Laws against secretly videotaping people in bathrooms and tanning beds may need to be toughened up to protect the public.
Rock Island County States Attorney John McGehee says the issue surfaced after a man who hid cameras in a tanning booth to record customers undressing was sentenced to just 90 days in the county jail.
Prosecutors initially charged Trent Hamer with a felony, but he was allowed to plead guilty to a less serious misdemeanor.
Hamer was arrested before he was able to retrieve the graphic images off of the camera, still in the tanning booth, and the judge interpreted the offense as a misdemeanor.
"He did place the video equipment there but he didn't "knowingly" make the video. It's the language of the particular statute," said McGehee.
He says the law could be streamlined.
"If every provision of the law would make this a felony I think that would make the law stronger and the punishment tougher for this kind of offense," he said.
He plans on talking about the case at an upcoming conference in Chicago with appellate prosecutors and other states attorneys.
"They have influence in Springfield and this may be something to make the law clearer and stronger."