Ex-Hooters Manager Gets Prison Sentence

Five Years In Prison For Juan Martin Aponte

Aug 24, 2004 12:32 pm US/Pacific
WEST COVINA, Calif. (AP) A former manager of a Hooters restaurant was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for the secret videotaping of job applicants as they changed into their uniforms.

Juan Martin Aponte, 32, also was ordered to register as a sex offender.

Aponte pleaded no contest on July 12 to two counts of using a minor for a sex act and three counts of eavesdropping, all felonies. Aponte had been charged with 25 felony and 32 misdemeanor counts but struck a plea deal with prosecutors.

Authorities alleged that between November and February, Aponte made secret recordings of job applicants in a trailer outside a restaurant building being renovated to become a new Hooters.

Police began investigating in February when a young woman said she was asked to try on a Hooters uniform during a job interview and suspected there was a digital camera in the dressing room. The uniform for Hooters is a low-cut tank top and tight shorts.

Search warrants were served at the construction trailer and at Aponte's Monrovia home. About 180 digital recordings were found, authorities said.

Several civil lawsuits by job applicants have been filed against Aponte and the restaurant chain over the secret recordings.

Officials with the Atlanta-based restaurant chain have said it is against company policy to ask job applicants to change clothes.

Aponte was fired by Hooters, which cooperated with authorities during the investigation.

I've seen lessor sentences for forcible rape.  I was thinking more along the lines of 3 years formal probation, to include therapy and a prohibition on owning or possessing video cameras, or photography equipment.

A friend of mine was stabbed to death and the guy only got 2 1/2 years!
This country is going to hell in a handbasket.

Quoted: I've seen lessor sentences for forcible rape.

damn  

sorry, forcible rape oughtta be worthy of execution in my book.

I'd have to see the pictures before I could come to a firm conclusion.  However, I'm weighing in with those who think the sentence is a bit harsh.

I think some of you are missing the point. Key word in that story is MINOR, which equals pedophile.  IMHO, he got off with a slap on the wrists because i can't think of a more disgusting thing than child porn.  Pedophiles should be eligible for the death sentence.

Quoted: I think some of you are missing the point. Key word in that story is MINOR, which equals pedophile.  IMHO, he got off with a slap on the wrists because i can't think of a more disgusting thing than child porn.  Pedophiles should be eligible for the death sentence.

Do you equate 16 & 17 year old girls, changing their outergarmets, to be the same thing as child porn?  I agree that this guy is sick in the head, and needs therapy. But he didnt molest anyone. he video taped women changing their outergarmets.

eligible for the death sentence.

What?  You think he should be put to death for filming a 17 year-old girl changing clothes?  That's a bit out of proportion when, in this area anyway, rapists are usually released from prison in less than 18 months.z

Do you ever post any original topics or did you go to the Imbro "cut & paste" school?

Sgtar15

WHere's that icon, "This thread is useless without Pic's."

Obviously, the judge is a racist.
-Steve

Quoted: I'd have to see the pictures before I could come to a firm conclusion.

Is that just a polite way of saying, "This thread is worthless without pics!"

Five years sounds excessive to me.

this asshat could have gotten better stuff for free on the internet

Damn, that judge went wild on him, he must have had a really bad day sitting on his ass deciding other people's fate. 5 years , i have heard of murder's and bank robbers who didn't get that much time.

Whatever man, I know 16 & 17 are minors...in the USA. Most of Europe & the rest of the world has 16 as the cutoff. Most 17 year olds I see look like porn stars anyways. We're just stuck to our Pilgrim ways, go to Europe sometime; they dont stigmatize guys for looking a big-boobed 17 year-olds. Oh, yeah...please tell me you've never done it.

He ought to have his nutsack removed for that crap.

To top it off he gets a slap on the wrist.

BigDozer66

This is why we need to bring back flogging, facial branding, and the stocks, with immunity for the throwing of non-deadly projectiles. That would be the perfect disposition here. 30 whacks with a rattan cane, a big "P" for "pervert" burned into his right cheek, and 30 consecutive Saturdays from 4 PM to midnight in the stocks in front of the courthouse being pelted with eggs, tomatoes, rotten fish, et c. No need to clog up the prisons.

Quoted: Quoted: I think some of you are missing the point. Key word in that story is MINOR, which equals pedophile.  IMHO, he got off with a slap on the wrists because i can't think of a more disgusting thing than child porn.  Pedophiles should be eligible for the death sentence. Do you equate 16 & 17 year old girls, changing their outergarmets, to be the same thing as child porn?  I agree that this guy is sick in the head, and needs therapy. But he didnt molest anyone. he video taped women changing their outergarmets.

Do you really believe this guy is "sick in the head" for peeping on Hooters girls?

I will grant you that it takes alotta balls to actually break the law(maybe that's the sickness?),but seriosly fucked in the head?

Maybe immature?

Quoted: A friend of mine was stabbed to death and the guy only got 2 1/2 years! This country is going to hell in a handbasket.

Your point is well taken but the guy is a POS. To hell with him.
I had a friend stabbed to death also--20years ago. Sentence? You got it. 2 1/2 years.

Quoted: Quoted: A friend of mine was stabbed to death and the guy only got 2 1/2 years! This country is going to hell in a handbasket. Your point is well taken but the guy is a POS. To hell with him. I had a friend stabbed to death also--20years ago. Sentence? You got it. 2 1/2 years.

