District Man Sentenced to 32 Months in Jail On Voyeurism and Stalking Charges

            WASHINGTON – Daniel Rosen, 45 of Washington D.C., was sentenced today to 32 months of incarceration on charges stemming from a series of incidents between 2012 and 2014 in which he secretly took video recordings of women in various stages of undress by aiming his cellular phone through their apartment windows in Northwest Washington.

            The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Rosen, a former senior official of the U.S. State Department, pled guilty on July 29, 2015, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to six counts of voyeurism and five counts of stalking. He was sentenced by the Honorable Rhonda Reid Winston to a total of 11 years in jail. The judge suspended all but 32 months of the time on the condition that he successfully complete five years of probation upon his release from jail.

            “Daniel Rosen trawled city neighborhoods in the late-night hours, sneaking into alleys and aiming his camera into the windows of women who had no idea they were being recorded,” said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “This sexual exploitation and invasion of privacy took place over a period of years and shattered the victims’ sense of safety and security. This sentence holds him accountable for the harm he caused to so many women and hopefully will deter others from similar conduct.”

            According to a factual proffer submitted at the plea hearing, over the course of a three-year period, Rosen purposefully positioned himself outside of the windows of women who resided in basement-level apartments that faced rear, isolated alleys. The women believed they were shielded from outside view by the use of curtains, blinds, or the fact that their windows were situated in enclosed, hard-to-access to areas, either behind fences, through back residential alleys, or down a flight of basement steps. Once positioned behind these women’s apartments, Rosen peered through their windows and used his iPhone to record them. The activities took place in the areas of Mount Pleasant, the U Street Corridor, and Adams Morgan.

            Rosen recorded the women in various stages of undress, capturing some in the most intimate and private moments in their bedrooms and bathrooms.  Several women had their blinds or curtains drawn, but Rosen was able to maneuver himself and his cell phone in between the cracks or small openings of the blinds to make his recordings.

            All of the recordings took place during the late evening hours, thus enabling Rosen to hide in the shadows as he recorded these women in their lit bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and living rooms. At times, Rosen would engage in this conduct while walking his dog, thus disguising his true intentions. None of the women were aware that Rosen was watching and recording them, and none gave Rosen permission to watch and record them.  For several of these women, the defendant returned on more than one occasion to record their private moments.    

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Chief Lanier commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. In addition, they expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Criminal Investigator John Marsh, Victim/Witness Advocate Veronica Vaughan and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsay Suttenberg and Andrea L. Hertzfeld, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.