Witness: Platte City Pastor Caught Peeping in Woman's Bathroom

KCTV
August 16, 2012

http://www.kctv5.com/story/19284670/platte-city-pastor

[with video]

Church where Kelvin Lambert is a pastor Amy Anderson/KCTV

A Platte City pastor has been accused of peering into the bathroom window of a woman about to take a shower.

Prosecutors talked to KCTV5's Amy Anderson at the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Wednesday afternoon about the arrest of a man a lot of people trusted.

"You're freaked out and you're upset and you're upset for your neighbors because they're upset," neighbor Nancy Wakefield said.

Wakefield lives near the home at Northwest 136th Street and Running Horse Road in Platte City where the incident happened.

The Platte County Sheriff's Department was called to the Timber Park neighborhood near Platte City about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday after a witness reported a man running between houses in the neighborhood, according to court documents.

The witness then told authorities that she saw the man standing on a plastic lawn chair at the back of a house in the neighborhood peering into the bathroom window of a woman in the shower.

The man took off running and jumped in his car when he realized someone was watching him too, according to the neighbor's report.

The woman inside the home told investigators she had taken a shower earlier that morning, and she did not know the man. She also said that he did not have permission to be on her property.

"She took out her cell phone - he'd parked nearby - she was able to get the license plate," Wakefield said.

The man, according to prosecutors, is Kelvin B. Lambert, 38, the pastor of Second Baptist Church in Platte City. He was charged after being taken into custody Tuesday, the day he allegedly peeped into the woman's house. KCTV5 reached out to the Second Baptist Church Wednesday, but calls and emails were not returned.

A KCTV5 crew also stopped by the preacher's house which isn't far from where the alleged crime happened, but no one inside would answer the door.

Neighbors said there was a similar incident in the past and said they wonder if Lambert was connected to that incident as well. Prosecutors said it's something they'll look into.

"I will tell you this investigation is ongoing and if there is information that may lead us to believe this defendant committed additional crimes, we will certainly investigate them and charge him if we're able to come up with the evidence to connect him," Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said.

If convicted of attempted invasion of privacy, Lambert faces up to 15 days in jail or a fine up to $300. If convicted of trespass, he could be fined $200.