Woman says she was recorded in dressing room, cop laughed when she reported it

Officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Office are seeking the public's health in identifying this man who is accused of videotaping a woman in the Goodwill dressing room off N. Fry Road in Katy. Officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Office are seeking the public's health in identifying this man who is accused of videotaping a woman in the Goodwill dressing room off N. Fry Road in Katy. Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Woman says she was recorded in dressing room, cop laughed when she reported it 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

First she felt violated when a man recorded her in a dressing room. Then she felt humiliated when the officer she reported it to laughed at her. Now Yesenia Posada is angry, and she wants something done.

The 26-year-old woman says she was videotaped by a stranger while she was in a dressing room in the Goodwill off N. Fry Road in Katy, around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

"I noticed that these pair of tennis shoes kept following my movement. Then I saw there was a bag that a cellphone was in and the cellphone was upside down facing me," Posada said. "The cellphone was in the mesh part of the backpack. He put it down like he dropped it or something."

Posada said after realizing the man was videotaping her she quickly changed and exited the dressing room, but the man had already left the store. That's when she called the police.

"The sad part was it took that first deputy about a good hour and a 45 minutes to get to me. I stayed in the Goodwill just waiting, waiting and waiting" Posada said.

She said the first Harris County deputy who responded to her call did not take her seriously, and laughed about it.

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"He didn't think it was important enough, he thought it was actually funny," Posada said. "[The suspect] taped me...to me that's sexual assault. And in the video surveillance that they have at the Goodwill, they told me they can see the guy looking at his phone, looking at whatever he took of me, putting it back down and doing it again."

Posada said the first deputy did not file a report, and just took a couple of notes after telling her she should have run after the man herself.

Posada said after she felt the deputy did not take her seriously, her mother reached out to media outlets. By 6 p.m. that night, HCSO authorities came to her house and filed a report.

Now she said she is considering pressing charges against the first responding deputy as well as the stranger accused of filming her.

"He was not doing his job and not taking it seriously, that's when we got into contact with the media and that's why the Harris County Sheriff's Office is doing an investigation," Posada said. "They said they were going to investigate further and they kept telling me 'Sorry, that is not how we operate.' But this is not fair - how many other incidents have gone unreported?"

According to a press release from the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the suspect is possibly Hispanic, 5'7-5'8 in height and weighs between 160-170 pounds. He has black hair and at the time of the incident was wearing a black shirt with blue coloring and dark frame glasses. According to the release, he left the store in a white colored Sprinter van.

The video footage released by the HCSO shows the man walking into the store and not his actions in the dressing room area.

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"I am just trying to put the word out there," Posada said. "It happened to me, it can happen to anyone [and] people need to be aware of their surroundings."

Posada said she hopes the man who videotaped her is found and the officer who ignored her first plea for help is held accountable. She said she plans to hire a lawyer and wants to press charges against both men.

"I got a case number at 6 p.m. when this incident happened at 11 a.m., when I called the police...how come it wasn't done right the first time?" Posada said. "I want Harris County held accountable."

Officials from the HCSO said an internal review of the deputy's action is being conducted and declined to comment further.

Anyone with information on the man is can call the Harris County Sheriff's Office at 713-221-6000. Crime Stoppers is offering up to $5,000 for information leading to the man's arrest; those with information can call 713-222-TIPS (8477.)

Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on the breaking news site chron.com and the subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Follow her on Twitter: @beccaghennes.

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