As alleged ‘peeping Toms’ persist, Towson roommates share video. Police haven’t released it.

Baltimore County Police still have not released footage or photos of the individuals seen on video looking into the first-floor bedroom windows of three young women in the Donnybrook Apartments complex in Towson.

After an incident in January, in which one of the women saw a man recording through their windows, the roommates installed Ring cameras to try to capture footage. They supplied video to police, including footage from another incident Monday night.

A police department spokesperson said this week that police would increase their patrols of the area.

“Evidence has been provided and detectives are currently reviewing it, attempting to identify the subject and determine the motive,” Det. Trae Corbin wrote in an emailed statement.

But when asked this week why the images haven’t been released to the public, two department spokespeople did not respond.

At a meeting Tuesday in Towson, police Capt. John Keeney assured attendees that officers were patrolling the area near Donnybrook Apartments, between Burke Avenue and Aigburth Road, from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.

“The case was first brought to me in March,” Keeney said. “Since then we’ve ramped up our presence.”

Devin Kaestner and Chloe White said they’ve been dealing with and complaining about at least three “peeping Toms” over the past nine months. They said it feels like they’re living the plot of a horror movie.

Another incident occurred late Monday night when one of the Ring cameras detected movement.

A middle-aged white man in a backward baseball cap and a black Ravens hoodie was recorded peering into White’s bedroom window. The roommates again called police and filed a report, but the man had fled by the time officers arrived.

“At this point they have clear faces of these men, and I know that a face doesn’t mean that they’re going to get caught,” said White, a senior at Towson University. “But there are so many security cameras around here ... I just find it hard to believe that at this point, no one knows who this is or even has seen this guy around.”

Trying to relax

Keeney said that Monday’s incident was the 13th that detectives have handled at White and Kaestner’s apartment since September 2025.

Stress related to the incidents is taking a toll on White’s mental health, she said, making it hard to fall asleep.

“Oh, I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist and counselors from the counselor center,” White said. “I was prescribed sleep medicine to sleep at night and, as needed, daytime panic attack medicine.”

Even when the women try to relax, the threat of another “peeping Tom” looms.

Trying to find the humor in their situation, White and Kaestner wrote a song earlier Monday night called “Smile You’re on Camera,” named after the signs they posted on their bedroom windows.

But moments later, White’s phone buzzed after detecting movement from a stranger outside their window.

Asking for help

White, who will graduate from Towson University in May with a degree in public health, said she feels stuck.

The 22-year-old is pursuing her master’s degree at Towson in the fall. The three-bedroom apartment she shares with Kaestner and a third roommate is the only one they can afford.

University spokesperson Jamie Abell previously told The Banner in an emailed statement that the school is working directly with police and committed to supporting the investigation and all students in off-campus incidents.

White said she was told by Towson University Police that the department couldn’t help her because she lives off campus.

“As far as the university goes, I feel like their jurisdiction, realistically, should reach to where students live,” she said.

Kaestner, a 2024 Towson alumna, said they felt like law enforcement and other authorities weren’t taking the issue seriously.

She and White asked the university and the Donnybrook Apartments leasing office for help. The apartment management suggested they rent a different apartment.

About the police, she said, “We’re nervous that we’re going to come off as too greedy and, you know, then they’ll stop coming overall.”

Security precautions

Corbin recommended that the public take the following measures:

• Lock and secure all doors and windows
• Close blinds or curtains
• Install security cameras and motion lights
• Provide surveillance footage to police
• Trim overgrown shrubs and trees
• If you see someone suspicious, call 911 immediately

Kaestner said she understood that police may not want to scare the public, but it’s important that the community knows what has been happening.

“Yes, they’re just looking in windows, but that’s still a crime,” she said. A charge of visual surveillance with prurient intent is a misdemeanor under Maryland law.

“It’s a precursor to something worse,” White added. “That’s how it always starts.”