Bryan man arrested after recording underaged girl in changing room
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - A Bryan man is in jail after police said he used his phone to take a video of an underage teen in a changing room.
Homar Padilla, 24, of Bryan was arrested on Thursday and charged with Invasive Video Recording.
According to College Station Police, a mother and her 16-year-old daughter were shopping at the Walmart on Brothers Boulevard Thursday afternoon around 4:45 p.m. The daughter was in the changing room trying on a swimsuit when she noticed a hand slide a phone underneath the wall into the changing room. She immediately picked up the phone after she noticed a flashing red light and a timer counting up. Padilla reached under the wall to try to grab his phone, however, the victim gave it to her mom who called the police.
Padilla attempted to get his phone out of the mother’s rear pocket but was unsuccessful.
Police said Padilla claimed he was shopping for jeans for his wife and then decided to make a “TikTok” video which caused him to drop his phone which he inadvertently kicked under the dressing room wall. Padilla denied using his hand to push the phone under the wall or putting his hand under a wall to retrieve it.
Arrest records show that Padilla was caught on video crouched down to the floor at the back wall of the fitting room. Police said the video conflicted with Padilla’s statement leading to an arrest.
Scotty’s House Executive Director Cary Baker said they encourage parents and children to stay hyper-vigilant.
“In this situation, the mom and her daughter did exactly what we want them to do,” Baker said. “They were aware of what was going on. They fought, did what they could to apprehend the perpetrator, and stopped him from recording, at least as reported.”
If someone is concerned that they’re being followed Baker said it’s best to be loud and draw attention to the situation.
“You want to get the attention of others who might be in the area because you have no control over what that other person is going to do, but they’re going to be less likely to do something if there is a large crowd around you, if there are a lot of witnesses,” Baker said.
Baker said they encourage anyone to report child abuse to the Child Abuse Reporting Hotline at 1-800-252-5400 and in emergency situations call the police.
“There was nothing they could do to prevent this,” Baker said. “This was somebody looking for a target and they happened to be the ones that he chose that day.”
Padilla’s bond sits at $10,000.
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