The 33rd/424th Judicial District Attorney’s Office will review an investigation into an alleged video recording of a sexual act involving Llano Independent School District (LISD) students.
Llano Police Depart- ment (LPD) confirmed that the Llano Independent School District Police Department brought the alleged incident to their attention in September.
“The incident that was alleged to have occurred did not occur on school property,” Llano Police Chief John Morrison told The Highlander. “It involved students.” LPD investigated “one incident” of alleged “invasive visual recording” and “unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate material.”
According to Texas Penal Code 21.15, “invasive visual recording” is a state jail felony. An excerpt of the law states: “(b) A person commits an offense if, without the other person’s consent and with intent to invade the privacy of the other person, the person: “(1) photographs or by videotape or other electronic means records, broadcasts, or transmits a visual image of an intimate area of another person if the other person has a reasonable expectation that the intimate area is not subject to public view; or
“(2) photographs or by videotape or other electronic means records, broadcasts, or transmits a visual image of another in a bathroom or changing room; or
“(3) knowing the character and content of the photograph, recording, broadcast, or transmission, promotes a photograph, recording, broadcast, or transmission described by Subdivision (1) or (2).”
According to Texas Penal Code 21.15, “… unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate material” is also a state jail felony. An excerpt of the law states: “(b) A person commits an offense if: “(1) without the effective consent of the depicted person and with the intent to harm that person, the person discloses visual material depicting another person with the person’s intimate parts exposed or engaged in sexual conduct;
“(2) at the time of the disclosure, the person knows or has reason to believe that the visual material was obtained by the person or created under circumstances in which the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the visual material would remain private;
“(3) the disclosure of the visual material causes harm to the depicted person; and
“(4) the disclosure of the visual material reveals the identity of the depicted person in any manner, including through: “(A) any accompanying or subsequent information or material related to the visual material; or
“(B) information or material provided by a third party in response to the disclosure of the visual material.”
The passage also states that “It is not a defense to prosecution under this section that the depicted person: (1) created or consented to the creation of the visual material; or (2) voluntarily transmitted the visual material to the actor.”
Investigators say off-campus crime jurisdiction and concerns raised at the school district prompted LISD’s police agency to involve the city police department in their probe.
“The Llano Independent School District police department contacted us that this incident may have occurred,” Morrison said. "We have not filed any charges … We have presented information to the district attorney’s office."
The incident is alleged to have occurred within the Llano city limits.
"The incident is alleged to have occurred sometime in the month of September; the information was provided to us … in September," Morrison said. “We have not arrested anybody, we have not charged any body, but we have investigated the information that was given to us.
“We're still investigating it. We've presented information to the district's attorney's office," he added. “We have not concluded our investigation.
"We will not be releasing any reports.”