Source: The Washington Post
The victims of a D.C. rabbi who was convicted of illegally recording naked women as they prepared for a ritual bath are demanding at least $100 million in a lawsuit against the rabbi and several Orthodox Jewish institutions that supervised him.
Rabbi Barry Freundel, formerly an influential leader at Georgetown’s Kesher Israel synagogue and in the Modern Orthodox movement nationwide, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison last year for surreptitiously videotaping dozens of women.
On Tuesday, nine of the women who are seeking to bring a class-action lawsuit against him named the amount they are seeking in court — at least $100 million, or $1 million for each victim, their lawyer David Sanford said.
Freundel pleaded guilty to taping 52 women, but prosecutors said he recorded more than 100 additional victims earlier than the three-year statute of limitations. “We don’t believe it’s unreasonable to seek a million dollars per person before a jury,” Sanford said.
The team of lawyers also amended their complaint on Tuesday to include an additional defendant. Along with Freundel, Kesher Israel, the ritual bath where Freundel’s crimes took place and the Rabbinical Council of America, the victims are now suing the Beth Din of America, the Orthodox court that supervised Freundel.
Sanford said he expects the court won’t rule on certifying the victims as a class until next year, meaning a trial wouldn’t happen until 2018.
The Beth Din, which is affiliated with the RCA, declined to comment on Tuesday. The RCA did not respond to a voice mail and an email requesting comment. Freundel’s attorney, Jeffrey Harris, did not respond to a voice mail request for comment.
Categories: Crime, Jewish Faith, The Muslim Times, Women