I'm not defending the guy,  or peeping. All I'm saying is that when the law decides it is worse to peep on a 17 year old or kill a bald eagle or any other of a million things than to kill a human being in cold blood, there is something seriously fucking wrong with our judicial system.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: A friend of mine was stabbed to death and the guy only got 2 1/2 years! This country is going to hell in a handbasket. Your point is well taken but the guy is a POS. To hell with him. I had a friend stabbed to death also--20years ago. Sentence? You got it. 2 1/2 years. I'm not defending the guy,  or peeping. All I'm saying is that when the law decides it is worse to peep on a 17 year old or kill a bald eagle or any other of a million things than to kill a human being in cold blood, there is something seriously fucking wrong with our judicial system.

I agree fully. Just not going to lose any sleep over this guy.
Maybe he pissed off the judge. Maybe the judge thought the guy was a predator. Whatever the reason, society is better off without him.

Quoted: I'm not defending the guy,  or peeping. All I'm saying is that when the law decides it is worse to peep on a 17 year old or kill a bald eagle or any other of a million things than to kill a human being in cold blood, there is something seriously fucking wrong with our judicial system.

Thats pretty much what I'm trying to say also. Electronic peeping is not a violent crime, yet those convicted of violent crimes get lessor sentances. This happened in cali, where "life" means 25 years, of which you only serve about 11.

A few years ago there was a thread on a Photography Forum I belong to .

It was a similar case involving a dressing room cam , only is was for swimsuit models
It also involved girls as young as 16 . Only this guy beat all the charges because he had a
photographic release worded into the application . Eventually they got him on child porn charges for selling some video online to a sting setup .

Granted, murders should absolutely get more than 2 ½ years in jail.

But this still doesn’t bother me.

I consider privacy to be an important right – I see nothing wrong with coming down hard on those who violate it.

Quoted: Quoted: I've seen lessor sentences for forcible rape.   damn   sorry, forcible rape oughtta be worthy of execution in my book.

+Infinity!!!!!!!!!

Quoted: this asshat could have gotten better stuff for free on the internet

There's porn on the internet???

Quoted: Ex-Hooters Manager Gets Prison Sentence Five Years In Prison For Juan Martin Aponte Aug 24, 2004 12:32 pm US/Pacific WEST COVINA, Calif. (AP) A former manager of a Hooters restaurant was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for the secret videotaping of job applicants as they changed into their uniforms. Juan Martin Aponte, 32, also was ordered to register as a sex offender. Aponte pleaded no contest on July 12 to two counts of using a minor for a sex act and three counts of eavesdropping, all felonies. Aponte had been charged with 25 felony and 32 misdemeanor counts but struck a plea deal with prosecutors. Authorities alleged that between November and February, Aponte made secret recordings of job applicants in a trailer outside a restaurant building being renovated to become a new Hooters. Police began investigating in February when a young woman said she was asked to try on a Hooters uniform during a job interview and suspected there was a digital camera in the dressing room. The uniform for Hooters is a low-cut tank top and tight shorts. Search warrants were served at the construction trailer and at Aponte's Monrovia home. About 180 digital recordings were found, authorities said. Several civil lawsuits by job applicants have been filed against Aponte and the restaurant chain over the secret recordings. Officials with the Atlanta-based restaurant chain have said it is against company policy to ask job applicants to change clothes. Aponte was fired by Hooters, which cooperated with authorities during the investigation. I've seen lessor sentences for forcible rape.  I was thinking more along the lines of 3 years formal probation, to include therapy and a prohibition on owning or possessing video cameras, or photography equipment.

Sentance is LIGHT visavis the origiinal 25 felony counts...

It's not that he did it ONCE and got 5yrs, it's that he did it so many times & could have gotten decades, not years...

Forcable rape should be capital. That it is not punished severely enough does not make this 'too harsh'...

The guy is lucky he wasn't peeping and filming my 16 or 17 year old daughter.

About 180 digital recordings.

5 years times 365 days/year=1830 days, plus leap days.

Therefore, about 10 days for each offense.

This is not an excessive sentence, given the number of women that had their privacy violated.

If he had put the videos on the Net, the crime would have been much greater.


Steve

My friend was ran over by a car in front of her school while she was walking in the crosswalk.  The driver was stoned out of his mind.  He recieved a 4-point ticket.

Quoted: Ex-Hooters Manager Gets Prison Sentence Five Years In Prison For Juan Martin Aponte Aug 24, 2004 12:32 pm US/Pacific WEST COVINA, Calif. (AP) A former manager of a Hooters restaurant was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for the secret videotaping of job applicants as they changed into their uniforms. Juan Martin Aponte, 32, also was ordered to register as a sex offender. Aponte pleaded no contest on July 12 to two counts of using a minor for a sex act and three counts of eavesdropping, all felonies. Aponte had been charged with 25 felony and 32 misdemeanor counts but struck a plea deal with prosecutors. Authorities alleged that between November and February, Aponte made secret recordings of job applicants in a trailer outside a restaurant building being renovated to become a new Hooters. Police began investigating in February when a young woman said she was asked to try on a Hooters uniform during a job interview and suspected there was a digital camera in the dressing room. The uniform for Hooters is a low-cut tank top and tight shorts. Search warrants were served at the construction trailer and at Aponte's Monrovia home. About 180 digital recordings were found, authorities said. Several civil lawsuits by job applicants have been filed against Aponte and the restaurant chain over the secret recordings. Officials with the Atlanta-based restaurant chain have said it is against company policy to ask job applicants to change clothes. Aponte was fired by Hooters, which cooperated with authorities during the investigation. I've seen lessor sentences for forcible rape.  I was thinking more along the lines of 3 years formal probation, to include therapy and a prohibition on owning or possessing video cameras, or photography equipment.

I agree that sentences for rape and murder are too soft.

But this sentence sounds just about right (with parole he will get out early).

The answer is to make the other punishments for rape and murder harsher.