A Ponte Vedra Beach man is facing felony charges for allegedly filming under the dress of a minor girl Saturday night on St. George Street in downtown St. Augustine, according to an arrest report.
A patrolling deputy noted a commotion on the busy commercial stretch between two groups at roughly 10 p.m. and quickly separated them, papers state.
A witness told the officer that he saw a man place a phone with the camera activated “underneath his niece’s dress,” according to the arrest report.
The suspect, who was with a group of friends, told the officer that he was attempting a TikTok prank where phones are placed near devices belonging to strangers to simulate extracting money from their Apple Pay account.
The man acknowledged that he placed the phone near the minor’s back pocket but denied recording her.
He volunteered to have the officer check his phone, and no images of the girl turned up, the papers state.
But several members of the girl’s family insisted that he had purposefully placed it underneath her dress.
Her parents said in sworn statements they saw the suspect commit the act and immediately confronted him about it.
The man was ultimately charged with a felony count of digital voyeurism of a minor and taken to jail.
The case is pending.
