Wedding Photographer Charged with Secretly Recording Bride
A Minnesota wedding photographer is facing criminal charges for allegedly secretly recording a bride in a dressing room.
As Albert Lea Tribune reports, photographer Mitchell Ringness has been charged with one count of interference with privacy. The charge is a gross misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to one year imprisonment and/or up to a $3,000 fine in Minnesota.
Ringness, who operates the wedding photography business, MR Photography, is accused of secretly recording a bride in her dressing room. The video reportedly shows the bride getting dressed and shows her partially nude. The video also includes audio of a person calling out to a photographer named “Mitchell.”
The video, stored on a thumb drive, was turned over to police this spring by Ringness’ partner. Albert Lea Tribune reports that the thumb drive includes other “sexual conduct material.”
During their investigation, Albert Lea and Cloquet police department detectives concluded that the recording in question was captured in April 2020 at a wedding venue in Albert Lea. The Albert Lea detective confirmed the identity of the victim and the venue where the video was captured, which was the bridal suite at The Barn of Chapeau Shores. The victim confirmed the location and date of her wedding and that Ringness was her photographer. She was entirely unaware of the camera that was hidden in the room.
The venue owners, Jayne and Chad Iverson, said Ringness had only been at their venue once, for the April 2020 wedding, and were dismayed at the news of the alleged crime.
“The safety of our wedding couples and all guests is vitally important to us, so hearing this news has been very upsetting to us,” the Iversons said. “Anyone affected by this individual has our deepest sympathy.”
Per FOX 9 in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, Ringness “photographs weddings statewide.”
A former high school classmate of Ringness, Taylor Hughes, hired the photographer for her wedding in 2022 and told FOX 9 that “The thought that I could potentially have been spied on – and not just me but my wedding party — it’s a lot to process I feel like.”
“We definitely want justice,” Hughes added.
Ringness is scheduled to appear in court to answer his charge on September 5, 2024. Ringness is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. PetaPixel has elected to publish the accused’s name because it has already been widely reported, and his alleged crimes have a demonstrable impact on public safety, given that he is a working wedding photographer outside of police custody.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
