More often than not, they go unnoticed. They peer into windows to catch a glimpse of their unsuspecting victims. It’s almost always sexual in nature, experts say, and potentially much more dangerous than even the victims might suspect.

This week, a 44-year-old county man goes on trial in Chesterfield General District Court for two counts of peeping into homes. Both incidents took place last year, on Chester Garden Circle, on Oct. 8 and Dec. 8. Cory Lamar Lipscomb, of the 13700 block of Lawing Drive in South Chesterfield, is accused of peering into windows, a class I misdemeanor, which carries a maximum punishment of 12 months in jail and/or a $2,500 fine.

In both cases, Chesterfield Police spokeswoman Liz Caroon says there are eyewitnesses who saw the alleged Peeping Tom at work. In one incident, an alleged victim caught the suspect peering through a window at her home.

When contacted by the Observer, residents of the Chester neighborhood where the recent incidents took place offered mixed reactions. Some were alarmed, others not so much.

“I felt uncomfortable, but I have a pretty vicious dog so I wasn’t too concerned about it,” says Joanna Brown, 23, who moved into the area about six months ago. “I never saw anything, but my next-door neighbor had always said she was finding him [Lipscomb] in our backyard.”

For 38-year-old Anthony Sullivan, who has lived in the neighbor hood with his wife and children for about two years, news of the Peeping Tom incidents is a wake-up call.

“I’m just glad they caught him,” Sullivan says. “I don’t want anybody going out and peeping at my wife and my family.”

While police haven’t released many details, one thing is certain: The Lipscomb case doesn’t have much company. According to Caroon, from 2011 through 2014, there were 31 reports of Peeping Tom incidents in the county. In 2014, the Lipscomb case represents two of 11 for the year.

It’s hard to know for sure why Peeping Tom cases are so few and far between. Part of the reason, says Dr. Evan S. Nelson, a sex offender treatment provider and founder of Midlothian-based Forensic Psychology Associates, is that voyeurs can get their kicks more safely online these days. Internet pornography is rampant, and there is no shortage of websites devoted to exhibitionism and voyeurism.

“In today’s world, voyeurism has gone digital: hidden cameras in bathrooms, cameras on shoes to ‘up skirt’ women, software to remotely control the webcam of someone’s computer after it has been hacked, etc.,” Nelson says. “Like dirty telephone calls, which are now passé due to caller ID, the advent of technology has really reduced the frequency of these experimental/opportunistic voyeur offenders.”

But when they do venture out to peer in, it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Nelson says the peeping could be a first step toward something much more dangerous.

“In my practice, I have seen a number of voyeurs and some exhibitionists who kept trying to get closer and closer to their victims, the better to see what’s going on, and then have impulsively escalated to rape,” Nelson says. “This typically happens when the victim screams and the offender panics, crossing over to touching the victim to quiet her, and having crossed the boundary of making contact during a time when they were already aroused … and they made a snap decision to escalate to rape.”

Tina Buck, owner of Guardian Angel Protection Inc., a Richmond-based consulting firm that offers services such as instruction in personal protection and threat assessment for homeowners, says peepers will often push the boundaries if they aren’t caught.

“As long as they feel safe and they’re able to get away with it, then they’re going to keep coming back to the well to drink,” says Buck, who worked for the VCU Police Department for 25 years before retiring in 2006 as deputy chief. “The frightening thing is that [some of] these guys … they start with peeping and get comfortable with peeping, and then they want to escalate it. They want to maybe break in the home, maybe steal underwear out of the drawer, and then they could escalate beyond that to wanting to touch the person.”

Dr. Stephen V. Strunk, a sex offender treatment provider and owner of Woodlake Counseling in Midlothian, says it’s difficult to pinpoint why people become voyeurs. Strunk, a former forensic psychologist for the state, worked for three years at the Virginia Center for Rehabilitation in Burkeville where he treated serious sex offenders who were deemed too dangerous to return to society without intense counseling.

“Basically most of these guys who are Peeping Toms really don’t want to get caught doing it,” Strunk says. “In terms of commonality, that’s always a tricky question. Was there abuse going on in his youth background or some other reason? Were there limited social skills that he has so he doesn’t feel comfortable actually approaching people? So there’s no one particular causal factor that’s going to turn somebody into a voyeur.”

Strunk says research shows voyeurism, however, can be a gateway to other crimes.

“When we look at studies like child molesting … a lot of them have also committed offenses against adults,” Strunk says, “and when you look at their histories, some of them did engage in voyeuristic behavior. … There is some indication in the studies that a lot of your Peeping Tom guys also do exposing of themselves – exhibitionism.”

Because men tend to be more visual in regard to sexual arousal than women, most Peeping Toms are males, Strunk adds.

“You’re going to have a preponderance of men who are doing this more than women,” he says, “although I’m sure there are a few women that are voyeurs.”

Nelson, who has been hired to testify as an expert witness in a number of high-profile national cases, including the trials of Lee Boyd Malvo and Lorena Bobbitt, says it’s critical that Peeping Toms are reported to police.

“A Peeping Tom is less likely to be caught than a rapist, and it’s easier to offend against multiple victims or even the same victim again and again without getting caught when it comes to crimes that don’t involve touching the victim, such as voyeurism, exhibitionism and collecting child pornography,” Nelson says. “And, the more they get away with it without being caught, the more emboldened they may become to do it again.”

Since learning of the alleged incidents in his Chester neighborhood, Sullivan says he and his family will “definitely keep an eye on who’s supposed to be around and who’s not supposed to be around. It makes you open your eyes [that] it can happen in your community, too.”

Lipscomb is scheduled to be tried on the two charges at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 27.