Sex offender charged with recording woman in Massachusetts Target changing room
A sex offender charged Monday with recording a woman inside a Target changing room in Wareham, Massachusetts has a history of similar incidents, police say.
Gregory Mattos, a 37-year-old from Mashpee, was arraigned Tuesday on the charge of photographing an unsuspecting nude person.
Police officers responded to the Wareham Crossing store on the Cranberry Highway for a report of a man recording a woman in the fitting room.
"The female told officers that the male held a cell phone over the fitting room stall door while she was changing," Wareham police said in a statement.
The suspect was seen on surveillance video leaving the Target parking lot on a moped. Police said they found Mattos, who matched the description of the suspect in the video, and arrested him on Main Street without incident.
In court, a prosecutor said Mattos gave police more information than they asked for.
"He said no, then followed up by stating, 'OK I tried on one pair of pants, but I wasn't filming any females in the fitting room,'" the prosecutor said. "Officers noted in the report that they at no point in time mentioned anything about filming anybody, and the defendant just volunteered that information."
Mattos was held on $5,000 bail. His next court date is on June 30, and he's been ordered to stay away from Target and Walmart stores in the meantime.
Target said it was cooperating with police in the investigation.
"The safety of our guests and team members is our top priority and we have robust procedures, policies and training in place to ensure that our stores are safe places to shop and work," a company spokesperson said in a statement. "We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior, and as soon as we became aware of the situation our team contacted the Wareham Police Department."
Gregory Mattos charged in past incident
Wareham police said Mattos "is a registered sex offender in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has been involved in similar incidents in the past."
In 2016, WBZ-TV reported that Mattos was charged with unlawful sexual surveillance after an "upskirting" incident at the same shopping plaza.
In that case, police received a report about a suspicious man taking pictures of a female customer with his phone. He ran out of the store when the startled woman noticed what he was doing and was later arrested on a warrant, police said.
Police said Mattos had previously been charged with failing to register as a sex offender in an unrelated case.
