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Former PA counselor and practice sued for secretly filming patients [1]

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Date: 2025-03-27

Trigger warning: discussion of voyeurism and sexual harassment

Earlier this month, Jonathan Moyer, a counselor in Philadelphia’s outer suburbs, was arrested for using cameras slipped into the bathroom of his practice and using them to record clients and staffers. That’s disturbing in and of itself, but it turned out that Moyer had a prior history of arrests for voyeurism and prowling—conduct that raised real questions about his fitness to be a counselor.

While delving into this, I noticed that Moyer’s practice, Empower Life Coaching & Counseling, had permanently closed its doors as of Monday. It had already permanently shuttered the office in Quakertown, north of Philadelphia, where Moyer mostly worked. But its other office in Bally, near Reading, was also closed as well. Why such a drastic move? Well, an article in Wednesday’s Bucks County Courier Times appeared to answer that question. Three of Moyer’s former patients sued Moyer for voyeurism—and also sued Empower’s Allentown-based parent company, Lehigh Valley Adult Education Services, for failing to prevent it from happening.

Former patients have sued an Allentown counseling center and a former therapist accused of secretly filming female staff and clients in his Quakertown office. The lawsuit, among other claims, alleges that Empower Life Coaching & Counseling, of Allentown, failed to monitor, train and supervise Jonathan Elliott Moyer, 54, of Lehigh County. (snip) The lawsuit seeks to hold Moyer and Empower accountable for negligence, invasion of privacy, emotional distress, and violations of consumer protection laws, said Berwyn attorney Joe Sauder, who represents the three plaintiffs.

Read the complaint here. The three Jane Does in the complaint claim that Moyer secretly recorded them in Empower Quakertown’s bathroom. They are seeking class-action status for all clients at the Quakertown office or used the bathroom at that office during that time period. In one of the most ghastly claims of all aside from the voyeurism, Jane Doe #3 claims that one of the other therapists in Quakertown knew that Moyer had made inappropriate comments about her daughter, Jane Doe #2—and apparently did nothing about it.

The three Jane Does claim that Moyer took advantage of them in ways other than secretly recording them. Jane Doe #1 claims that Moyer subjected her to random drug tests even though she never indicated she had a drug or alcohol problem. She believes this was a ruse to get her in the bathroom where Moyer could watch her on a hidden camera. She also claims Moyer made highly inappropriate comments about her appearance and suggested that he refer OnlyFans users to him as a possible financial advisor.

Jane Doe #2 saw Moyer for three years starting when she was 15. She claims that Moyer made a number of inappropriate sexual comments to her while she was still a minor, and walked in on sessions she had with another therapist She also claimed that Moyer asked her to stand on a stool to check the smoke alarm while she was wearing a skirt; she thought that request didn’t smell right and declined.

Jane Doe #3, Jane Doe #2’s mother, claims that when she confronted Moyer about the smoke alarm incident, Moyer claimed he was just “testing” her daughter “to see if she would act presumptuous.” She also claimed that after Moyer’s arrest, she sought more information from another therapist at that practice—and was told that she’d known about Moyer’s inappropriate behavior. If I were that therapist, I’d have a lawyer on speed dial. She just exposed herself to astronomical criminal and civil liability—and may very well have caused Empower to close its doors. This is why therapists are mandated reporters.

The suit also notes that Moyer was arrested at least four times from 1995 to 2002 for voyeurism—including at least one incident involving a 14-year-old girl. According to victim advocate and Bucks County native Salina Harris, who tipped me off to this, Moyer was convicted for one of those incidents—but only got six months probation and house arrest, which barely qualifies as a phrase.

The lawyer handling this suit, Joe Sauder, is helping in the ongoing investigation of Ohio State predator doctor Richard Strauss, and also won a $215 million settlement against Southern Cal on behalf of female patients of an OB/GYN who engaged in sexual misconduct for decades. Suffice to say Moyer and Empower/Lehigh Valley ought to be crapping themselves right now.

Even if the Jane Does don’t get class-action status, this is staggering. It’s not often that you see a complete failure of therapists’ most basic duty to keep their clients safe, and that seems to be what’s happened here.

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[1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/27/2312831/-Former-PA-counselor-and-practice-sued-for-secretly-filming-patients?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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