Charity employee accused of recording under woman's dress at IKEA

Police say they found 57 videos of suspected voyeurism on man's phone

SUNRISE, Fla. – A worker with a charity in Pompano Beach was arrested Wednesday after he used his cellphone to record a video under a woman's dress for his "sexual arousal," police said.

Maria Martinez told police officers she was shopping at IKEA in Sunrise on July 8 when she saw Jose Carlos Barrios filming about 12 inches away from a woman on an escalator. 

Martinez told officers she instinctively started shouting and chased after the 59-year-old man.

Other shoppers rushed behind Barrios and detained him until Sunrise Police Department officers arrived. But when the victim chose not to file charges, the officers were forced to let him go. 

According to the police report, the victim later told police officers that she was "confused and frazzled" and had changed her mind. Detectives had surveillance video of the incident and found 57 other videos on Barrios' cellphone that could be linked to video voyeurism.

Jose Carlos Barrios shields his face from the Local 10 News camera as he is leaving jail after his arrest.

Barrios, who worked at the Cross Catholic Outreach, turned himself in. When he walked out of the Broward County jail Thursday night in Fort Lauderdale, Barrios refused to answer questions and took off running.

Cross Catholic Outreach President James Cavnar said in a statement Friday that Barrios resigned on Thursday.

"Although the incident occurred during this staff member's personal time and transpired outside of the office setting, we share the public's concern for the victims of the crime and we will cooperate fully within any police investigations that will follow," the statement read. 

The Archdiocese of Miami's spokesperson Mary Ross Agosta released a statement Aug. 10 saying the charity has no connection to the Catholic Church and Barrios is not an employee of the Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Charities. 


About the Authors:

Nicole Perez is the the primary co-anchor of Local 10 News at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. She first joined Local 10 in July 2016 as the morning traffic reporter.

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.