(Faribault, MN) – A Northfield man is facing criminal charges, accused of gazing at another man who was going to the bathroom at a rest stop.

Paul Douglas Pirami, 54, was charged in Rice County Court Wednesday with interfering with privacy by gazing, staring, or peeping, a misdemeanor.

The criminal complaint says Pirami told police he had been unable to sleep on a July night, so he went for a drive around 3 a.m., stopping at the Heath Creek Rest Area in Rice County.  Pirami told investigators he goes to the rest stop often and “just watches people.”

Just after 6 a.m., police received a call from a man saying that he had seen a man – later identified as Pirami – looking at him through the bathroom stall.

Pirami told police he’d been washing his hands in the bathroom and that curiosity got the best of him when he noticed the victim was wearing a skirt.  Pirami said he looked into the stall and told the victim he was “just looking” when confronted by the man.

The victim confirmed Pirami’s account of the incident.

Pirami has been summoned to appear in Rice County Court on January 8, 2020

Click here to LIKE Southern Minnesota News on Facebook.

Click here to FOLLOW @SouthernMNnews on Twitter. 

(Copyright © Southern Minnesota News.  Alpha Media Mankato.  All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)