Man who took upskirt videos at WSU also filmed at church and at mall, affidavit says

A Wichita State student who allegedly took more than a dozen upskirt videos of women on campus also filmed unsuspecting teens at a Wichita church, a woman in a Towne East Square parking lot and at least two young girls playing outside, according to an arrest affidavit released Tuesday by a Sedgwick County judge.

James Dayvault, 29, is charged with six criminal counts including sexual exploitation of a child, breach of privacy, attempted breach of privacy and lewd and lascivious behavior, according to Sedgwick County District Court records. His defense attorney, Jonathan McConnell, could not immediately reached for comment Wednesday morning.

Dayvault came under police scrutiny last summer after he was spotted on June 20, 2017, placing his cellphone “inches away” from the buttocks of a bikini-clad girl who was playing with her cousin and chasing a road grader in a north Wichita neighborhood, the affidavit says. The children were 5 and 7 at the time, according to the charging document in the case.

Investigators who later searched Dayvault’s cellphone and home computer discovered several photos and videos of females generally taken of their backsides and underneath their skirts, the affidavit says. There also was evidence the phone had been used to view at least 91 images of child pornography, the document says.

One of the videos police found, of a 9-year-old girl playing in the grass close to a street curb “zoomed in directly to the child,” appears to have been taken from a second-story window location about three months before Dayvault was seen near the bikini-clad girl in June, according to the affidavit.

Dayvault admitted to police that he’d shot videos of children out of a second-floor window at his parents’ house, other court records in the case say.

Other footage shows Dayvault exposing his genitals while he’s standing on a sidewalk and children are playing nearby.

There were more than 15 videos of woman filmed at WSU — including footage, police have previously said, taken at Ablah Library, East McKnight, Duerksen Fine Arts Center and possibly inside Jabara Hall.

Several others were taken inside of Eastminister Presbyterian Church, 1958 N. Webb Road, the affidavit says. At least three of those featured 17-year-old girls.

One is a 16-minute, 10-second long attempt to film under a girl’s “chorus robe and dress, when she was seated next to Dayvault,” the affidavit says.

When interviewed by police about why he had approached the bikini-clad girl on June 20, 2017, Dayvault said he had gone to the neighborhood “looking for a place to dump his trash” when he saw and approached the girl to take a photo “to have sexual fantasies,” the affidavit says.

The document also says he told police he had “inappropriate urges about kids but have never touched any” and that he thought he needed help. He was arrested and criminal charged in October.

Sedgwick County District Court released the affidavit following a request in July by The Eagle to make the document public.

Dayvault is due in court for a preliminary hearing next week, according to court records. If he’s bound over for trial on any charges, he’ll have a chance to enter a plea at that time.

In a written motion to change Dayvault’s bond amount filed with the court last fall, Dayvault’s defense attorney said that Dayvault “is of good moral character,” deserved a presumption of innocence and was “eager to resolve this matter in the court.”

While on bond, Dayvault is subject to electronic monitoring, can’t have contact with children and can’t use the Internet or a cellphone with a camera, according to court records.

He also must stay 100 yards away from schools and churches.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 11:11 AM.