Weinblatt in police report: 'I don't look in people's windows'

Weinblatt, 65, resigned from IHA Child Health - Ann Arbor after pleading no contest Tuesday to a felony charge of surveilling an unclothed person.

He was convicted of watching out his second-floor bathroom window as the girl changed next door in her walk-in bedroom closet in October. Weinblatt was originally facing four counts of surveilling an unclothed person and two peeping counts, but five counts have been dismissed.

During their investigation, Ann Arbor police found images of suspected child porn on computers they seized from Weinblatt's home Nov. 22, the police report says. Some of those images the federal government considers "child exploitation material," the report says.

While Weinblatt reached a plea deal with county prosecutors that prohibits the county from filing any additional charges in the case, it's unclear whether federal authorities will step in. Simon Shaykhet, an FBI spokesman in Detroit, declined to comment.

According to the report, the 12-year-old girl saw Weinblatt staring at her two years ago when she looked out her window while she was getting changed. The blinds were not down and her family thought nothing of it. Her mother told her that Weinblatt was probably "looking at their house or daydreaming."

In an recent interview, the girl told police that "it was scary," the report says. She said that "she could see Howard leaning over and looking at her out of his kitchen window."

She considered him like a family member and he was her pediatrician since she was born. She told police that "she would agree with some people who think he would never do this and she wouldn't expect him to either if she hadn't seen it."

Police said the girl's mother used an iPad to record a video of Weinblatt peeping while he appeared to be masturbating. Investigators said the video showed Weinblatt looking out his second-floor bathroom window between the privacy glass and blinds.

Investigators suspected they might find child porn at Weinblatt's home when they searched it Nov. 22 and arrested him, according to the search warrant affidavit by Detective Amy Ellinger.

The girl's mother had seen him "eight or nine" times over the years, sitting at his kitchen counter or dining room table, masturbating while looking at a laptop computer, the affidavit says. She never saw what was on the computer, but police believed those instances were relevant to the investigation.

"In this case the named suspect, Howard Weinblatt, is watching a 12-year-old female undress, is masturbating while watching a 12-year-old female undress and is seen masturbating in front of a computer," the affidavit says.

"This information by the reportees would also provide a reasonable belief that Weinblatt is stimulated by unclothed images of underage children. Furthermore, based on my training and experience that if the suspect Weinblatt is masturbating to the viewing of an underage girl and seen masturbating in front of a computer, there is reason to believe that the computer(s) to which Weinblatt has access would contain child sexually abusive material."

In addition to recovering suspected child porn, police found a receipt email for a paid credit card subscription to a website called Teen Dreams, the report says. Police also found that various teen-themed and incest-themed websites appear to have been visited.

When Weinblatt was approached by a detective Nov. 22, he said he had no idea why the neighbors thought he was looking into their house, the report says.

"No, I don't look in people's windows," he told police. "You can imagine how floored I am."

Asked by the detective whether he looked at the children next door through the windows, Weinblatt said, "I've seen them in their house, like they've seen me in my house."

Told that the neighbor had videotaped him, Weinblatt responded, "It's strange that they were videotaping through the windows. I don't know what to say."

Weinblatt told police that he suspected the neighbors thought he was "looking in their daughter's window."

"From the kitchen window you can see in their office," he said.

He said he was shocked at the allegations.

"These are my patients...," he said. "They are like family. I have no idea what else is going on. The only thing I think is they've seen me looking out the window multiple times."

Weinblatt told police he'd like to see the video. Police let him call his office to say he wouldn't be at work, then arrested him.

Records show the victim's parents consulted with an attorney before coming forward. They have since put a heavier cloth over their daughter's window.

Weinblatt's license to practice medicine will be suspended because of the conviction, state officials said, and he must register annually on the non-public state Sex Offender Registry.

He faces up to two years in prison when he is sentenced March 6 in front of Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Donald Shelton.