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Son of NY federal judge sentenced for secretly filming sex in Upper East Side apartment
By
Jon Campbell
Published Apr 23, 2026
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By
Jon Campbell
Published Apr 23, 2026
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A Manhattan man who secretly filmed his sexual encounters with numerous women in his Upper East Side apartment was sentenced Thursday to 30 days in jail but avoided having to register as a sex offender.
Daniel McAvoy was sentenced by state Supreme Court Justice Ellen Biben after completing a yearlong, court-ordered treatment program. He will also face five years of probation, according to his attorneys and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
McAvoy, 52, is the son of Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy of New York’s Northern District. In 2022, a raid of the judge’s Binghamton-area home turned up three hard drives and more than 150 DVDs belonging to the younger McAvoy, many of which had the names of women and specific sex acts written on them, Gothamist reported at the time.
The younger McAvoy was indicted later that year and pleaded guilty to seven counts of unlawful surveillance in 2024. The judge was never accused of any wrongdoing.
Daniel McAvoy’s attorneys, Isabelle Kirshner and Wayne Gosnell, said they were satisfied with the sentence, calling it an “incredibly difficult case for the court to deal with.”
“ [McAvoy] did everything asked of him,” Gosnell said. “The court very carefully considered all of the different factors and rendered what we think is a very favorable sentence.”
The sentence puts an end to a nearly four-year battle between McAvoy’s attorneys and prosecutors.
McAvoy was originally indicted on 29 counts of second-degree illegal surveillance, a nonviolent felony in which a person secretly records someone in a private setting for their own or another person’s sexual arousal. The charges came with a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Kirshner and Gosnell successfully fought to send McAvoy’s case to Manhattan’s Alternative to Incarceration Court, which seeks to get defendants into treatment rather than jail.
Bragg’s office opposed moving the case to the specialty court.
Biben ruled last month that McAvoy would not have to register as a sex offender because he had complied with his treatment requirements, showed remorse and demonstrated a low risk of re-offending.
She also noted McAvoy’s crimes only involved adults and found that having him register as a sex offender would interfere with his obligations as a parent of a minor.
“It has been years of treatment and programming without any new arrests where he was fully compliant with the other conditions,” Biben said in court on March 10, according to a transcript.
Biben also ordered McAvoy to avoid contacting the victims or possessing sexually explicit material. He will also have to complete further treatment related to sex offenses that’s approved by the Department of Probation, according to Bragg’s office.
In an interview with Gothamist on Thursday, Kirshner said McAvoy’s father had “absolutely nothing to do” with his son’s conduct. The evidence seized from the judge’s home came from his son’s room, she said.
“Dan had a room in his childhood home that was his room,” Kirshner said. “He was a big boy, but he had his own room. Dragging his parents into this is just totally unnecessary and unnewsworthy.”
Two of McAvoy’s victims addressed him in court late last year, where they spoke of the lasting impact of his crimes and the terror they felt when they learned he secretly filmed them. Biben allowed both victims to withhold their names while addressing the court.
“After being informed of Mr. Daniel McAvoy’s actions, I have lived in a constant state of anguish and distress,” one victim said during the November hearing. “Since then, I have suffered from insomnia, constant worry, fear, lack of concentration, anxiety and a deep (lack) of confidence in my ability to trust others, even myself.”
Another victim asked Biben to sentence McAvoy to jail time that’s “proportionate to the gravity and duration of the conduct.”
“I feared and still fear retaliation,” the second victim said. “I had to prepare my children and my stepchildren for the possibility that something could become public, a conversation a mother should never be forced to have.”
At the November hearing, McAvoy addressed the victims and promised them he had “never shared our personal and private interactions with anyone, ever.”
“I’m sorry for any pain or suffering this caused you,” he said, according to a transcript. “I’m sorry for every moment of anxiety, lost sleep and regret that you may have experienced because of what I did.”
McAvoy is scheduled to begin his jail sentence on May 11, according to Kirshner. He’s set to serve his time on Rikers Island, Gosnell said.
Two of McAvoy’s victims have filed civil lawsuits against him, seeking damages. Those cases remain ongoing.
Tagged
manhattan
public safety
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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