SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) Social media helped lead police to a suspect accused of taking pictures of a young boy in a bookstore bathroom. It all started Saturday at Barnes and Noble in South Burlington where a father and his 6-year-old son were browsing for books. Then the pair took a trip to the bathroom.
"While his son was at the urinal, that someone in a stall had used a cellphone, had put the cellphone under the partition of the stall and he believed had taken a picture of his son," South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple said.
The father confronted the man, wanting to see if he had in fact taken photos. Police say the suspect locked himself in the stall, and then made a break for it. But not before the father snapped a picture of him to show to police.
Officers posted that on the department's Facebook page hoping someone would recognize the suspect. The picture has been shared on Facebook almost 7,000 times.
The chief says having your face plastered all over social media can be a big motivator for turning yourself in. And the next day, police say that's what Conor Hanlon did.
"We see people basically get tired of being accosted or approached by people in the community and approach us and say, 'It's me. I want to tell you I'm the person you're looking for,'" Whipple said.
Police issued a citation to Hanlon, 20, of Johnson.
The chief says social media is a great tool, speeding up the process and cutting down on legwork.
"Back in my frontline days working the road, I might if I was lucky, first we wouldn't have had a cellphone picture, if I had a picture, I would have to walk around and show the physical picture to people," Whipple said.
But with all this sharing and commenting, there's also a downside.
"Sometimes a rumor will be heard by somebody, it will get posted. It will be received as fact and reposted," Whipple said. "So sometimes that can be a real challenge to us."
Hanlon will be in court to face a voyeurism charge March 29.
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