Sex offender charged with taking video up woman’s dress in Walmart, watching kids at pool
Madison County prosecutors have charged a man — already a registered sex offender — with trying to take pictures up a woman’s dress at a Walmart and with watching children at a swimming class.
Prosecutors on Friday charged Matthew A. Banks, 25, with unauthorized videotaping and being a sex offender present at a program for children.
Madison County sheriff’s deputies gave the following account of the case:
On Tuesday at approximately 7:25 p.m., a Madison County sheriff’s deputy responded to a suspicious-activity complaint at the Walmart in Godfrey. The responding deputy met with a female customer who told the deputy that she caught an unknown white male subject taking, or attempting to take, a picture of her from under her dress. The complainant said she noticed the subject following her around inside the store and became concerned.
As she was attempting to check out, she turned around to find the subject kneeling down behind her, holding a cellular phone out to his side, and under her dress. She confronted the subject who exited the store, leaving the scene in a dark green older-model vehicle.
The responding deputy coordinated efforts with a Walmart loss-prevention officer who began searching for video surveillance footage for any information that would lead to an identity of the suspect.
On Wednesday evening, the loss-prevention officer found footage of the suspect in the store on a different occasion and was able to locate a registration number for the noted vehicle, which the deputy was able to link to Banks.
On Wednesday evening, while the first case was still being investigated, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office responded to a suspicious-person call at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey. A parent of a child attending a swimming class for children ages 3 to 6 saw Banks watching the children who were attending the swimming course. The parent knew Banks and knew that he was a registered sex offender.
Banks left the college, driving the same dark green vehicle. At approximately 8:52 p.m. on Wednesday, deputies involved in the investigation located Banks walking on Gerson Avenue, just north of West Elm Street, in Godfrey. Banks was taken into custody and taken to the Madison County Jail.
Banks was positively identified during the investigation as the subject involved in the Walmart case.
Banks was arrested previously arrested by deputies, in April 2015. The mother of a 4-year-old child witnessed Banks masturbating next to her vehicle, while in the parking lot of the Godfrey Schnucks. Banks was charged with sexual exploitation of a child, because he committed the act in the presence of a child. As a result of that arrest, Banks became a registered sex offender.
Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli issued the current warrant against Banks, setting his bail at $100,000.00. Banks remained in custody Friday evening.
This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Sex offender charged with taking video up woman’s dress in Walmart, watching kids at pool."