Lansdale man admits peeping on women

NORRISTOWN >> A Lansdale man faces probation and a psychosexual evaluation after he used his cellphone to secretly record women in a bathroom at a commercial office building in the borough.

Ramit Islam Sarder, 21, of the 200 block of West Sixth Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to three years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy in connection with multiple incidents that occurred in a women’s bathroom at the Century Plaza building in the 100 block of West Main Street.

Judge Wendy G. Rothstein, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered that Sarder undergo a psychosexual evaluation and comply with all recommendations for treatment. Sarder also must complete 48 hours of community service.

Furthermore, the judge said, Sarder is to “stay away” from Century Plaza.

While serving the probationary period, Sarder will be placed under sex offender supervision by the county probation office, according to court papers.

As a result of his admission, Sarder also faces a 15year requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.

An investigation of Sarder began on July 30, 2018, when Lansdale police responded to the office building for a report of a male seen in a women’s bathroom. A woman told police she was in a stall in a bathroom on the second floor of the building when she observed a cellphone appear under the stall partition from an adjoining stall, according to a criminal complaint filed by Lansdale Detective Joel Greco.

“The (woman) could see the phone was pointed in her direction and she believed the individual was using the phone to video her while in the bathroom,” Greco alleged in the arrest affidavit. “(The woman) confronted the individual, a male, who then ran out of the building.”

Other people who work in the building reported seeing the same male, who had a teal cellphone, in the bathroom at additional times that day and on prior occasions, court documents indicate.

Detectives developed Sarder as a suspect. During a subsequent interview, Sarder admitted to being in the bathroom and to using his cellphone to videotape women but he initially claimed it was only on July 30.

However, when detectives analyzed Sarder’s cellphone they found several videos depicting women in toilet stalls or using the sink on other dates, according to the criminal complaint. The women appeared to be recorded surreptitiously, detectives alleged. Sarder also recorded his face and the exterior of the office building in some of the videos.

“The results of the investigation show Ramit Sarder violated the privacy of multiple individuals in an area of assumed and expected privacy for no other reason than personal gratification,” Greco alleged.

Another charge of unsworn falsification to authorities was dismissed against Sarder as part of the plea agreement.