WASHINGTON (DC)
DCist

The Rabbinical Council of America—one of the top Modern Orthodox rabbinical councils—says that they know of past allegations against Rabbi Barry Freundel of Georgetown’s Kesher Israel synagogue, who was arrested and charged for voyeurism last week.

According to the RCA, they knew about misconduct allegations against Freundel—none of them of a sexual nature—since at least 2012, according to a statement. The RCA says that they received complaints that conversation candidates who felt “coerced to perform clerical work for him in his home office (there is no office at the synagogue) and to contribute financially.” It was also discovered that Freundel was to co-signer on a checking account with a conversion candidate, and that he had traveled by train to Chicago in a sleeper car with a woman who was not his wife.

Last week, Freundel pleaded not guilty to six counts of voyeurism for allegedly filming…