Accused Church Bathroom Peeper Pleads Not Guilty

IRVINE, CA – A 29-year-old man pleaded not guilty today to using a cell phone to videotape an 8-year-old girl using the bathroom at a church in Irvine.

Yi Woo Ju is charged with videotaping another in partial dress and child annoyance, both misdemeanors, and possession or control of child pornography, a felony. He was ordered held on $50,000 bail pending a pretrial hearing on Aug. 15.

The "peeping" incident occurred about 4:45 p.m. last Wednesday at Bethel Korean Church at 18700 Harvard Ave., where the girl was attending a camp program, according to Kim Mohr of the Irvine Police Department.

When the girl went to the bathroom, the suspect followed her, and as she began to relieve herself, he slipped a phone under the stall to videotape her, Mohr alleged.

A teacher, who was nearby, heard the girl crying and confronted the suspect, Mohr said.

He ran off, but the girl's mother got either all or part of his license plate number, which police used to track him down, she said.

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