Rabbi Pleads Guilty to 52 Counts of Voyeurism

Baltimore Sun
February 19, 2015

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-rabbi-hearing-20150219-story.html

Rabbi Barry Freundel, left, checks his phone as he leaves the D.C. Superior Court House with his attorneys Thursday. (Cliff Owen / Associated Press)

Aprominent rabbi and former Towson University associate professor accused of secretly videotaping nude women pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism in D.C. Superior Court today.

Rabbi Barry Freundel, 63, who was arrested in October, was accused of recording the women in a changing room of a Jewish ritual bath known as a mikvah.

Each of the 52 misdemeanor counts carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. Freundel is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15

At a private meeting last week, prosecutors told some of the alleged victims, their families and lawyers that the rabbi had taped more than 150 women, but the statute of limitations would prevent charging him with all of the alleged incidents, The Associated Press reported.

A Towson University student is among the women named in a civil lawsuit involving Freundel. The woman claims that even though she was not Jewish and did not want to convert to Judaism, the rabbi urged her to bathe in the mikvah for a research paper.

Freundel was a rabbi at the Kesher Israel synagogue in Washington for more than 25 years before his October arrest. Freundel was accused of setting up a recording device disguised as a digital clock radio in the changing and showering area of The National Capital Mikvah. He was arrested after a person associated with the mikvah discovered the hidden camera.

Freundel was initially charged with six counts of voyeurism. Then, a search of his home turned up other media storage devices, and prosecutors indicated that more women had been taped.

An attorney representing some of the women, Steven J. Kelly, said Thursday he had concerns that not all alleged victims have been identified in advance of the plea agreement.

"It's a real concern," Kelly said. "And potentially some of those people could come out of the woodwork later and challenge the plea deal."

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.

Contact: alisonk@baltsun.com