A 51-year-old son of a federal judge has pleaded guilty to secretly filming sex acts he had with several women over a number of years. Daniel McAvoy, of Manhattan, admitted to seven counts of unlawful surveillance in state Supreme Court. The sexual encounters were consensual but the women were unaware they were being filmed.
McAvoy had filmed dozens more women, but the statute of limitations had expired in those cases. Investigators seized three hard drives and over 150 DVDs from his father's home, a senior judge in Binghamton, New York. The DVDs had labels with women's names and explicit content.
McAvoy participated in Manhattan’s Felony Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) Court, a program that aims to address the root causes of criminal behavior. This allowed his attorneys to request an open plea, leaving the sentence to the court.
The District Attorney’s Office opposes the plea and recommends a prison sentence, citing McAvoy's repeated betrayal of trust over the years. One victim criticized the plea, expressing concerns about McAvoy's potential threat to women.
McAvoy's former girlfriend, who dated him for a decade, filed a civil suit against him, alleging he secretly recorded hundreds of sexual encounters. She described the impact of discovering the recordings on her life and stated her pursuit of personal justice through the lawsuit.
