LANSING, Mich. — The arrest of a Flint-area teacher accused of taking video of a teenager in a tanning booth has the industry's attention tonight.
The owner and staff at J2 Tanning were pretty horrified when they heard what happened in Clio, but they said there's only so much they can do without being too invasive themselves.
"Privacy is obviously a very important part of your tanning experience...you wouldn't want someone to invade on that, so that's scary to hear about."
The staff at J2 Tanning in Lansing Township is taking the alleged invasion of privacy in Genesee County seriously.
"Safety and privacy is one of our top concerns. We don't need someone doing what this individual did...actually trying to videotape someone else blows my mind."
J2, like many tanning salons, has cubicles with walls that almost reach the ceiling.
Owner Justin Carpenter tells me it's necessary because the rooms get so hot with tanning beds running all day.
"You’ll find it fairly common in tanning salons that because these units generate so much heat, the open space really helps with air flow."
Carpenter tells me there's only so much security he can provide for his clients.
"We don't have something in every room monitoring people, so once we set them in a particular room, we don't know what's going on inside. Beyond having locks on our doors, or completely remodeling our spaces, there's really nothing we can do."
Carpenter plans to have his employees review their safety precautions, because the incident hits too close to home for him.
"My partner, the other owner, has two daughters, and to think of that happening to them is frightening."
Carpenter tells me that he's in the process of putting together a memo to make his workers aware of the incident and what they need to do to protect their clients.
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