JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it closed a case with no charges filed against a man accused of following a woman through a River City Marketplace HomeGoods who was sexually gratifying himself while watching her.
On July 21, JSO reviewed the incident after the News4JAX I-TEAM began asking questions about the case, which gained widespread attention after Jacksonville resident Rhiannon Alvarez shared her experience in a TikTok video viewed tens of thousands of times.
Alvarez told News4JAX she was shopping for home decor when she noticed a man following her through the store. She said she later realized he was sexually gratifying himself while watching her.
After alerting store employees, Alvarez recorded the man’s license plate and called the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
She said officers arrived about three hours later and told her there was nothing they could do. Although she said the responding officer reviewed the store’s surveillance video, she was told no charges could be filed.
When the I-TEAM initially requested a copy of the incident report, JSO responded that no records existed but confirmed the agency had received a call about the incident.
After News4JAX began asking questions about the case, JSO said detectives were taking another look.
The sheriff’s office has now closed the investigation.
“Obviously it’s pretty disappointing that nothing can be done about it,” Alvarez said. “He will continue to keep doing it especially now that he knows there’s no repercussions.”
Why was the case difficult to prosecute?
The I-TEAM spoke with Jacksonville attorney Gene Nichols to better understand why the alleged conduct did not result in criminal charges.
“These type of cases can be very hard to pursue charges on,” Nichols said. “What happened here, while it is something that clearly has affected the victim in this case, it’s actually not a crime.”
Nichols said Florida’s indecent exposure statute creates a significant hurdle in a case where there is an allegation of sexual conduct but no exposure.
Florida law makes it a crime to expose or exhibit sexual organs in public or on private property in a vulgar or indecent manner.
“In this there was never a time when this individual removed his clothing, exposed any form of his body parts or anything to that extent,” Nichols said. “That took it away from that Florida statute.”
Nichols said the lack of physical contact between the man and Alvarez also makes it difficult to apply other criminal statutes.
“There not being any contact with the victim in this case, only something the victim saw this person doing, it doesn’t fall underneath this statute,” Nichols said. “So there’s really not a Florida statute on point that would allow for the sheriff’s office to have an arrest and then the state attorney’s office to subsequently prosecute.”
The explanation may be surprising to people who hear the allegations, Nichols said.
Could the law be changed?
Alvarez’s original TikTok video generated hundreds of comments, many from women who said they had experienced stalking, harassment or other unwanted behavior.
Alvarez previously told News4JAX she believes lawmakers should consider changing the law if conduct like what she described cannot currently be prosecuted.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Alvarez said.
Nichols said the potential solution would have to come from the Florida Legislature.
“The only real solution at this point in time is to go to the legislature and see if there’s a way to criminalize it,” Nichols said.
But Nichols said writing a law broad enough to address the conduct while still clearly defining a crime could be difficult.
“You run into real sort of intent issues as to what this person was doing if there’s no exposure of sexual organ,” Nichols said. “If there’s not touching of the other person, was the person actually doing what they were doing?”
He said creating a law based on conduct that could be difficult to prove could lead to conflicting accounts between an accused person and an alleged victim.
“He’s going to say, ‘I wasn’t doing that,’ she’s going to say he was,” Nichols said. “That law is hard to create.”
What JSO says
The sheriff’s office has not said whether investigators found evidence that could support a criminal charge or specifically what led to the decision to close the case.
HomeGoods previously told News4JAX it cooperated with law enforcement.
“At HomeGoods, we take the security of our customers and Associates very seriously. We are aware of this matter and have cooperated with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. We will continue to assist law enforcement as appropriate and respectfully defer further comment to the authorities,” the company said.
The News4JAX I-TEAM has reached out to lawmakers for their reaction to whether Florida law should be changed to address conduct like the allegations in this case.
In the original interview with News4JAX, Alvarez questioned why the alleged conduct did not violate Florida law.
“I just hope that other woman use this story as a reminder to be safe and vigilant while out and about,” Alvarez said.
