Man Who Took Photos Without Women's Consent Sentenced: DeKalb D.A.

DECATUR, GA — A Lithonia man was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to capturing photos and videos of women without consent on his cell phone, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston's office said Thursday.

A judge sentenced 50-year-old Jesse William Kirk on March 12 after he pled guilty to placing his phone under women's skirts and taking photos.

Prosecutors said the allegations against Kirk, who was in a Montana prison at the time of his recent arrest, stemmed from 2019 and 2023 in Brookhaven.

Brookhaven officers on July 23, 2019 responded to a Brookhaven Avenue grocery store about suspicious activity. Prosecutors said an employee told officers a man may have been taking photos under a woman's skirt.

Surveillance video captured Kirk using his phone to take a photo of the woman's butt underneath her dress as she bent forward while shopping, prosecutors said.

The video additionally showed Kirk following a second woman inside of the store and taking a photo under her skirt, prosecutors said.

Kirk, who filled up his truck at the grocery store's gas pumps, was identified as the suspect through his license plate and vehicle registration, prosecutors said. Detectives then used a photo of Kirk to match the surveillance video, prosecutors said.

Additionally, Kirk was listed on the Sex Offender Registry, prosecutors said.

When officers arrested him, prosecutors said Kirk denied taking the photos though prosecutors said their office was able to match photos from Kirk's phone to the grocery store incidents.

Kirk was previously arrested in April 2023 in Newnan for a similar incident in the dressing room of a retail store, prosecutors said. Photos were found on his phone of women without consent, prosecutors said.

Furthermore, prosecutors said three videos on the phone showed a partially-dressed woman inside of her apartment.

"The videos appeared to be taken from the woman’s apartment balcony without her knowledge. Investigators determined the location where the videos were recorded and went to the apartment complex in DeKalb County. They spoke to the woman who confirmed she was the one in the videos and did not know Defendant Kirk," prosecutors said in a news release.

Kirk, who was in prison in Montana, was ultimately extradited to DeKalb County, prosecutors said.

He was charged on suspicion of two counts of using/installing a device to observe or record underneath or through an individual's clothing and one count of peeping Tom, prosecutors said.

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Brian Lake sentenced Kirk to 15 years, with eight years to serve in prison and the remainder on probation, prosecutors said.

The case in Newnan is pending, prosecutors said.