Mom catches sex offender filming her teenage daughter at Target. But the cops won't do anything

An Ohio woman confronted a sex offender who was recording her teenage daughter at a Target — and police say they can't take any action to stop the man.

Monica Geisel was with her 16-year-old daughter at a Target in Rossford, Ohio, this week when the incident occurred, local news outlet 13 ABC reports. Her daughter filmed the confrontation between Ms. Geisel and the man.

“You took a video,” Ms. Geisel said to the man. “Show me.”

The man, who police confirmed was a registered sex offender, claims he instead took a video of his daughter's shopping cart while Ms. Geisel searched for her phone.

“It’s disgusting,” she continued. In a subsequent conversation with 13 ABC, Ms. Geisel said she had also seen videos of other people on her phone.

“I see a ton of videos of other people there, other girls there, and that's when I try to grab his phone and he instantly, you know, he m “He pushed his arm and grabbed him, and that's when he started walking away,” Ms. Geisel told the outlet. “It wasn't that he was just recording things. people, he was recording her inappropriately and zooming in on parts of her body.”

The video – which was filmed by Ms Geisel's daughter and shared online – then shows Ms Geisel following the man to the entrance of the store, shouting into the room: “This guy is making videos of underage girls at Target. »

Rossford Police Chief Todd Kitzler said The independent his office cannot take action against the man, whose identity has not yet been released.

“Now, it’s concerning, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not illegal,” Chief Kitzler said.

After the Target incident, Rossford police encountered the man while he was conducting a traffic stop. When speaking to him, Chief Kitzler said his officers spoke with a prosecutor during the stop – who told them they couldn't take any legal action.

“We contacted the sheriff's office, who monitors their offender's registration, and they told us there was nothing they could do,” Chief Kitzler said. The Independent.

“We determined that he was not on parole or probation or anything like that, so our hands were pretty much tied,” he continued.

Geisel told 13 ABC she is now releasing the video and her story to raise awareness among others in the community. This led many social media users to comment on the situation.

“Why didn't anyone help her when all this was happening… and it's not a crime for strangers to film underage children? Come on… This world needs to start getting better,” one user posted on Facebook.

“Amazing nothing can be done,” said another.

Other Facebook users praised Ms. Geisel for her quick thinking: “We need more strong, bold moms like her to protect their daughters! »