After pleading guilty to voyeurism, a civil suit against Clint Stone was dismissed Dec. 1.
Stone was working for Coffel Vending, South Bend, when, in May 2007, he was caught taking inappropriate photos of a teenage girl at Tippecanoe Valley High School.Stone pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation and community service.
Then the girl's mother, Chris Cauffman, filed a civil lawsuit against Stone in Kosciusko County Circuit Court citing infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy. Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. was named in the suit and accused of negligence while Coffel Vending Co. was accused of vicarious liability.
Cauffman thought, since Stone had pleaded guilty to voyeurism for what he did to her daughter, a decision against him in a civil case was a certainty.
That changed, however, when Stone's attorney, Larry Beeson, filed a motion to dismiss. Judge Rex Reed dismissed the case.
"I'm outraged," said Cauffman. "It doesn't make sense."
"I thoroughly disagree with the judge's decision," said Cauffman family attorney Jay Lavender.
Beeson declined to comment on the case.
Lavender has filed an amended complaint in hopes for a different decision.
Lavender said that a high school is not a public place in the sense that anyone can go there, and that there should be some sort of protection for its students.
Lavender said that he and the girl's family are ready to take the case as far as it will go for the decision they seek.
Cauffman said her daughter, who this year is a senior at TVHS, is slowly starting to recover from the emotional distress caused by the incident.
"All the kids (at Tippecanoe Valley High School) have been very supportive," said Cauffman. "She tried to go through with counseling and appears to be on the right track. She's getting better but it's going to be a process," said Cauffman.
She has contacted Indiana State Rep. Bill Friend. He is drafting a bill that amends the voyeurism law in which, among other things, extends the sentence from a six-month maximum jail term to one year.
Cauffman is aware that there is no guarantee that the bill will pass, but she is doing everything she can to raise awareness about incidents like that which happened to her daughter.
"As fast as technology is moving with things like cell phones, our laws aren't keeping up," said Cauffman.
Cauffman said that if anyone supports making voyeurism laws stronger, they can email her at mchoward@rtcol.com to add their name to a petition to make those laws stiffer.
