The Indiana Court of Appeals has thrown out the conviction of David DeLagrange.

 He’s the Fort Wayne man accused of using cameras hidden in his shoes to lookup

 girl’s dresses.

According to our partners in news at 21 Alive, DeLagrange was arrested in 2011 for

attempted child exploitation after videotaping up the skirts of a 15-year-old girl and

three 17-year-olds at the Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis, but today’s ruling</span>

dismisses those convictions because the statue referred to “sexual conduct by a

child.” 

In their ruling the justices say in part… 

“(there) was no evidence any of the minors were involved in the type of conduct

required by the child exploitation statute.” 

The ruling reads in order to convict, 

“each child must have been exhibiting her uncovered genitals with the intent to

satisfy sexual desires.”

In the dissenting opinion one of the judges wrote that he believes the language was

misrepresented,

“(The Statute) cannot be interpreted to require that a child be an active participant

in the exhibition of her genitals or that the child have the intent to satisfy sexual

desires. Such an interpretation improperly focuses the elements of the crime on the

actions of the child and undermines the very foundation of the statute, which was

designed to protect children.”

 

DeLagrange was also convicted of resisting arrest; he’s been sentenced to four years in

prison with three years suspended.