Appeals court hears case of rabbi who taped women at bath

WASHINGTON - (AP) -- A Washington appeals court hearing arguments in the case of a once-prominent Orthodox rabbi who pleaded guilty to secretly videotaping nude women at a Jewish ritual bath seemed likely to reject his lawyer's argument that his sentence should have been limited to a year in prison.

A lawyer for Rabbi Bernard Freundel argued Tuesday that his client's approximately 6 1/2 year sentence is illegal. Freundel was arrested in 2014 after one of his recording devices was discovered at the National Capital Mikvah in Washington.

Prosecutors found he filmed some 150 women using recording devices hidden in a clock radio, a fan and a tissue box holder. He ultimately took a plea deal in the case, acknowledging that he made the secret recordings from 2009 to 2014.