'Bet' for job leads to voyeurism arrests

BATON ROUGE - Charges for at least one of two men arrested in a 2015 video voyeurism investigation have been lessened to simple battery.

The initial arrests came in the summer of 2015 when a woman said the pair recorded, without her consent, her performing a sex act as part of a "bet" for a job at a Baton Rouge bar.

At the time, police said the 19-year-old female victim met one of the men on June 20 and told him she wanted a job at JL's bar on Bob Petit. The woman said she was told she could have the job if she could get 20 people to show up at the bar that night, or else she would have to perform a sexual act on the other man charged. Police said the woman agreed.

The victim told police when she arrived at the bar it was closed and only four people were inside, so she was told she'd lost the bet. The victim agreed to "own up" to her end of the deal and went into the bathroom in exchange for getting the job. The victim said while it was happening she noticed she was being recorded and she demanded it be deleted before she left the bar.

On July 12 the victim said she saw the video posted on social media and learned the two men shared the video.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated in March 2018 to reflect a change in the charges as a result of a plea deal.