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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A Middle Tennessee woman said not enough is being done to protect women in the state after revealing photos were taken of her without her knowledge.<\/p>\n
She said other women should never go through something like this.<\/p>\n
Kate McClinton said she found out about the photos during her sister\u2019s divorce. It turned out her brother-in-law had thousands of inappropriate photos of her on his laptop. When she turned to police, she said help didn\u2019t come quick enough.<\/p>\n
They are family memories McClinton will never be able to see the same way again. That\u2019s because her brother-in-law, Will Cotten, took other photos she never knew about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly think he had cameras in his shoes,\u201d McClinton said. \u201cSome of the shots he was able to get I don\u2019t even know how.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phones, laptops, secret cameras. McClinton said they were all used to take hundreds of inappropriate photos and videos when she least expected it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way the cabinetry was set up, he could somehow, facing the refrigerator, use his cameras from the cell phone to point up my dress,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s got a clear shot of my private area, even up my back.\u201d<\/p>\n
When McClinton and her sister found the images on Cotten\u2019s laptop, she said she brought it to Brentwood Police.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were turned away after the initial meeting after about an hour,\u201d McClinton said. \u201cJust about there\u2019s nothing we can do. You can get an order of protection and can maybe take this up in civil court.\u201d<\/p>\n
McClinton said that happened four more times. Then she wrote a letter to former Brentwood Police Chief Jeff Hughes. That\u2019s when they found over 300 photos on the laptop, enough to press charges, so she thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, on the district attorney side, we\u2019ve run into lots of issues as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
McClinton said Williamson County wouldn\u2019t move forward with any charges, but Florida would. That\u2019s where some of the photos were taken. Ten days after she alerted Bay County officials, Cotten was charged with video voyeurism. In 10 months, he was sentenced to five years of probation \u2013 a much different process than Williamson County.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere I\u2019ve been brushed aside, pushed away, acted like what happened to me didn\u2019t matter to them, acted like my family doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d McClinton said. \u201cNever once was I told, \u2018I am so sorry you are going through this.\u2019 I just feel like I\u2019ve been pushed away, pushed away.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a year, Williamson County agreed to move forward with two counts of unlawful photography. It\u2019s been a long process she doesn\u2019t want anyone else to go through.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictims of crime should not have to fight for justice. That\u2019s what the criminal justice system is there for,\u201d McClinton said.<\/p>\n
Two hearings were scheduled for Cotten in Williamson County, but they were postponed at his request. The next one is scheduled for Jan. 25. WSMV plans to follow her case.<\/p>\n
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