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Update: Suffolk woman says neighbor climbed ladder to watch her in bathroom

Posted at 6:45 PM, May 01, 2014
and last updated 2014-05-01 20:24:36-04

UPDATE: On Thursday, Suffolk police arrested Kenneth R. Griffin. He has been charged with two counts of peeping into a dwelling and is now being held with bond at Western Tidewater Regional Jail. 

Suffolk, Va. - A Suffolk woman said her neighbor from a few houses down on North Fifth Street climbed a ladder to watch her while she was in her bathroom.

"Like he was watching a movie," said the woman, who did not want to reveal her name.

The woman reported it to police April 29, after she said she caught the man trying to watch her twice.

"My kids are scared to go to the bathroom," she said.  "They don't know if he's gonna be looking."

She said the first incident happened April 27.

"The first time I was on the stool. I see a reflection and I looked back he's propped up on a ladder like he's looking inside my window," said the woman.

"The next day I'm like washing up.  I turn around to do a step back and I see a shadow," she said.  "He's back on the ladder again looking."

The woman said she called Suffolk police to report the incidents Tuesday.

"At first they thought I was playing, so I had to let then come up here to see for themselves," she said.

She said while police were there, her neighbor came out into the street with a bat.  She said they took the bat, but did not detain or arrest the neighbor.

A Suffolk City spokesperson told NewsChannel 3 that because she did not report the incident to police when it happened, she must identify her neighbor in a photo line up before they can make an arrest.

Both police and the woman said they have not been able to meet up to get that done, but the woman said she does not understand why police did not at least detain the man for questioning when they came to take the report Tuesday.

"How many chances do you want somebody to give him," she said.