Minnesota Supreme Court reverses conviction of man who recorded teen in bathroom stall

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Supreme Court has reversed the conviction of a man found guilty of surreptitiously recording video of a 15-year-old boy at a fitness club in Bloomington, Minnesota in 2018.

According to the decision, Edgar Galvan-Contreras was arrested after the 15-year-old victim noticed the camera set up in a gap in a bathroom stall at the gym.

The boy went to tell his mother, who complained to an employee, who confronted Galvan-Contreras, the opinion details. Weeks later, police obtained a search warrant for Galvan-Contreras' phone and found a video of the victim.

Galvan-Contreras was charged and later convicted of interference with privacy in the case.

At issue is whether Galvan-Contreras knew the person he was recording was a minor. For recording a minor, the interference with privacy charge is upgraded from a gross misdemeanor to a felony. According to the ruling, when speaking with Bloomington police, Galvan-Contreras said upon seeing the victim, he immediately realized he was a child.

However, the Minnesota Supreme Court says a strict reading of the law requires Galvan-Contreras to know, or have reason to believe, that he would record a minor when he set up the camera in order for him to violate the felony statute. Because of that, the court reversed his conviction.

The reversal came down to a 4-3 decision, with Justices Anne McKeig, Margaret Chutich, and Paul Thissen dissenting. In the dissent, McKeig argues the court was adopting "an unreasonable interpretation of the relevant statute."

Based on court records, it appears Galvan-Contreras has already served his sentence of 60 days in the county workhouse.