'A new way of violating people:' Tulsa jury awards woman $15 million after she sues peeping Tom

A woman made history in Oklahoma after she sued her predator and a Tulsa jury awarded her $15 million on Wednesday.

Kathryn Wainscott had no idea a man had set up a camera in his bathroom and got pictures of her nude. 

That man, Daniel Toy, had been the best man at her wedding and had been a friend of the Wainscotts for years. 

How did Toy get caught?

Tulsa Police say Toy was caught putting his phone under a woman's dressing room in May 2022. Police say Toy tried to hide in another dressing room, where a witness saw him quickly deleting photos on his phone. Police got a warrant for his phone and computer and learned he also had a hidden camera set up in his guest bathroom.

Investigators found pictures and videos of Kathryn in the bathroom without her consent on Toy's phone. 

Kathryn and her husband are from Houston, Texas, and went to stay with Toy and his wife in Tulsa one weekend in 2021.

"I thought Daniel was our good friend, and he ended up being a predator and my violator," said Wainscott.

Then investigators called Kathryn to let her know she was one of four women investigators could identify in the 50,000 photos and videos on Toy's phone.

"It violates your mind, it violates the way you trust people, it violates the way you think about your relationship with others; this is a new way of violating people" said Wainscott.

The details in Toy's trial

Daniel Toy pled guilty to 10 counts of peeping Tom with photographic equipment and was sentenced to prison for 10 years, but once he's released, he doesn't have to register as a sex offender.

"If he were to get out, he could just go right back to doing something like this and that really troubled me," said Wainscott.

Kathryn's mission for awareness

Kathryn decided to take Toy to civil court. Toy never showed up.

She did this to show lawmakers that this issue matters.

A Tulsa jury awarded her $15,000,000, but it was never about the money for Kathryn; it was to prove a point to lawmakers that victims need more protection.

"It was incredibly powerful and incredibly validating and I'm very grateful to all those jurors that were there that day," said Wainscott

The Juror's thought process when it came to delivering a verdict 

Janet Yeager was a juror in the civil trial and says the jurors made an immediate and unanimous decision in favor of Kathryn.

"What Daniel Toy had done to Kathryn, but also Lieutenant mentioned quite a few other women they had noticed on his devices that he couldn't identify; we were concerned about justice for them as well," said Yeager. 

Yeager says the jury also wanted to send a message to legislators because they are not happy Toy doesn't have to register as a sex offender once he's released. 

"There's not that many protections for this sort of digital peeping Tom behavior, and it's on the we have cheaper cameras, easier access to cameras," said Yeager.

What's being done to protect victims in peeping Tom cases?

Senate Bill 1329 was introduced at the state capitol last year, but went nowhere. 

It would require people convicted of peeping Tom cases, to register as a sex offender.

Kathryn hopes lawmakers will propose it again and make it law.

"Laws don't change unless we force them to change and that's what I'm trying to do," said Wainscott

The latest on Toy's sentence

Toy has served one year of his sentence but is up for parole next week.