Georgetown Rabbi Sentenced to 6 1/2 Years for Voyeurism

Barry Freundel, former rabbi of Kesher Israel Congregation at 28th and N Streets NW, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for voyeurism by Senior Judge Geoffrey Alprin of D.C. Superior Court May 15, according to media reports.

Over a period of years, Freundel secretly videotaped dozens women during a ritual bath at the Georgetown synagogue.

The 63-year-old Freundel received 45 days in jail for each of the 52 counts of voyeurism. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 17 years in prison. The former religious leader also received $2,000 in fines and taken into custody upon his sentencing.

Freundel once led Kesher Israel, a modern Orthodox synagogue, at 2801 N St. NW, five blocks from his former home, owned by the congregation. He was arrested at the O Street house on Oct. 14, 2014, by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Since 1987, before being fired last year, Freundel had been with the synagogue, which counts among its members former Sen. Joe Lieberman and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.