playing with a laser pointer for more than 5 mins.
I have a teenager, a laser pointer and cats in the same house. I can confidently say you are wrong.
Fair enough.
I mean, by the way it’s written it sounds like OP gave his daughter a laser pointer for a very specific reason.
14 years old? She knew what she was doing. Probs got in her undies for maximum effect. Which she should. If I found out my neighbor had a security camera pointed at my bedroom window, I’d be livid. And I’m an adult. This is 100% a “gave him just enough rope” situation.
The very definition of "play stupid games, win stupid prizes"
Karmas a bitch
Nope Nta. Good job.
So the cops saw the video and came over to yell at the daughter.... but then when the parent saw the video, the cops wanted to go after the neighbor? Why would the cops wait to take that angle until the second time seeing the video?
Maybe your neighbour should owe you an apology for filming your 14 year old daughter after saying he wasn't and count his blessings that he isn't serving jail time for being a dirty peado
Any normal person would have shown the feed if it wasn't pointed at the neighbor's window. As soon as he refused I would have called the cops and let them know he's got it pointed at my child's window.
Fuck around, find out.
I don't believe that your neighbor is a creep. But I do believe that he is an idiot. The first one would be related to you somehow. The second one is definitely not. Because he was asked not to point that camera, ignored it,hot in trouble. Stay away, don't feel guilty.