Man Charged With Multiple Counts of Felony Voyeurism Behind Bars

(Rock Springs / Green River, Wyo. – January 26, 2018)     Bond has been set at $25,000 cash or surety for Ryan M. Flaten, 28, who is charged with 16 counts of Felony Voyeurism,  Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell said Friday.

As set out in Wyoming state statute 6-4-304, “(a)  A person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), or both, if he, without the consent of the person being viewed, commits the crime of voyeurism by looking in a clandestine, surreptitious, prying or secretive nature into an enclosed area where the person being viewed has a reasonable expectation of privacy, including, but not limited to: (I)  Restrooms; (ii)  Baths; (iii)  Showers; or (iv)  Dressing or fitting rooms.”

Voyeurism becomes a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years, a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both, if the person “Commits the offense specified in subsection (a) of this section by knowingly or intentionally capturing an image by means of a camera, a video camera or any other image recording device; or (ii)  Uses a camera, video camera or any other image recording device for the purpose of observing, viewing, photographing, filming or videotaping another person under the clothing being worn by the other person where that other person has not consented to the observing, viewing, photographing, filming or videotaping.”

Flaten’s charges are all felonies.

Lowell said that in a separate case, Flaten was arrested in Lyman, Wyoming, on November 17, 2017, and charged with Voyeurism after a “GoPro” video camera was found in the public restroom of the Maverik Country Store in Lyman. During the course, their investigation, officers of the Lyman Police Department executed a search warrant at Flaten’s Lyman residence and recovered video devices that contained footage of locations in Sweetwater County. Lyman officers contacted Sergeant Rich Fischer of the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, who launched an investigation of his own.

Fischer’s investigation has thus far tied Flaten to video cameras hidden in a changing room at the Goodwill Store on Dewar Drive in Rock Springs, a restroom at Solvay Chemicals, west of Green River, and video footage of women inside several residences in Green River.

Lowell said the Sheriff’s Office is not publicly identifying any of the victims in the case. Fischer arrested Flaten at his latest residence in Green River Friday morning.

A preliminary hearing has been set for January 31 in Circuit Court in Green River. As of press time, Flaten remains in custody at the Sweetwater County Detention Center.

Lowell said the investigation is ongoing. Anyone who has information is asked to contact Sergeant Fischer through the Combined Communications Center in Green River at (307) 875-1400.