Prosecutors are pushing for jail time for American Rabbi Barry Freundel, who filed on Thursday a guilty plea to 52 counts of voyeurism.

The Jewish religious leader admitted secretly recording the female members of the Kesher Israel synanogue in Georgetown, Washington D.C. while taking off their clothes in preparation to dip at the mikvah. He has filmed at least 52 naked or partly nude women, reports BBC.

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The place where Jewish women dip after their menstruation is called a mikvah. It looks like a small swimming pool, according to Chabad.com.

But synagogues can't use bathtubs, whirlpools or Jacuzzis as mikvah since it must be built into the ground and must contain a minimum of 200 gallons of rainwater gathered and siphoned into the pool based on specific regulations.

But there are speculations that the number of his victims could be higher because he had been rabbi for the same synagogue for more than 25 years.

Following the discovery of a secret camera by a member of the National Capital Mikvah, Freundel was fired and arrested. He hid the secret camera using a digital clock radio as cover and placed it in the female changing and showering area.

Prosecutors initially filed six charges of voyeurism against the 63-year-old rabbi but added more after they discovered additional video footage at his home.

Freundel faces a jail term of up to 12 months for each count of misdemeanor. More charges could have been filed, but a statute of limitation stops the prosecution from filing more counts of misdemeanor.

U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said his office will seek a prison sentence that would reflect the gravity of the rabbi's "disturbing assault on the privacy and dignity of his congregation, who include wealthy Washington residents.

Among the prominent public officials who attend services at the synagogue run by Freundel are Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and former Senator Joe Lieberman.

Tagsrabbi, Jewish, voyeurism