A 28-year-old Lawrence man is accused of using his cellphone to secretly record a child as she changed inside a family locker room stall at the Greater Lowell YMCA. Joel Giron was arrested the day after the Oct. 21 incident and has since been banned from YMCA facilities nationwide, with the investigation still active.
According to a Lowell police report cited by the Lowell Sun, the girl was changing in a handicap stall in the family changing room when she noticed a cellphone with three camera lenses pointed toward her from underneath the partition of the adjacent stall. She told her mother that someone in the neighboring stall had recorded her, and the mother told police she saw a man emerge from that stall and immediately alerted YMCA staff.
A YMCA employee stopped the suspect and spoke to him in Spanish, since he reportedly said “no ingles.” The man acknowledged being in the family locker room but claimed he did not know he was not supposed to be there, before leaving the building. Lowell police were called to the YMCA at 35 YMCA Drive at about 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 21 after the report of a man allegedly recording a child in the family locker room.
Surveillance Footage Traces a Timeline
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators showed the suspect entering the facility at about 4:40 p.m. and entering the family changing area at 6:57 p.m. that evening. He left the changing room about seven minutes later and was seen driving away from the YMCA parking lot in a Mazda hatchback.
YMCA members are required to scan identification cards upon entering the facility, with the membership system recording those scans at entry. Police said Giron was logged in as a “National Guest” because he had enrolled through another YMCA branch rather than the Greater Lowell location. Investigators used those membership records the following day, Oct. 22, to identify him.
Warrants Led Police to a Lawrence Address
That same day, police traced Giron to an address on Oregon Avenue in Lawrence, where they found the Mazda seen in the YMCA surveillance footage. Officers located Giron wearing the same clothing captured on camera the night before and arrested him, transporting him to Lowell.
Police said Giron had three outstanding warrants at the time of his arrest, including a felony warrant from Lawrence District Court charging him with open and gross lewdness. He was arraigned in Lowell District Court on Oct. 23 on a charge of photographing, videotaping or electronically surveilling the intimate parts of a child.
Giron was initially held without bail pending a competency evaluation. After a doctor recommended further assessment following that evaluation, he was ordered held on $20,000 cash bail. If released, he must stay away from the victim and the Greater Lowell YMCA. He is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 20.
YMCA Says It Is Reviewing Security Practices
Greater Lowell YMCA CEO Kevin Morrissey sent a letter to members the day after the incident, calling the allegations deeply disturbing and the incident entirely unacceptable. He said the organization would assist Lowell police throughout the investigation and prosecution.
Morrissey said the YMCA screens all members against the National Sex Offender Registry and terminates any membership that returns a positive match, and that Giron has since been flagged and banned in YMCA systems across the country. The facility is conducting a review of its security policies and practices, though no specific changes have been announced. Lowell police said the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
A separate incident at the same YMCA in March 2015 involved a 21-year-old man, identified as John Dasilva, who was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping of a child and assault and battery on a child after a mother told police a stranger grabbed her 2-year-old by the arm and began walking away, according to the Lowell Sun's earlier reporting. The YMCA's operations director at the time said staff intervened immediately, called police and ensured the child's safety. That case is unrelated to the current allegations and does not establish a broader pattern at the facility.
Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272, Section 105, a person who willfully commits the conduct covered by the statute can face up to two and a half years in a house of correction, up to five years in state prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both, according to the Massachusetts General Court. It was not established whether the statute's full provisions apply to the specific charge against Giron.
