AN ACT to increase the punishment for secret peeping offenses in which the victim is a minor.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑202, as amended by S.L. 2025‑70, reads as rewritten:

§ 14‑202.  Secretly peeping into room occupied by another person.

(a)        Any Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who shall peep secretly into any room occupied by another person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor.

(a1)      Unless covered by another provision of law providing greater punishment, any person who secretly or surreptitiously peeps underneath or through the clothing being worn by another person, through the use of a mirror or other device, for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by, that other person without their consent shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor.

(b)        The following definitions apply in this section:

(1)        Minor. – An individual who is less than 18 years of age.

(2)        Photographic image. – Any photograph or photographic reproduction, still or moving, or any videotape, motion picture, or live television transmission, or any digital image of any individual.

(2)(3)   Private area of an individual. – The naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast of that individual.

(3)(4)   Room. – Includes, but is not limited to, a bedroom, a rest room, a bathroom, a shower, a dressing room, a dressing stall, a cubicle, or other similar area designed to provide privacy.

(4)(5)   Under circumstances in which that individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. – Means either of the following:

a.         Circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that he or she could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that a photographic image of a private area of the individual was being created.

b.         Circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that a private area of the individual would not be visible to the public, regardless of whether that person is in a public or private place.

(c)        Unless covered by another provision of law providing greater punishment, any person who, while in possession of any device which may be used to create a photographic image and with the intent to create a photographic image, shall secretly peep into any room shall be guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class I felony.

(d)       Unless covered by another provision of law providing greater punishment, any person who, while secretly peeping into any room, uses any device to create a photographic image of another person in that room for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person shall be guilty of a Class I felony. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class H felony.

(e1)      Unless covered under some other provision of law providing greater punishment, any person who, with the intent to create a photographic image of a private area of an individual without the individual's consent, knowingly does so under circumstances in which the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy shall be guilty of a Class I felony. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class H felony.

(f)        Any Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who, for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any person, secretly or surreptitiously uses or installs in a room any device that can be used to create a photographic image with the intent to capture the image of another without their consent shall be guilty of a Class I felony. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class H felony.

(g)        Any Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who knowingly possesses a photographic image that the person knows, or has reason to believe, was obtained in violation of this section shall be guilty of a Class I felony. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class H felony.

(h)        Any Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who disseminates or allows to be disseminated images that the person knows, or should have known, were obtained as a result of the violation of this section shall be guilty of a Class H felony if the dissemination is without the consent of the person in the photographic image. Any person who commits a violation of this subsection in which the victim is a minor shall be guilty of a Class G felony.

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SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety the sum of twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000) in nonrecurring funds to be used for costs incurred by the Department from developing and implementing a marketing campaign to make the public aware of G.S. 14‑202, as amended by Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 3.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective December 1, 2026, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date. The remainder of this act becomes effective July 1, 2026.