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Man who videotaped boy using Sea-Tac bathroom will register as sex offender

File: Joshua Gitlin

Thirty-five-year-old Joshua Gitlin hung his head in court on Friday as a victims’ advocate from the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center read a statement that was written by the mother of an 8-year old boy Gitlin recorded using the toilet.

“We feel very strongly that Joshua Gitlin be required to register as a sex offender. We think every parent should have the right to know if he is living next door,” the statement read.

Gitlin, of North Carolina, was arrested at Sea-Tac Airport last April after he held his cellphone over a bathroom stall and recorded video of the boy, who also lives out of state.

The child’s older brother and father were also in the restroom at the time.

According to police documents, the victim’s father tackled Gitlin and held him down until Port of Seattle police arrived and arrested him.

During Gitlin’s sentencing hearing at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent on Friday, Sr. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kathy Van Olst called the crime “an invasion of privacy in an area that we typically think of as safe: a bathroom. And it involves a minor.”

Gitlin pleaded guilty to one count of attempted voyeurism earlier this month as part of a plea deal.

On Friday, he said he was drunk and grieving the loss of his mother when he committed the crime.

Gitlin accepted responsibility, apologized to the boy and his family, who were not in court, and said he didn't know it was a child in the stall.

“I never meant to hurt anyone, especially not a child. However, that was the result,” Gitlin told King County Superior Court Judge Janet Helson. “I want to apologize to the victims. I never meant to hurt them, or the child. I know that they feel rage towards me."

According to Judge Helson’s ruling, Gitlin was sentenced to 30 days of work release through the King County jail and has been ordered to report by the end of April.

>> Related: See Amy Clancy's investigation on the growing crime of voyeurism, and why police and prosecutors believe state laws should be strengthened to increase the penalties. 

He will also be required to register as a sex offender in North Carolina, but he’ll be able to appeal to have that lifted after two years.

KIRO 7 spoke with the victim’s mother by phone after court. She said she’s disappointed Gitlin’s status as a registered sex offender may be lifted so soon, and plans to fight it if he makes an appeal.

Here's the victim's impact statement: 

On Friday, April 22, 2016, I was returning home from a family vacation with my husband and two young boys when our lives were forever changed by the actions of Joshua Gitlin. It was a busy night in the Seattle Airport and we were hustling to use the restroom so we would have time to get some dinner before catching our connecting flight home. My youngest son, G, had just turned 8 years old that month.
He is a very thin child, so one would easily think that he was even younger. He entered a bathroom stall where unbeknownst to him, Joshua Gitlin used his cell phone to take pictures or video of him going to the bathroom. 
Luckily, my husband saw what he was doing and Joshua Gitlin is now in court today. I often think about what could have happened if my husband had not been such an observant father. If he hadn’t noticed what was going on and addressed the situation, there could be pictures or video of my sweet little 8‐year old boy going to the bathroom on the internet right now. It makes me sick to think about it. I wonder how many other little boys were recorded by Joshua Gitlin before he got caught?
Our son G did not realize what was happening at the moment the crime occurred, but he quickly figured it out. He immediately turned from a confident, happy‐go‐lucky, innocent child, to a victim of a sex crime. His world is now a little grimmer. Initially, he had trouble understanding why someone would want to take pictures of him in the restroom. I get emotional right now thinking about the loss of innocence and the conversation we had to have with him before we were ready. Some of his childhood was taken away that day and now this is what he thinks about each time he needs to use a public restroom. He has admitted to me that whenever possible he tries not to use public restrooms and will “hold it” to the point of discomfort to make sure he is able to use the bathroom in a safe place.
G was not the only child victimized that day. Our older son was 10‐years old that day and has also suffered as the result of Joshua Gitlin’s actions. Like G, he is extremely nervous about using public restrooms now and worries about the safety of himself and his brother. If we are at a restaurant and G mentions he needs to use the bathroom, our older son, who is just a child himself, will jump up and immediately say that he will go with him.
As parents we have had a difficult time dealing with this. I have spent many hours hugging and reassuring my boys that they are safe, not to mention the countless sleepless nights worrying about them because I am truly not convinced that I can keep them safe. As a mother, I must send them into the men’s public restroom and if my husband is not with us, they are alone in there to fend for themselves. How can I truly protect them from someone who chooses to violate them in such a manner?
My husband suffers from a lot of guilt over how he handled the situation. He often feels remorse for not “taking care of the situation” when he had the chance. He wonders if he should have just taught Joshua Gitlin a lesson right there in the bathroom that day. My husband though is a rational, law‐abiding man who believes in doing the right thing and has faith in the justice system. It is our sincere hope that this justice system will impose the maximum sentence on Joshua Gitlin.
In addition, we recommend the maximum sentence because we hope it will deter others from committing the same crime and as a result no other family will have to go through what our family has endured. We feel very strongly that Joshua Gitlin be required to register as a sex offender. We think every parent should have the right to know if he is living next door.
I really wish that I could be there in court today to read this statement to ensure that the full emotion that I feel in writing this will be felt by the court, but we have tried not to dwell on what happened in the hopes that it will become less impactful on our son as he grows older. This week is Spring Break for our boys, so to spend it traveling to Seattle to appear in court would have made another memory that we do not wish to have.
We have always taught our boys that actions have consequences. G often asks what happened to his attacker as a result of his actions. I sincerely hope that I will be able to tell him that those horrible actions had serious consequences and the court did not dismiss the seriousness of this crime that was committed against a child and his family.
Thank you,
J.L.