 |
| Jack Van Matre (facebook photo) |
A retired Springfield police officer, who was arrested at his own wedding reception last weekend, has found himself on the wrong side of the law.
Greene County prosecutors have charged Jack B. Van Matre, 54, with first-degree felony violation of privacy. Van Matre retired as a Springfield patrol officer in November 2006.
Police transported Van Matre's from the wedding reception to his home at 4002 West Page on October 7th after a 14 year-old girl living in the home found a video camera in a bathroom and another in a bedroom. The girl took a picture of the camera's with her cell phone and contacted her biological father, who then called authorities, according to the probable cause statement.
-
Court records say that police officers found two cameras that were connected wirelessly to Van Matre's laptop computer that were hidden behind fake air vents.
-
After Van Matre consented to the search of his home and gave officers the password to his computer, officers watched part of one video that showed a partially naked teen in the bathroom. According to court documents, when the teen left, Van Matre entered the bathroom "and looked directly at the camera and smiled before walking out."
Van Matre told police he "found the teen attractive and viewed her as an adult female and was attracted to her as an adult," according to court records. He also admitted the videos amounted to "voyeurism" and child pornography.
-
As he was read his rights his demeanor changed according to the probable cause statement, "His eyes glassed over, he lowered his head and it appeared as though the words were painful for him to hear and had a drastic impact on his emotional state of mind." At one point during the search of his home Van Matre told Officer Dan Rankey, "Just put a bullet in my head. I know I wanted to when I worked calls like this."
-
Van Matre's wife told authorities she feared for her husband's well being because, "He said he would harm himself before being exposed publicly in this matter."
The former cop told investigators that he installed the camera's in August or September of 2011. When asked why he had installed them Van Matre replied, "I'd say mental illness, wouldn't you."
After Van Matre retired from the police force, he opened a budoir photography business in downtown called, "Behind The Red Door," and now has a website as a wedding photographer. Authorities won't say specifically if they are looking into anything to do with Van Matre's business, "We have a lengthy investigation in front of us," said public information officer Cpl. Matt Brown.
Van Matre was booked into the Greene County jail where he was later released after posting $20,000 bond. Part of the condition of the bond were that he surrender all of his weapons. He was also ordered not to have any contact with anyone under the age of 17 and have no access to the Internet.
Typically crimes related to child pornography are usually handled in federal court - as of Wednesday afternoon no federal charges had been filed against Van Matre.
No comments:
Post a Comment