Dc Police Take 12 Computers from Rabbi's Home, Find 2nd Secret Recording Device

By Paul Wagner
Fox 5
October 16, 2014

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/26808322/dc-police-take-12-computers-from-rabbis-home-find-2nd-secret-recording-device

[with video]

There is new information in the case of the rabbi accused of voyeurism. Newly unsealed search warrants show police found another device inside Barry Freundel's Georgetown home capable of "surreptitious" recording along with evidence the rabbi had been secretly recording women in "several" different locations.

The search warrant affidavits say investigators found evidence in the rabbi's home indicating the 62-year-old was saving files of women undressing in the shower of the synagogue's mikvah and they were listed by name.

The warrants also say investigators discovered evidence the rabbi has been using more than one recording device with files going back to at least February of this year.

The two warrants, one for the rabbi's home and the other for the synagogue, show D.C. police took quite a bit of potential evidence out of Freundel's O Street home when they searched it Tuesday.

A list of the items seized includes six external hard drives, seven laptops, five desktop computers, three cameras, 20 memory cards and 11 flash drives.

The affidavit attached to the warrant for the synagogue says the person who keeps inventory of all of the items in the mikvah "observed what appeared to be a video camera with a SD card in the back of the (dream machine clock radio) turned over to police.

The affidavit says, "the recording device contains more than 100 deleted files dating back to 02/03/14.”

Freundel is accused of recording women without their knowledge as they undressed for a ritual bath.

He has been suspended without pay.

Two women, who took those baths and believe they may have been surreptitiously recorded, said they noticed a clock radio on a table in the changing room.

"I haven't been in that mikvah in about three years since my conversion, and from my memory, there was a clock radio next to the sink in the preparation room,” said Bethany Mandel in an interview Wednesday. “There are different parts of the mikvah where women get ready. Then next to it is a shower or a bathtub, depending on what a woman wants to do.”

Emma Shulevitz, who went to the courthouse Wednesday to see the rabbi arraigned, says Freundel specifically asked her not to put anything in front of the clock radio.

"Yeah, and he didn't want the water bottle in front of it,” she said. “Who listens to music while you are in the shower … I found it suspicious … I remember it vividly.”

On page two of the warrant for the rabbi's house, investigators say they found a manual for a video recording device disguised as a fan, and in the affidavit write, "preliminary computer forensic examination also reveals that the defendant has been engaging in the criminal act of voyeurism in several locations and with the use of several devices and over a period of time.”

Court records show D.C. police have found at least six videos of six different women disrobing in the mikvah changing room.

Three videos were dated June 2nd and the others were dated September 13th.

The affidavit also says the rabbi's face and voice can be seen and heard setting up the camera in the mikvah.

The rabbi had no comment as he left court on Wednesday. He is due back in court on November 12.