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 A Coffee County correctional officer has been arrested and charged with felony unlawful photography for allegedly taking pictures of two underage girls at Planet Fitness in McMinnville and then posting their pictures to the internet with crass comments about their attire.

The suspect, Michael Aaron Murphy is charged with two counts of unlawful photography for the incident that began to unfold just after 9 a.m., Friday March 7. According to the warrant against Murphy, filed by McMinnville Police Detective Chris McCormick, Murphy took multiple photos of two juvenile females who were working out at the gym located at Northgate Shopping Center in McMinnville.

“Hours later Mr. Murphy posted the photos of both juvenile females working out with six different captions,” the warrant reads.

The captions were demeaning and included “there’s no excuse to dress like this in public”, “A Skanky workout” and “Skanky pose”. The other three captions were insults that are not suitable for print.

The victims became aware of the posts and police were contacted. “The victims both stated they found the post to be embarrassing and offensive.”

In response, the Coffee County Sheriff’s office is waiting on the MPD to finish its investigation.

“We were made aware of the arrest of a correctional officer with our department by the McMinnville Police Department late Friday night on charges of invasion of privacy by photography,” the press-release reads. “This is a McMinnville City case, so we do not have much information on what led to the arrest. The department remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of conduct, and appropriate actions will be taken. The public’s safety, privacy, and dignity are of the utmost importance.

The law regarding illegal photography TCA 39-13-605 reads: It is an offense for a person to knowingly photograph, or cause to be photographed, an individual without the prior effective consent of the individual, or in the case of a minor, without the prior effective consent of the minor’s parent or legal guardian, if the photograph: (i) Would offend or embarrass an ordinary person if the person appeared in the photograph (ii) Is focused on the intimate area of the individual and would be considered offensive or embarrassing by the individual; and (B) Was taken for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification of the defendant; or (2) (A) Includes the unclothed intimate area of the individual and would be considered offensive or embarrassing by the individual; (B) Was taken for the purpose of offending, intimidating, embarrassing, ridiculing, or harassing the victim; and (C) Was disseminated by the defendant, the defendant threatened to disseminate the photograph, or the defendant permitted the dissemination of the photograph, to another person.

A violation of subdivision (a)(1) is a Class E felony if: (A) The defendant disseminates or permits the dissemination of the photograph to any other person; or (B) The victim of the offense is under thirteen (13) years of age at the time of the offense. (3) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) is a Class D felony if:(A) The defendant disseminates or permits the dissemination of the photograph to any other person; and (B) The victim of the offense is under thirteen (13) years of age at the time of the offense.