A D.C. judge dismissed charges Thursday against a Virginia man accused of taking photos up women’s skirts at the Lincoln Memorial, ruling that the women had no “reasonable expectation of privacy.”

Christopher Cleveland of Springfield was accused of taking the photographs in June 2013 after U.S. Park Police spotted him using his camera to capture pictures of passersby.

Mr. Cleveland was charged with attempted voyeurism, assaulting and resisting or interference with an officer and attempted tampering with physical evidence.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna said that women should not expect privacy in a public place, Washington’s ABC affiliate reported.

“This Court finds that no individual clothed and positioned in such a manner in a public area in broad daylight in the presence of countless other individuals could have a reasonable expectation of privacy,” the judge wrote in her ruling to suppress evidence.

The judge wouldn’t allow prosecutors to use Mr. Cleveland’s statements that he gave to police or evidence from his camera, since the images in question were not “incidental glimpses” and were available for public viewing without “extraordinary lengths.”

Source: Washington Times