January 25, 2012

Ann Arbor doctor pleads no contest in peeping case

If the mother knew this was happening, why didn't she close the blinds or put drapes over the window. While the doctor was wrong this seems to say, there is a right to stand in front of an open window and show whatever and people outside should not watch? Something is wrong here...
1-25-2012 Michigan:

An Ann Arbor pediatrician accused of watching his 12-year-old neighbor change clothes pleaded no contest to a felony charge Tuesday in a deal with prosecutors.

As part of the agreement filed Monday, prosecutors said they would not to bring additional charges against Dr. Howard Weinblatt based on information "known or available" as of Tuesday. No specifics were included.

Attorneys for Weinblatt declined comment after the court hearing in 14A District Court in Pittsfield Township.

Weinblatt, 65, pleaded to one count of surveilling an unclothed person after being accused of watching the child from a bathroom window inside his Ann Arbor home in October. He is out of jail on bond.

Weinblatt, who has had his medical license since 1977, worked for IHA Child Health-Ann Arbor. He has resigned from his job, company spokeswoman Amy Middleton said Tuesday.

"We are obviously deeply distressed by this situation and the impact it has had on so many members of our community, our patients and our staff," a statement released by IHA said.

Authorities have released few details in the case and have not made the police report available. But court documents obtained by the Free Press said the girl's mother caught Weinblatt looking at her daughter as the girl changed in her bedroom.

The girl was in a position where she had "a reasonable expectation of privacy," the documents said.

"I think the statute protects the person who is being surveilled and is not really dependent upon where the person doing the surveillance is standing," Washtenaw County deputy chief assistant Prosecutor Steven Hiller said.

The mother placed an iPad against a window in her daughter's room in October and used it to record Weinblatt -- the family's pediatrician for more than a decade -- watching the girl change, a search warrant affidavit said.

The two houses are about 11 feet apart, police said.

In November, police searched Weinblatt's house on Olivia Avenue and seized four computers, an external hard drive and thumb drive, court documents showed. Authorities would not say Tuesday whether anything was found on the computers.

Weinblatt faced six charges, including four counts of surveilling an unclothed person. Two of those counts and two counts of window peeping were dropped Tuesday before the plea agreement, Hiller said.

The agreement called for dismissing another charge of surveilling an unclothed person.

Weinblatt will be sentenced March 6 and faces a maximum penalty of up to two years in prison. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

Michigan's Bureau of Health Professions will review the case and decide whether action will be taken that affects Weinblatt's medical license, director Rae Ramsdell said. ..Source.. by Elisha Anderson

No comments: