An 18-year-old student at Enloe Magnet High School in Raleigh was arrested this week after a reported secret peeping incident on campus, a case that has triggered both a police investigation and an internal review by school administrators.
What happened at Enloe
Raleigh police said officers were called to the campus around 1:04 p.m. Monday for a reported sexual offense at the school. Officers arrested John Nghia Gurganus, 18, and charged him with misdemeanor secret peeping, according to ABC11 Raleigh-Durham.
In a message to families, school officials said the incident was first reported to a teacher, who then alerted a school administrator. That administrator passed the report to the school resource officer, which set the investigation in motion. The message noted that the school is cooperating with law enforcement and that the student was disciplined under district rules, as reported by ABC11 Raleigh-Durham.
What the law says
Under North Carolina's peeping statute (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202), secret peeping is a criminal offense. A basic peeping case is treated as a misdemeanor, while using a device to create images or to view private areas can be charged as a felony. The law defines "photographic image" broadly and includes penalties not only for creating such images but also for possessing or sharing them if they were obtained illegally, according to the North Carolina General Assembly.
School location and policies
Enloe sits on Clarendon Crescent in eastern Raleigh, with its public listing placing the campus at 128 Clarendon Crescent, according to ProPublica. The Wake County student code of conduct gives principals a spectrum of options, from behavioral interventions to suspension or even a recommendation for expulsion, depending on the seriousness of the offense, per the Wake County Public School System.
How common are these cases?
Secret-peeping allegations have been bubbling up in other parts of North Carolina in recent months, including a wide-ranging indictment in Wilmington and reports of alleged dorm incidents at East Carolina University. For context, see Wilmington man accused and ECU dorms on edge.
Authorities did not immediately release further details, including court dates, in early reports. Beyond the family message and the initial police response, Raleigh police and Wake County school officials did not issue additional public statements.
