Formerly missing AU student arrested for voyeurism

WASHINGTON — The American University student who was reported missing last week has been arrested and charged with voyeurism, according to court documents. 

Kris Emmanuel Estrada was reported missing July 28 after his roommate and friends began posting on social media that they hadn’t seen him since July 25. American University told WUSA9 on July 29 that Estrada had been located. Now, court documents have revealed that before Estrada disappeared, he knew he was suspected of voyeurism.

According to an affidavit written by American University Detective Joseph Barnes, a male student identified as V-1 or reported that he had seen a cell phone reaching over the wall of the stall he was in while he was using the bathroom on the second floor of Bender Library on July 22. V-1 was able to identify the shoes and pants worn by the person in the adjacent stall. Using security footage, the American University student ID system, Estrada’s Instagram photos and the Wi-Fi information associated with Estrada’s devices, Barnes was able to identify Estrada and place him and his cellphone on the second floor of the library at the time of the incident.

Barnes obtained a search warrant for Estrada’s dorm room and telephones and found him alone in his shared room on July 25. Estrada voluntarily complied with the detective and gave up his cell phone and his passcode, according to court documents. That same day is when Estrada’s roommate said he saw him last.

In the recently deleted folder of Estrada’s photo album on his phone, Barnes wrote that he found approximately seven videos of V-1 using the toilet on July 22. An arrest warrant was signed on July 29, and Estrada was arrested sometime later. 

D.C. Superior Court records show that Estrada pleaded not guilty on Aug. 2. He will have his initial status hearing on Sept. 6. 

Estrada's lawyer, Joseph D. Lento of the Lento Law Group, provided the following statement to WUSA9 claiming things aren't exactly what they seem. 

"We ask the public not to rush to judgment based on news reports regarding our client. We believe there may be additional facts that, if they became public, would cast our client and this situation in a different light."

The D.C. Superior Court records also show that Estrada has been arrested for misdemeanors two previous times in Washington. The cases were post-and-forfeit, which means that Estrada was not convicted of either misdemeanor and resolved the charges by paying the security amount for the charges. The previous charges are for crowding, obstructing or incommoding in September 2023 and disorderly conduct causing unreasonable fear (intimidation) in February 2024.

American University’s student newspaper, The Eagle, reported that this is the third time in recent years that a student has been arrested on voyeurism charges. Another student, Markus Huerta, was arrested just three months ago in May, and a third student, Kyle Blanco, was arrested in 2022 and was sentenced this past April, the Eagle reports.

Chief Communications Officer for American University Matt Bennett provided a statement on Estrada’s arrest.

“Voyeurism—like all other crimes—is unacceptable on our campus. We are committed to working with the community to ensure a culture of safety, educate about our safety measures, and develop specific information about preventing voyeurism and protecting privacy. In fact, we have already reached out to student leaders to talk about ways to further our collective efforts in this regard,” Bennett said in the statement.