A grand jury indicted a Prince George’s County police officer Thursday after prosecutors accused him of taking upskirt photos of “unsuspecting women,” with some of the images allegedly taken during traffic stops while he was on duty.

Prince George’s police started an investigation last month after an off-duty officer who was at a Sports Authority in Bowie reported that county police officer James Sims had taken an upskirt photo of her, prosecutors said.

“This victim realized what he was trying to do, and as she confronted him about it, she pursued him into the parking lot, where she saw him get into his marked county police cruiser,” said John Erzen, a spokesman for the county state’s attorney’s office.

The grand jury indicted Sims, 30, on four counts of visual surveillance with prurient interest and two counts of misconduct in office, prosecutors said.

Erzen said the charges involved four victims. The alleged incidents occurred between May 2015 and last month while the officer was on and off duty, he said.

Prince George’s County police officer James Sims faces charges of visual surveillance with prurient interest and misconduct in office. (Prince George's County police)

The investigation uncovered at least two upskirt incidents during traffic stops, police and prosecutors said.

Prosecutors, citing the ongoing investigation, declined to say whether it appeared that Sims targeted women to pull over or detail how the photos taken during traffic stops were done without the women’s knowledge. But the traffic stops appeared to be legitimate, Erzen said.

Those alleged victims received a citation, warning or an order to repair equipment, Police Chief Henry Stawinski III said.

“This is a person who is in a position of public trust,” Erzen said. “Not only did he violate the privacy of his victims, but he also violated the public trust.”

One of the off-duty incidents prosecutors cited occurred at a Chipotle in Bowie. That victim has not yet been identified, Erzen said.

Stawinski denounced the alleged conduct and called it “disgusting” and a betrayal of the community’s trust.

The initial upskirt complaint against Sims was filed June 1, and police immediately suspended him, launched an investigation and contacted the state’s attorney’s office, the chief said.

“As much as I regret coming before the community to talk about this, this is the process working,” Stawinski said. “This is our commitment to this community that when we find misconduct, we will address it effectively, head on and immediately.”

Sims has been suspended with pay and “is not to have any contact with the public” in any official capacity, Stawinski said.

Sims has been with the department since 2010 and was assigned to patrol, police said.

Erzen said Sims would be “subject to the same penalties that anyone else would be who is charged with these crimes.”

Sims could face up to four years in prison on the visual surveillance charges.

Punishment on the misconduct charges remains unclear and is “not to exceed anything cruel and unusual based on the crime committed,” according to prosecutors.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case or who suspects she may have been a victim to call 301-856-2660.