HUNTINGTON BEACH : Neighbor Sued Over Videotape of Woman

A woman filed a lawsuit this week against her neighbor, alleging he stood at his window and secretly videotaped her while she was undressed in the living room of her townhouse.

Stephanie Saltikov is seeking unspecified monetary damages from Marvin Summers, contending that he invaded her privacy and intentionally and negligently caused her “severe mental anguish and emotional and physical distress.”

Her lawyer, Mitchell F. Kaufman of Sherman Oaks, said it was too early to comment on the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court.

Summers could not be reached for comment.

The allegations came to the attention of police detectives in January when Summers’ wife brought them the offending videotape, Lt. Chuck Poe said.

Detectives turned the case over to prosecutors in the district attorney’s office, who declined to press criminal charges since Summers apparently made the videotape from his own home, Poe said.

A person would have to be trespassing on private property for a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct involving peeping to be filed, according to the district attorney’s office.

The defendant’s wife, Cathi, declined to talk about her neighbor’s lawsuit, except to say she had brought the videotape to police in the hopes of getting her husband help.

“Our system messed up big time,” she said.