Georgetown Law Student Sues Rabbi Who Taught at Towson

By Mary Ann Barton and Elizabeth Janney

A third-year law student at Georgetown University is suing Rabbi Barry Freundel; the synagogue where he used to work; as well as Georgetown University Law School, according to The Washington Post.

Police arrested Freundel at his D.C. home in October, charging him with six counts of voyeurism.

The Kesher Israel synagogue in Georgetown fired him last week.

In addition to teaching at Georgetown University, Freundel was an associate professor at Towson University, where he invited female students to visit the mikvah, or ritual bath, where he is accused of placing a camera in a radio so that he could watch women bathe.

Related: Rabbi Suspended from Towson University Amid Peeping Allegations

The Georgetown law student said she was invited by Freundel to the ritual bath, where she disrobed after he left the dressing room, the Post reported. The lawsuit is filed in D.C. Superior Court, and seeks class-action status.

Georgetown University is reportedly conducting its own investigation, and so is Towson.

Georgetown University suspended him after his arrest. Towson University suspended Freundel with pay in accordance with the state university system’s requirements, according to The Baltimore Sun. Both universities are conducting their own investigations into the matter.

When authorities searched Freundel’s office at Towson, they found a backpack containing multiple cameras, according to WJZ. The recording devices were hidden inside other items such as a keychain and tissue box, The Baltimore Sun reported.

“This case involves an unfathomable breach of trust by a Georgetown professor and religious leader and defendants’ utter failure to prevent and/or stop it,” Baltimore attorney Steven D. Silverman is said to have written in the lawsuit.

“Defendants turned a blind eye to obvious signs to Freundel’s increasingly bizarre behavior, ignoring the bright red flags that Freundel was acting inappropriately with women subjected to his authority,” Silverman said.

Authorities have set up a hotline for anyone may have been a victim. The number at the U.S. attorney’s Office is 202-252-7585. The email address is usadc.bernardfreundelcase@usdoj.gov, and there is a website with case information here.