DUNCAN, S.C. – A group of parents tackled and restrained a registered sex offender accused of spying on a 15-year-old girl in the women’s bathroom of a South Carolina Cracker Barrel restaurant over the weekend, authorities said.
Douglas Lane, 53, has been charged with voyeurism, as well as possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, according to Duncan Police Chief Carl Long.
Lane has several past convictions for similar behaviour in both North and South Carolina dating back more than 20 years, court records show.
News outlets report that the incident occurred Sunday when the girl was using the bathroom and noticed a man looking out from under the stall beside her.
Lane tried to flee the scene after being confronted by the girl’s father but was stopped by a group of parents who were in town for a girls’ softball tournament, Long said. They tackled Lane in the parking lot and held him until police arrived.
A photo taken of Lane later in jail shows him with a bandage wrapped around his head and a bloodied nose.
During a bond hearing Monday, an attorney representing him claimed that Lane didn’t know he was in the women’s bathroom.
A judge set a cash surety bond at $2,000 and ordered Lane to wear a GPS monitor. He is expected back in court in November.