Crime, Legal Ethics

Peeping Tom Attorney Can Lawyer No More

What happens when a lawyer is a peeping Tom?

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Are you contemplating the life of a pervert? Ever wonder how being a peeping Tom might affect your legal career? Given the amount of stealth generally involved in the pursuit of said peeping Tom activities, one likely does not assume they’d get caught and pay any sort of societal price for their actions. But what if you do get caught? Let the case of Maryland attorney Dennis Alan Van Dusen be a cautionary tale.

In addition to being an attorney, Van Dusen was a landlord who rented rooms — at rates well below market — to young female professionals. He has pleaded guilty to three counts of “visual surveillance with prurient intent,” which is a fancy way of saying he recorded his tenants for sexual purposes.

The way that Van Dusen was caught reads like something straight out of a made-for-TV movie.

Prosecutor Stephen Chaikin told the Montgomery County Court that one of the tenants found the camera after reading an article in Cosmopolitan magazine about how new technology can be used to spy on people. The tenant had noticed the smoke detector above her bed didn’t beep when the power went out, and when she and her boyfriend took a closer look, they found the camera inside, the prosecutor said.

Creepy.

The resulting case has wound its way through various legal proceedings. Van Dusen was sentenced to probation, a fine and psychiatric treatment by the criminal justice system. In a civil suit brought by his former tenants Van Dusen was ordered to pay more than $1 million in damages. Finally, this morning, the Maryland Court of Appeals had its say. His legal career? Well, it’s over. Disbarred.

So remember kids: if you want to keep that legal career you went into debt to get, don’t be a peeping Tom — also don’t do it because it is a horrible violation of another person’s privacy.

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Sleeping In The Attic [Legal Profession Blog]
Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland v. Van Dusen [Maryland Court of Appeals]
Guilty plea from lawyer who peeped on his tenants [ABA Journal]

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