Peeping Notre Dame registrar avoids jail time

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - A judge on Thursday reduced four felony counts of voyeurism against a former University of Notre Dame assistant registrar to misdemeanors and decided he shouldn't serve any jail time.

St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jerome Frese said he didn't want Don Steinke's sentence to lessen the seriousness of the crimes, but he believed Steinke might be victimized behind bars. The judge ordered the 59-year-old Steinke to serve four years on probation and perform 20 hours of community service each week until he finds a new job, the South Bend Tribune reported .

The judge said he also considered Steinke's age, noting he was possibly too old to turn his life around but too young to retire.

Court records show that Steinke was arrested in March 2011 after a woman found a "pen camera" aimed at a toilet in a campus bathroom. Steinke admitted to placing the camera there with the intent to take it home and download footage. The state later added additional voyeurism charges stemming from two incidents in 2009, and one earlier in 2011.

Steinke had worked in the registrar's office for several years.

"The (registrar's) office will be disappointed he didn't get any jail time and he walked away without felony charges, which leaves him free to do something in the future," said Rochelle Cotter, an assistant registrar at Notre Dame.

Frese warned Steinke against violating his probation.

"If anything happens during your probationary sentence ... some serious failure on your part, I will send you to the Department of Correction," the judge said.