WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – New Hanover County prosecutors credited an alert convenience store manager for helping identify a man who would later plead guilty to taking upskirt pictures of a young woman at the business earlier this year.
According to prosecutors, Christopher James Grant, 26, followed the victim into the Scotchman on South College Road on March 4. The manager noticed Grant was watching the woman as she walked through the store.
Prosecutors said Grant stood “unusually and uncomfortably” close behind the victim as they waited in line, and later followed the woman out the store.
The manager reviewed the store’s surveillance video and saw Grant use his cell phone to take a picture under the dress of the woman. He was able to identify the license plate of Grant’s work van and contacted authorities. Grant would later admit to deputies that he had taken the surreptitious photograph.
On Wednesday, Grant was given a 6-17 month suspended prison sentence and 4 years of supervised probation. He will also have to undergo sex offender specific mental health and substance abuse evaluations. Grant is also barred from possessing a device that can take pictures, and he’s not allowed to have contact with the victim.
“This type of behavior is very upsetting for victims and for their families; it leaves them with feelings of being violated in a public space where this should not be a concern. We are grateful for the actions of the manager of the store who was so diligent in protecting his customer,” said assistant district attorney Connie Jordan.
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