Man gets jail time for secretly recording 17 people in Battlefield Mall changing rooms

Harrison Keegan
News-Leader

A Springfield man will spend the weekend in jail after he admitted to covertly using his cellphone to take pictures and videos of 17 women and girls inside Battlefield Mall changing rooms.

Tarek Rasmi Abu-Salen Todd, 19, was sentenced Friday to 5 years probation and a couple of days of shock time in the Greene County Jail after he pleaded guilty in October to two counts of invasion of privacy.

Police say two girls, ages 13 and 14, caught Todd filming them after they disrobed into their bras and underwear in a J.C. Penney changing room in September 2017.

A photo of the outside of Battlefield Mall in Springfield.

Officers contacted Todd at the mall that day and seized his cellphones, where they found 43 videos and 38 photos of 19 women and girls taking their clothes off in changing rooms. 

Of the 19 women, 17 were at Battlefield Mall and two were at a different Springfield location, court documents say.

Todd had his sentencing hearing on Friday, and one of the teenage victims addressed the court.

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"When it first happened, I felt very violated and very scared," the girl said.

She said she now refuses to use dressing rooms and doesn't like being alone in public.

The argument at sentencing was about what type of probation Todd should receive — suspended execution of sentence (SES) or suspended imposition of sentence (SIS).

A suspended imposition of sentence means the conviction is removed from the defendant's record once they complete probation, while the conviction stays on someone's record with a suspended execution of sentence.

Todd's attorney Christian Sowash argued the SIS would be appropriate since Todd has mental health problems and his parents have now helped him straighten out his life.

"Mr. Todd feels very sorry for what he did," Sowash said.

Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Sarah Donelan asked for SES and 5 days in jail, citing the "disturbing and concerning" nature of the crimes.

Judge Calvin Holden sided with prosecutors, giving Todd a suspended execution of sentence plus a weekend in jail.

Holden said he wants the conviction to stay on Todd's record.

"He did know right from wrong," Holden said.

Holden ordered that Todd be immediately taken into custody because he felt like it was important for the victims in the courtroom to see some action being taken.

Todd will also have to participate in mental health court.

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