Peeping Tom entered homes, performed lewd acts and sent photos to victims, NC cops say
A North Carolina man is facing a string of obscenity charges after he was accused of engaging in a 21-month-long string of peeping Tom incidents that also included sending nude photos to some victims via the AirDrop feature, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
In some cases, 27-year-old Messiah Mazyck entered homes to commit obscene acts, investigators said at a Wednesdaynews conference.
The cases date as far back as March 2019 and were spread across six apartment communities in the University City area of north Charlotte, CMPD reports.
Capt. Joel McNelly of CMPD’s Violent Crimes Division said there were no reports of the incidents “escalating to any sexual assaults.”
“But obviously people feel very violated when they see something like this and especially feel very violated if someone enters their home to engage in this kind of activity,” McNelly said at the news conference. “I can only image that that’s terrifying to someone sitting in their living room, to have someone walk in and expose themselves inside their house.”
Mazyck is not a registered sex offender and does not have a history of violent crimes, police said.
Witnesses and victims have reported peeping Tom incidents, indecent exposure and “two to three cases where ... the suspect entered an unlocked door and walked into an apartment and engaged in this activity,” McNelly said.
“In several of these cases, the suspect also used AirDrop to send obscene photos to the victims,” he said.
AirDrop is a file transfer feature that allows people to “transfer any kind of file — photos, videos, phone contacts, and even Map locations — from one person or device to another,” according to BusinessInsider.com.
CMPD released the names of six apartment communities where incidents were reported, in hopes of finding other victims who did not report encounters. The apartments include: 49 North, University Village at Charlotte, The Mill, Mallard Glen, The villas at Mallard Creek and Ashford Green, officials said.
“We anticipate there may be many more victims that haven’t reported in the University area,” McNelly said. “If anyone was a victim of any of these crimes, or knows anything about these crimes, or saw anything that maybe you thought was suspicious ... call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.”
Mazyck’s charges include two counts of felony dissemination obscenity, three counts of public masturbation and two counts of secret peeping, according to CMPD. Mecklenburg County jail records show he is also charged with driving while his license is revoked and possession of up to a half-ounce of marijuana
