D.C. rabbi pleads guilty to secretly videotaping women

Print

Rabbi pleads guilty to photographing nude womenThursday that he had secretly videotaped dozens of nude women as they prepared for a ritual bath.

In a hearing in D.C. Superior Court, Freundel pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism.

Prior to the hearing, D.C. prosecutors sent a note to victims saying that they wanted to “assure everyone that if this plea goes through, as victims of crime, you will have the right to submit a written as well as an oral victim impact statement at a sentencing hearing, expressing how this crime has impacted you.” Freundel’s sentencing hearing is set for May 15.

Freundel, 63, was arrested in October on charges that he videotaped six women in the nude while he was at Kesher Israel Congregation in Georgetown.

At a meeting at the U.S. Attorney’s Office last week, prosecutors said there may be as many as 150 women allegedly videotaped by the rabbi as they prepared for a private bath known as a mikvah, according to three people briefed on the investigation.

More...