Target’s commitment to an “inclusive experience” for its customers provided the means for a transgendered Idaho Falls “woman” to snap shots of a woman while she tried on clothes in a store dressing room.
Bonneville County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a store in Ammon Monday after a customer reported that someone was taking pictures of her in the dressing room with a cell phone while she was changing, the Idaho Falls Post Register reports.
The woman confronted the culprit, who fled on foot, according to a police statement.
According to East Idaho News:
A woman told (police) a man, dressed in women’s clothing, had entered a fitting room in the women’s clothing section of the store. Deputies say the suspect was seen taking photos of a lady in a stall next to him while she was changing.
“The woman was begging for help as she chased the man out the door,” a witness inside the store, who asked not to be named, tells EastIdahoNews.com. “She kept saying she wanted those pictures deleted.”
Witnesses and store security video led deputies to Shauna Patricia Smith, 43, who is listed in official jail records as Sean Smith.
Smith now faces a felony voyeurism charge that carries a potential 5-year prison sentence. Sheriff’s officials are still working to determine if Smith may have victimized other women.
The arrest comes less than three months after Target issued a statement about its “Stand for Inclusivity” in April.
“In our stores, we demonstrate our commitment to an inclusive experience in many ways. Most relevant for our conversations currently underway, we welcome transgender team members and guests to sue the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity,” the statement read.
The transgender friendly policy sparked outrage among more than 1 million Target customers who signed a pledge “to boycott Target stores until protecting women and children is a priority,” according to the American Family Association.
Target’s policy “means a man can simply say he ‘feels like a woman’ and enter the women’s restroom … even if young girls or women are already there,” the pledge states.
“Sign the pledge to boycott Target now!” it reads. “Target should not allow men to enter the women’s restrooms and dressing rooms.”
The AFA presented the signatures to Target headquarters in Minneapolis in May, and has since worked to double the number to increase pressure on the company.
AFA officials suggested that Target keep separate facilities for men and women, and provide a single occupancy unisex option for transgender or other who want more privacy.
“Target representatives were gracious and respectful, but sadly, they rejected our offer,” according to the AFA website.
The website lists numerous news stories involving situations very similar to the Idaho Falls incident, from a multiple men arrested for recording young girls at Target stores, to sex predators exploiting transgender policies to sexually assault women.
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