5 September 19 - 25, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Peeping Perv Pics Female UNT students find ‘creeper’ photos posted online. BY EMMA RUBY “T here is a creeper at the University of North Texas’ recreation center.” The rumor started circulating re- cently across social media. Instagram stories and Reddit posts warned female students that they may among the dozens of unsuspecting campus gym users whose photo had been taken and plastered on a website, “Candid Girls,” alongside sexually objectifying captions. The website is a forum of rudimentary design that promotes taking and posting im- ages of women who are in public spaces and are unaware their photo is being taken. Indi- vidual posts, which are captioned with ex- plicit buzzwords generally reserved for click-bait pornography, receive tens of thou- sands of clicks and comments. Comments left by users detail the sexual gratification they derived from the images. When one UNT student, Kate S., saw the warnings of a Candid Girls user targeting the UNT Pohl Recreation Center, she began scouring the site. It didn’t take her long to find one user, whose account has now been deactivated, who boasted a hefty portfolio of “college girl” photos taken in the UNT gym. Kate, who regularly works out at the gym, found dozens of photos of herself. When she scrolled through the user’s ac- count, she found images of 57 different women, all taken in the Pohl Rec Center. “I was absolutely horrified. My heart dropped … The first thing was just like, how did I not know?” Kate, whose last name was not included in this report to maintain her privacy, told the Observer. “Every woman al- ways knows ‘I need to pay attention to where I am at all times.’ And I thought at least at a campus gym, I thought I would be safe. But I guess that’s not really the case.” The photos can no longer be viewed on the Candid Girls website because the poster deactivated the account last Friday evening, but Google searches still show a preview of the images with their explicit labels. In a statement shared with the Observer, a UNT spokesperson said the campus is “aware” of a Reddit post “ about an individ- ual taking photos” at the campus gym. “The UNT Police Department is investi- gating. To date, we have identified some in- dividuals in the photos and have taken several reports,” the statement reads. “Pho- tography and video in the UNT recreation center locker rooms, restrooms and aquatic facilities are strictly prohibited.” After reporting the images of herself to school officials, Kate says she was told that the photography may be allowed because she was in a public place when the photos were taken. Up until 2015 Kate may have been protected by a section of the Texas Penal Code, which stated images taken without the subject’s con- sent with the intention to “arouse or gratify the sexual desires of any person” is an offense. That law was changed to state that photogra- phy is only outlawed in bathrooms and chang- ing rooms, and has not been updated since. Some female students who were photo- graphed say the sexually explicit context of the website forum has been shocking, leav- ing them feeling wary of their surroundings while on campus. “Now when I go to the rec, I wear a bunch of baggy clothes, like sweatpants and oversized shirts, which sucks, because I go to the gym to feel comfortable with my body and be confident,” Claire M., another UNT student who found photos of herself on the website, told the Observer. “Now I can’t do that because there’s a creep taking photos of my girlfriends and I.” Claire found over 20 images of herself working out at the Pohl Recreation Center posted to the website. Her roommate was pictured nearly 60 times. The folder con- taining the images of the two girls was la- beled “the best friend short and tall duo.” “I was like great. So now we have a name,” Claire said. “With some of the photos, I no- ticed that when, whoever this creeper is, they would take the photos, they would blur them- selves out if they could be seen in the mirror.” The irony of the photographer granting themselves anonymity is not lost on her. Claire said the images taken of herself were months old, but she believes the post- ings spanned a wide time frame, as some of the images showed more recent updates to the gym pictured in the background. She continues to visit the campus gym for now, but she says she may look into switching gyms if she begins to feel unsafe. Claire’s face could not be seen in the images, but her roommates’ could be seen clearly. Kate’s face could be seen as well, which has left her concerned about her privacy. The photos of Kate were taken last spring, she deduced through cross-referenc- ing entries in her personal journal with the weights she was using in the photos. In many instances, whoever took the photos waited until she was in a suggestive position, such as bending over, to snap a photo. It makes the images look intentional, as if Kate had posed for them, which she de- scribes as the “most awful” aspect of the sit- uation. In many cases on the website, the comment section on images of women bending over — to tie her shoes, to collect an object from a low shelf, to execute an exer- cise — are filled with rhetoric such as “she knew what she was doing.” Kate and Claire are now among the fe- male students urging UNT officials to do something to address their concerns and those of their peers. Claire believes that a campus alert should be sent out to warn women of the peeping photographer. “There needs to be some kind of protec- tion for students, especially women in the gym,” Kate said. “If they say there’s nothing they can do, that is so concerning because then it becomes a women’s issue. [It’s tell- ing] me, as a female in a co-ed space, that I have no protection against other guys. It’s just all up to me.” ▼ CRIMINAL JUSTICE ‘HOUSE OF HORRORS’ AFTER DAMNING REPORT, CHANGES DEMANDED AT HENRY WADE JUVENILE JUSTICE CENTER. BY KELLY DEARMORE A group of local pastors and activists are demanding sweeping changes inside the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center in Dallas following a damn- ing state report on the conditions of the jail and treatment of its juvenile inmates. On Sept. 10, The Dallas Morning News re- ported that the executive summary of a re- port by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General notes that detention staff falsified “observa- tion sheet” documents in an apparent effort to cover up the manner in which children in the center were often subjected to unsani- tary, unsafe conditions while also being dis- ciplined with egregious, unlawful amounts of solitary confinement. The conditions out- lined in the report were discovered during a surprise inspection in 2023. Perhaps the most extreme finding related to the use of solitary confinement. Accord- ing to the Morning News, the juvenile de- partment employed a “special needs unit” to isolate youths for as much as up to five days without regularly scheduled education, ex- ercise and showers. At a news conference at the front door of the facility on the afternoon the report was published, Dr. Michael W. Waters of the Dal- las Black Clergy for Safety, Equity and Jus- tice opened by reciting the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and un- usual punishment, before holding out a bun- gee cord-style leash. “This confirms what we’ve known all along,” Waters said. “That Henry Wade [Ju- venile Justice Center] is a house of horrors. Adults must be held accountable when they harm children. It’s interesting to note that in the city of Dallas, it is illegal to keep a dog tethered for longer than three hours in a 24 hour period, yet children in this county have been kept in filthy cells for days at a time without being afforded the dignity of even a daily shower.” With the inspector general report provid- ing validation for the concerns he and his fel- low advocates have been vocal about for some time, Waters detailed a list of demands, including an independent, third-party review that will offer recommendations on best practices, community involvement in the se- lection of a new Dallas County Juvenile Board executive director, a meeting with ev- ery member of the juvenile board and “swift accountability for every adult in the system who has harmed our children and has tram- pled upon their civil and human rights.” Dr. Phea Kennedy, co-founder of the Dal- las Black Clergy, said that as she reflected on what has transpired at the facility, she was reminded of specific verses from the Bible. “When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but dismay to evildoers,” Kennedy said as she quoted Proverbs 21:15. She contin- ued by quoting Proverbs 31:8-9, saying “Speak out for those who can not speak, for the rights of all destitute, speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” As Waters welcomed questions from the media after the remarks, interim juvenile board director Michael Griffiths joined the small group of assembled media. When Wa- ters was asked about his confidence in Griffiths’ leadership, Griffiths spoke up, say- ing “he’s here right now, and I’ve reached out to Reverend Walters before,” | UNFAIR PARK | Jordan Maddox Dozens of women were photographed while working out at the UNT Pohl Recreation Center. >> p6
