Updated October 2026 | The Bulldog Law | California Sex Crimes Defense

California punishes voyeurism under two subdivisions of its disorderly conduct statute. Penal Code 647(i) covers the classic peeping tom: loitering on someone else's private property and peeking into the door or window of an occupied building. Penal Code 647(j) covers the rest: looking into a bathroom, bedroom, changing room, or other private space through an opening or with a device such as binoculars or a camera, intending to invade privacy; secretly filming under a person's clothing, the offense known as upskirting; and secretly recording a person who may be undressed in a private space. Each is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, rising to a year and $2,000 under Penal Code 647.7 for a repeat offense or a minor victim. Registration as a sex offender is not mandatory, but a judge may order it under Penal Code 290.006, and in most voyeurism cases that discretionary order, not the jail term, is what the defense is fighting.

The Bulldog Law's attorneys defend voyeurism charges that arise in very different ways: a neighbor's complaint about someone in the side yard at night, a store employee who saw a customer hold a phone low on an escalator, a roommate who found a camera in the bathroom, a gym that discovered a device in a locker room, and a phone search after an unrelated arrest that turned up images the owner never expected anyone to examine. The statutes are specific about location, method, and intent, and each element is a place where a charge can fail. What follows is what each subdivision requires, the penalties and the registration risk, the federal statute, and how these cases are defended. Call (888) 928-1609 or message our team before you speak to the detective.

The four voyeurism offenses

Penal Code 647 also contains subdivision (j)(4), the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images, which our attorneys address on our revenge porn page. A related statute, Penal Code 653n, makes it a misdemeanor to install or maintain a two-way mirror permitting observation of a restroom, shower, locker room, fitting room, or hotel room, and Penal Code 632 punishes secretly recording a confidential conversation, which our page on illegal recording covers; a hidden-camera case that captured audio may be charged under both.

Peeping under 647(i)

Subdivision (i) requires presence on someone else's private property without visible or lawful business with the owner, and peeking into an inhabited building. A person on the sidewalk is not loitering on private property; a person who walked onto the driveway, into the side yard, or up to a bedroom window is. The statute is most often charged with trespass and sometimes with prowling, and the defense turns on where the person was, why, and whether the looking was peeking in the statute's sense or simply passing. A delivery driver, a lost guest, a person looking for a lost pet has lawful or at least innocent business, and the absence of a purpose to look is the defense.

Viewing a private space under 647(j)(1)

Subdivision (j)(1) does not require trespass. It reaches a person who, from anywhere, looks through a hole or opening into a private area, or uses an instrumentality to view one, with the intent to invade the privacy of a person inside. The location must be one where the occupant has a reasonable expectation of privacy: a bedroom, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room, or tanning booth are listed, and courts extend it to similar spaces. A neighbor with binoculars aimed into a bathroom window, a person with a phone held over a restroom stall, a drone hovering at a bedroom window, each fits. The intent element separates a crime from an accident: an occupant who left the blinds open and was seen by someone with no purpose of looking has not been the victim of this offense.

Upskirting under 647(j)(2)

The upskirting provision applies in public. The expectation of privacy that matters is under the clothing, not in the place, so that filming under a skirt on an escalator, a train platform, or a store aisle is a crime even though the location is open to everyone. The statute requires a concealed device, an identifiable person, a purpose of viewing the body or undergarments, the absence of consent, and the specific intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire or to humiliate, annoy, or harass. The proof is usually the device: the images recovered from the phone and the testimony of the person who saw it held low. The defense contests identification, whether the images show what the statute requires, and whether the phone was searched lawfully.

Hidden cameras under 647(j)(3)

Subdivision (j)(3) covers the hidden camera in a bathroom, bedroom, or changing area that records a person who may be undressed. These cases arise in shared housing, workplaces, rental properties, gyms, and short-term rentals, and they frequently involve multiple victims identified from the recordings. Each identified person is a separate count, and a case with ten victims is ten misdemeanors, with consecutive sentences possible, which is how a misdemeanor statute produces a substantial jail exposure. Where any person recorded was under 18, the recordings may also be charged as child pornography production or possession, which converts the case into a felony with mandatory registration.

Penalties and the registration question

A first violation of 647(i) or 647(j) is a misdemeanor: up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Penal Code 647.7 raises the maximum to one year and $2,000 for a second or subsequent violation, and for a violation in which the victim was a minor. Probation is the usual sentence for a first offense, with conditions that may include counseling, a stay-away order, and a prohibition on possessing cameras or recording devices in certain settings.

Registration is the consequence that matters. Penal Code 647(j) is not among the offenses requiring mandatory registration under Penal Code 290. But Penal Code 290.006 permits a judge to order registration for any offense upon finding that it was committed as a result of sexual compulsion or for purposes of sexual gratification, and to state the reasons. Prosecutors ask for it in voyeurism cases, and judges grant it most often where there were multiple victims, hidden cameras, minors, or a pattern. A registration order converts a six-month misdemeanor into a ten-year Tier 1 obligation with all of its consequences. Our attorneys negotiate every voyeurism plea with an express agreement that the prosecution will not seek registration, or with a plea to a non-sexual offense, disturbing the peace, trespass, or a general disorderly conduct subdivision that carries no registration risk, and prepare a psychosexual evaluation where needed to answer the compulsion question at sentencing.

