The US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia now claims that talk of a plea deal with accused mikvah voyeur Rabbi Barry Freundel is premature – even though they told a judge in Washington, DC’s Superior Court yesterday that one was actively being considered.
Above: Rabbi Barry Freundel
US Attorney Backpedals On Plea Deal For Alleged Voyeur Rabbi
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia now claims that talk of a plea deal with accused mikvah voyeur Rabbi Barry Freundel is premature – even though they told a judge in Washington, DC’s Superior Court yesterday that one was actively being considered.
Victims were incensed by any notion of a plea deal for the man who allegedly secretly videoed them naked as they prepared to immerse in the mikvah (ritual bath) Freundel controlled.
"I really don't think that the public will tolerate a plea bargain in a situation like this. [A plea deal] would be just adding insult to injury,” Ira Sherman, an attorney representing an unnamed alleged victim, told WTOP.
Sherman and another attorney, Joseph Cammarata, also believe that civil suits may be filed against Freundel, Kesher Israel synagogue, and the Rabbinical Council of America.
Police are inexplicably still trying to identify the six victims whose video still exists, even though multiple people in the DC Orthodox community could easily identify them. Instead of working off a master list of mikvah users and visiting each woman personally, police appear to be relying on headshot photos submitted by some potential victims.
It appears the delay in identifying the six known victims – and the apparent failure of police to identify what likely are hundreds more women (and, potentially, some children) who were also victimized – may have much more to do with holding down the charges against Freundel, who is politically connected, than any actual difficulty in identifying victims.
Also, being able to say that victims have not yet been identified allows prosecutors to make a plea deal without consulting them – which appears to be what was happening here.
Potential victims include the wife of US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and the Hadassah Lieberman, the wife of former US Senator Joeseph Lieberman (D, Conn).
Yesterday, a judge ordered that public court documents containing information about Freundel’s about the case be taken down from the US Attorney’s website after Freundel’s attorney claimed they may be detrimental to his defense. Public court documents are almost never tyreated in this fashion by courts.
Freundel’s next hearing is scheduled for January 16.
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