The Teton County Attorney’s Office has dropped an attempted voyeurism charge against a Texas man who was accused of trying to shoot a photograph of a prepubescent girl’s crotch area at the local carnival last summer.
William Ewan Brennan IV was charged last July with one count of attempted voyeurism, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $5,000 in fines. He’s been out of jail on bond during his case.
Teton County Deputy Attorney Mackenzie Cole on June 4 asked permission from Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens to drop the case “without prejudice,” meaning she could bring it again if more evidence or different circumstances surface.
Cole wrote that dismissal was “in the interest of justice.”
Owens granted the prosecutor’s request one day later.
Brennan’s case had been scheduled for a July 14 jury trial before the dismissal.
It’s unclear why the prosecutor asked for dismissal.
Teton County Attorney Richard Stout, who is Cole’s supervisor, declined in a text message Wednesday to comment on the dismissal.
Brennan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
His public defense attorney Rachel Weksler, likewise, did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
Weksler in a motion to the court Tuesday had asked that Brennan be ordered to pay $500 in public defender costs.
The Carnival
The charge stemmed from a Jackson Police Department investigation that started when a man approached Cpl. Paul Jacobson at the carnival the night of July 26, 2024, to say he’d seen another man taking photos of a girl who looked 7 or 8 years old, says the case affidavit.
The witness said the man was taking photos of the girl’s lower body area, as she wore loose white shorts, the document alleged.
Jacobson and Sgt. Kyle Foster later found Brennan, whom they identified from a cellphone photo the eyewitness took of him, standing in line behind the same girl the witness had noted, the document adds.
The affidavit alleged that Foster stood behind Brennan and watched Brennan point his camera-activated phone at the girl’s bottom area.
Brennan was arrested that night and later released on bond.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
