Potty peeper escapes jail sentence in New Hampshire

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 2:15 am

Associated Press

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. — A Maine man arrested after he was found peering at a teenage girl at a rest-stop outhouse pleaded no contest to criminal trespass, and a judge urged him to seek help for whatever drove him to climb into the waste-filled toilet.

Gary J. Moody was given a 30-day sentence that will be suspended if he maintains good behavior for two years. In exchange for his plea, disorderly conduct charges against Moody will be dropped, as well, if he stays out of trouble.

Moody, 45, of Pittston, Maine, was arrested on June 26 after a 14-year-old girl reported hearing a noise and then seeing a face looking up at her from the pit toilet on U.S. Forest Service property in Albany.

District Court Judge Pamela Albee cited Moody´s public humiliation from the ensuing publicity in choosing not to send him to jail.

"This gentleman has been subject to a great deal of media scrutiny and drawn to himself, should I say, notoriety. And a healthy share of bathroom humor, if you will. This is a person who deserves some compassion," she said.

She also fined Moody $1,000 and ordered him to pay $700 restitution. The Forest Service spent $700 pumping out the toilet tank because Moody claimed he was trying to retrieve a wedding ring that had dropped into the toilet.

The waste from the tank was pumped through a screen but no ring was found.

Moody was on probation in Maine after being convicted of operating under the influence in June 2004.

Moody, who declined to comment after Monday´s trial, is due in court in Maine on Nov. 8 to answer charges of violating terms of his probation by leaving the state and committing a new crime.

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Information from: Kennebec Journal, http://www.kjonline.com/

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