Psychiatrist James R. Jarmuskewicz busted for peeping bathroom stalls

May 30, 2014

BEMIDJI -- A Bemidji area doctor specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry faces a charge of being a Peeping Tom in Louisiana after allegedly spying on another person at a college men’s room.

Dr. James Richard Jarmuskewicz, 57, of Wilton was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on one count of Peeping Tom on Monday. In Minnesota, the equivalent charge would be interference with privacy. In Louisiana, the charge is actually called Peeping Tom and carries a maximum penalty of not more than a $500 fine and imprisonment for not more than six months.

Jarmuskewicz was arrested Monday afternoon by Louisiana State University Police after a complainant informed campus police officers that Jarmuskewicz had spied on him under a bathroom stall.

Jarmuskewicz allegedly followed a man into a third floor restroom and layed down on the floor to look under the stall as the complainant was using the restroom in the Middleton Library on Sunday, according to an affidavit of probable cause from the 19th Judicial District Court in the Parish of East Baton Rouge.

The man gave the LSU police officer a physical and clothing description of the man who spied on him. Officers were not able to locate the suspect Sunday, but the same officer returned Monday and located Jarmuskewicz on surveillance cameras, the affidavit said. The officer tracked Jarmuskewicz moving from floor to floor and entering men’s restrooms multiple times, according to the affidavit.

Jarmuskewicz was taken into custody on the second floor of the Middleton Library on Monday. During a search, a mirror was located in his front pants pocket. Jarmuskewicz did not provide officers with an explanation for the mirror and denied looking under bathroom stalls, according to the affidavit.

According to court documents, Jarmuskewicz said he was in New Orleans to attend a professional conference and was in Baton Rouge to read at the LSU library.

Parish prison personnel told the Pioneer that Jarmuskewicz was released on a $5,000 bond Wednesday.

Jarmuskewicz is a board certified doctor in the state of Minnesota holding a physician and surgeon license since 1992, according to the Minnesota Health Licensing Board. He is in private practice in Bemidji. His license is valid through April 30, 2015. Jarmuskewicz holds sub-certification in psychiatry and neurology/child and adolescent psychiatry.

Jarmuskewicz graduated with a medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in 1984. He has practiced in Bemidji and Crookston since that time. Self-reported information to the Minnesota Health Licensing Board includes specialties in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Akron, Ohio; general psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago and child/adolescent psychiatry at the University of Minnesota.

Source: Crystal Dey, "Bemidji doctor busted for bathroom peeping in Louisiana," Bemidji Pioneer, May 2, 2014.