Man Charged With Secretly Filming Brookline Resident

Authorities are offering few details about a Brighton man charged with photographing an unsuspecting person in the nude after an incident in Brookline yesterday.

Robert E. Higgins Jr., 47, was arrested Thursday and held on $500,000 bail, which was later reduced to $25,000 on appeal, according to David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk District Attorney's Office. Traub did not know whether Higgins had made bail as of Friday afternoon.

All police reports related to the case have been impounded by Brookline District Court Judge Patricia Curtin, but Brookline Police dispatch records indicate Higgins was arrested shortly after police were called to a Lawton Street apartment on reports of someone shining a light into an apartment window.

The records also show that a Boston K-9 unit was called to the scene after police arrived, and that officers later located a "web cam" on Beal Street.

According to a criminal docket, Higgins faces charges of photographing an unsuspecting nude person, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He is due back in court on Sept. 1.

If released before his trial, Higgins' bail conditions would require him to wear a GPS monitoring device, stay out of Brookline and stay at least 50 yards from any schools, playgrounds, libraries and parks.