PORT ST. LUCIE – The 77-year-old man allegedly lurked in area Wal-Marts and Kmarts, using a mirror and a camera phone in a quest for what he considered a “trophy” – a 30- to 40-year-old white woman wearing a dress but no underwear, police said Tuesday.
Harry Tasker, of the 500 block of Southeast Anchor Lane, faces a misdemeanor video voyeurism charge and told investigators Monday he’s been looking up women’s skirts for about 13 years without their knowledge.
“What the ultimate satisfaction would be is to find a woman that didn’t have underwear on,” Detective Charlie Lumpkin said. “It was clear to me when the interview was being conducted, that’s what his trophy was.”
Tasker’s alleged behavior came to law enforcement’s attention Aug. 5, when a 23-year-old woman shopping in the baby section of a Wal-Mart SuperCenter in St. Lucie West told police she felt someone was behind her.
“She turned around and saw an older man lunging down with his camera phone under her skirt,” court records show. “When the unknown male noticed her looking at him, he placed the phone on the right side of his pants by the waistband.”
The victim identified the suspect from surveillance video, and an officer who viewed the tape recognized the man as someone who worked out at his gym.
The victim picked Tasker out of a photo line-up, saying she was “sure” that Tasker was the man who snapped a photo under her skirt with a camera phone, court records show.
Arrested Monday, Tasker, who denied to police using his camera phone to peer up women’s skirts, declined comment Tuesday and said he has an appointment with an attorney today.
Tasker reportedly told police he would take a mirror from the store and put it in his pocket. When he found a woman fitting his criteria, he reportedly maneuvered the mirror to see whether she wore underwear.
Lumpkin described it as “basically stalking his prey and then moving in on them when he felt that they were the most vulnerable.”
Officer Yaniz Hernandez said Tasker’s wife had “no idea” about her husband’s alleged actions.
Hernandez said that on the way to jail Tasker “admitted that he had messed up and that he was really ashamed.” She said there could be thousands of victims.
Tasker said he possessed a camera phone, which police recovered at his house near Floresta Drive and Prima Vista Boulevard, along with a digital camera, computer and media cards.
“I think it’s horrendous,” said Connie Sue, 57, one of Tasker’s neighbors. “He just kept looking … every time I walked past.”
Tasker was released Monday from the St. Lucie County Jail on $2,500 bail, a jail official said.