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GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 1134
Short Title: Secret Peeping on Minor/Increase Punishment. (Public)
Sponsors: Representative Shepard.
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Judiciary 2, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and
Operations of the House
May 4, 2026
*H1134-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO INCREASE T HE PUNISHMENT FOR SE CRET PEEPING OFFENSE S IN 2
WHICH THE VICTIM IS A MINOR. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. G.S. 14-202, as amended by S.L. 2025-70, reads as rewritten: 5
"§ 14-202. Secretly peeping into room occupied by another person. 6
(a) Any Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who shall peep 7
secretly into any room occupied by another person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Any 8
person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty 9
of a Class A1 misdemeanor. 10
(a1) Unless covered by another provision of law providing greater punishment, any person 11
who secretly or surreptitiously peeps underneath or through the clothing being worn by another 12
person, through the use of a mirror or other device, for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the 13
undergarments worn by, that other person without their consent shall be guilty of a Class 1 14
misdemeanor. Any person who commi ts a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a 15
minor shall be guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor. 16
(b) The following definitions apply in this section: 17
(1) Minor. – An individual who is less than 18 years of age. 18
(2) Photographic image. – Any photograph or photographic reproduction, still or 19
moving, or any videotape, motion picture, or live television transmission, or 20
any digital image of any individual. 21
(2)(3) Private area of an individual. – The naked or undergarment clad genitals, 22
pubic area, buttocks, or female breast of that individual. 23
(3)(4) Room. – Includes, but is not limited to, a bedroom, a rest room, a bathroom, a 24
shower, a dressing room, a dressing stall, a cubicle, or other similar area 25
designed to provide privacy. 26
(4)(5) Under circumstances in which that individual has a reasonable expectation of 27
privacy. – Means either of the following: 28
a. Circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that he or 29
she could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that a 30
photographic image of a private area of the individual was being 31
created. 32
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 1134-First Edition
b. Circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that a 1
private area of the individual would not be visible to the public, 2
regardless of whether that person is in a public or private place. 3
(c) Unless covered by another provision of law providing greater punishment, any person 4
who, while in possession of any device which may be used to create a photographic image and 5
with the intent to create a photographic image, shall secretly peep into an y room shall be guilty 6
of a Class A1 misdemeanor. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the 7
victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class I felony. 8
(d) Unless covered by another provision of law providing greater punishment, any person 9
who, while secretly peeping into any room, uses any device to create a photographic image of 10
another person in that room for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any 11
person shall be guilty of a Class I felony. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection 12
in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class H felony. 13
(e1) Unless covered under some other provision of law providing greater punishment, any 14
person who, with the intent to create a photo graphic image of a private area of an individual 15
without the individual's consent, knowingly does so under circumstances in which the individual 16
has a reasonable expectation of privacy shall be guilty of a Class I felony. Any person who 17
commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class H 18
felony. 19
(f) Any Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who, for the purpose 20
of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person, secretly or surreptitiously uses or installs 21
in a room any device that can be used to create a photographic image with the intent to capture 22
the image of another without their consent shall be guilty of a Class I felony. Any person who 23
commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class H 24
felony. 25
(g) Any Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who knowingly 26
possesses a photographic image that the person knows, or has reason to believe, was obtained in 27
violation of this section shall be guilty of a Class I felony. Any person who commits a violation 28
of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class H felony. 29
(h) Any Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who disseminates or 30
allows to be disseminated images that the person knows, or should have known, were obtained 31
as a result of the violation of this section shall be guilty of a Class H felony if the dissemination 32
is without the consent of the person in the photographi c image. Any person who commits a 33
violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class G felony. 34
…." 35
SECTION 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 36
Public Safety the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in nonrecurring funds to be used 37
for costs incurred by the Department from developing and implementing a marketing campaign 38
to make the public aware of G.S. 14-202, as amended by Section 1 of this act. 39
SECTION 3. Section 1 of this act becomes effective December 1, 2026, and applies 40
to offenses committed on or after that date. The remainder of this act becomes effective July 1, 41
2026. 42