Texas Father Shoots 'Peeping Tom' Looking in 10-Year-Old Daughter's Window

A Texas father has reportedly chased down a "peeping Tom" when he saw the man gratifying himself outside his 10-year-old daughter's window. He then shot him outside a nearby gas station.

According to Fox News, the parents heard their young daughter scream from her bedroom at around 10 p.m. after seeing a man inappropriately touching himself outside a window.

The girl's mother, who chose not to be identified, said her daughter looks over at the window, and the peeping Tom was there. She added that the man took her daughter's innocence away.

Harris County Sheriff's deputies said the parents are both licensed handgun carriers.

Texas Father Catches the 'Peeping Tom'

The Texas father said that he and his wife had demanded the alleged peeping Tom to lie down in the yard and wait for the police to arrive. However, the man did not comply and walked to a Valero gas station, ABC 7 News reported.

Deputies said the man had apologized and walked away, trying to get away from the situation, New York Daily News reported. But the armed parents had followed the man to the Valero gas station.

Deputies said the wife had held the man outside the gas station while the husband went inside and asked the clerk to call 911.

Deputies noted it was when the man had wrestled the handgun out of the wife's hands and pointed it at her. The Texas father then fired his weapon at the man three times for fear that the man would start shooting.

However, he said he believed that he shot the peeping Tom four times: twice in the chest, one in the stomach, and another one in the side. Deputies said the man was brought to a hospital in critical but stable condition.

Deputies noted that the incident would be brought to the Harris County District Attorney's Office for a grand jury review.

The Texas father said his daughter had complained in the past that she had seen someone watching her through the window. However, the parents did not believe her. No one else was injured in the shooting.

Voyeurism

Voyeurism is the act of looking in windows to watch unsuspecting persons who are undressing, already naked, or who are engaging in sexual acts.

Science Direct stated that it is mostly males who are identified as voyeurs. Voyeurism did not have its own offense category until recently.

It is coming under the heading of "breach of the peace," or if several victims were involved, it would be under "being a public nuisance."

The criminal voyeurism statute of some states covers a "place where one would have a reasonable expectation of privacy."

It would mean that it is a place where a reasonable person would believe that they could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that their undressing was being photographed or filmed by another, according to U.S. Legal Definitions.

It could also be covered if a place where one may reasonably expect to be safe from casual or hostile intrusion.

WATCH: Man Accused of Peeping Into Child's Window - From KPRC 2 Click2Houston