Civil liability runs alongside. Civil Code 1708.8 creates a cause of action for constructive invasion of privacy, including capturing images of a person in a private, personal, or familial activity with a device, and victims of hidden-camera recordings sue for damages, frequently against the property owner or employer as well as the person who installed the camera.

Federal voyeurism

The Video Voyeurism Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C. 1801, makes it a federal crime to intentionally capture an image of a private area of an individual without consent under circumstances in which the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy, but only within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States: federal buildings, military bases, national parks, federal prisons, and aircraft. The penalty is up to a year in federal prison. Voyeurism on a commercial flight, at a VA hospital, or on a base is prosecuted federally; everywhere else in California it is a state case.

How these cases are defended

Location and expectation of privacy. Each subdivision requires a specific place or a specific kind of privacy, and the facts frequently do not fit: a backyard visible from the street, a window with the blinds open facing a public sidewalk, a common area of a gym rather than the locker room.

Intent. The statutes require intent to invade privacy, or for upskirting a sexual or humiliating purpose. A camera installed for security that happened to capture a bathroom doorway, a phone held at waist level while texting, a person in a side yard looking for a lost dog: the absence of the purpose is the defense, and it is proven by the context.

Identification and the images. The person must be identifiable, and the defendant must be the person who looked or recorded. Witness identification in a crowded public place is weak; the images on a phone are strong, which is why the phone is the center of most cases.

The search. Most voyeurism prosecutions depend on the contents of a phone, camera, computer, or cloud account. Under Riley v. California and the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act, police generally need a warrant to search a phone, and a consent to look at one photo is not consent to search the device; our page on whether police can take your phone explains the rules, and an unlawful search is challenged with a motion to suppress. The statements made to the store security guard or the officer at the scene, explaining what was on the phone, are the other evidence, and they are made without counsel at great cost.

Resolution. A first-offense misdemeanor with a single victim and no registration request frequently resolves with diversion, a plea to a non-sexual offense, or probation with counseling, followed by expungement after completion. For non-citizens, a voyeurism conviction may be treated as a crime involving moral turpitude, and the immigration analysis shapes the plea. Multi-victim hidden-camera cases and cases involving minors are litigated on the search, the count structure, and the registration question, with the client's evaluation and treatment record as the sentencing presentation.

Frequently asked questions

Is voyeurism illegal in California?

Yes. Penal Code 647(j) makes it a misdemeanor to look into a bathroom, bedroom, changing room, or other private space with a device, such as binoculars, a camera, or a phone, with the intent to invade someone's privacy, and to secretly record a person under their clothing or while undressed. Penal Code 647(i) separately covers the classic peeping tom: loitering on someone else's property and peeking into an occupied home. Each is a misdemeanor with up to six months in jail, rising to a year for repeat offenses or minor victims.

What is upskirting and is it a crime?

Secretly photographing or filming under a person's clothing to capture their body or undergarments. California made it a crime under Penal Code 647(j)(2) when done with a concealed camera or phone, without consent, where the person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, and with intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire or to humiliate or annoy. The offense applies in public places, a store, an escalator, a train, because the expectation of privacy is under the clothing, not in the location.

Do you have to register as a sex offender for voyeurism?

Not automatically. Penal Code 647(j) is not on the mandatory registration list. Under Penal Code 290.006, however, a judge may order registration for any offense if the court finds it was committed as a result of sexual compulsion or for sexual gratification, and judges consider it in voyeurism cases, especially with multiple victims, minors, or hidden cameras. Avoiding a discretionary registration order is a central goal of the defense and the plea.

Is it voyeurism to look through someone's window from the street?

Usually not, if you are where you have a right to be and use only your eyes. Penal Code 647(i) requires loitering on the other person's private property, and 647(j)(1) requires the use of a device or looking through a hole or opening into a private area with intent to invade privacy. A passerby who glances into an uncovered window from the sidewalk commits no crime. Using binoculars or a camera to look into that same bedroom is a different matter.

What is the penalty for voyeurism in California?

A first offense under 647(i) or 647(j) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Under Penal Code 647.7, a second offense, or an offense against a victim under 18, carries up to one year and a fine of up to $2,000. Recordings of minors can also be charged as child pornography offenses with far greater penalties, and victims can sue civilly for invasion of privacy.

Related reading from our attorneys

• Revenge porn under Penal Code 647(j)(4)
• Indecent exposure under Penal Code 314
• Sex offender registration tiers

Accused of voyeurism? The phone, the place, and the registration question are decided early

The Bulldog Law's sex crimes defense attorneys defend Penal Code 647(i) and 647(j) charges across California, with suppression of unlawful device searches and the avoidance of registration as priorities from the first appearance. Visit our criminal defense page, call (888) 928-1609, or reach us online. The consultation is confidential.