Clayton man charged with secret peeping at Target store, church where he volunteered

Police said a Clayton man caught taking pictures under a woman's dress Monday at a Target in Greenville has done it before.

Thomas Ryan Elliott, 21, was arrested on Monday and charged with felony secret peeping.

At 10:42 a.m. on Monday, Greenville police were called to the Target on Evans Street. A woman in the store caught on camera a man placing his phone under another woman’s skirt. The woman who saw this happen confronted the man and recorded it all on her phone.

According to Greenville police, Elliott was charged Thursday with additional counts of felony secret peeping after Target's security footage was reviewed.

The Greenville Police Department said Elliott is believed to have targeted three different women at the store on Monday. He now faces five counts of secret peeping.

"I don't think it surprises me, because of what we hear from the news ... and from friends and family," one person said. "I feel sorry for the person it happened to."

WITN reports Winterville police have also charged Elliott with secret peeping after an incident at Opendoor Church in Winterville, where Elliott was a volunteer. The church said it fired Elliott after hearing of his charges.

According to WITN, "Winterville police said the man is accused of doing the same thing at the church that he did at the Target store."

All the victims were adult women, police said.

Greenville police said Target is cooperating with the investigation.

The woman’s video has since been posted to social media, garnering quite a bit of attention.

Pitt County Schools said Eliott was a volunteer at Eastern Elementary School. However, he was not an employee of the school district. A district spokesperson said he would not return as a volunteer.

WITN reported that detectives were reviewing Elliott’s electronic devices and have not found any evidence of inappropriate contact with children thus far.

Police in Greenville are encouraging people to remain aware of their surroundings, adding that being vocal can not only protect you, but those around you.

WITN contributed to this story.

On Friday, WRAL News spoke with Elliott's former high school classmates, Kathryn McKinney and Angel Caddell.

"It's disgusting and it's alarming," McKinney said.

Caddell said Elliott was a good leader in the school's ROTC program.

"The whole thing going on kind of took us by surprise, but he seemed to be a good person," Caddell said.

Caddell explained how she viewed Elliott in high school.

"We used to think of him as a good Christian man and a good leader because we had him as a leader in ROTC," Caddell said.