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Lawsuit: Landlord wanted sex for lower rent

No known incidents at local business

WILMINGTON — It is alleged that the owner of the Santa’s Workshop amusement park demanded sex from several Oswego women he was a landlord to in exchange for decreased rent and maintenance work at his Oswego properties.

According to a lawsuit obtained by the Enterprise, six women between the ages of 24 and 32 allege the amusement park’s owner, Douglas Waterbury of Oswego, used his power as a landlord to sexually harass women in a similar pattern at numerous times over the past five years.

The suit, filed in federal court earlier this month by the women and the nonprofit CNY Fair Housing, includes claims that when women asked Waterbury if they could do maintenance work at his properties to lower the rent, he explicitly told them he wanted sex in exchange for the lower prices.

According to the lawsuit, three of the six women agreed to Waterbury’s demands and had sex with him. One additional woman also claims she consented to sex after she became fearful when Waterbury blocked a door while she attempted to leave a situation when he asked for sex in exchange for lower rent. The lawsuit adds that other women refused Waterbury’s demands and did not ultimately rent from him.

The lawsuit also claims that the women ended up in these similar situations after Waterbury would initially require the women to meet him alone when they asked about renting an apartment. Several of the women allege they found Waterbury’s apartments for rent online, listed at prices as low as $495 a month. The women allege he then quoted them much higher rent prices, as high as $1,198, when the meetings took place.

The women added that Waterbury said he’d accept “trades” as partial payment. Initially, the women said they believed this to be help with the properties maintenance work before Waterbury explicitly told them he was referring to “personal favors,” in one instance where he allegedly grabbed his crotch.

“Women who show any interest in renting an apartment at this in-person meeting are often quoted a price for rent that is both much higher than advertised and out-of-line with comparable rentals in the area,” the suit reads. “Defendant Waterbury quotes these inflated rental prices to prospective female tenants to gain leverage to negotiate unwelcome sexual trades.”

The lawsuit adds that two of the women who rented from Waterbury were roommates and claimed they had sex with him about 15 times each for decreased rent and to have him clean their rental. They added that Waterbury entered their apartment without permission numerous times by using his landlord key. The two women also allege that their property’s furnace, at one point, stopped working and their property was filled with garbage and became infested with rodents. The women claim Waterbury said that they weren’t having sex with him as frequently as he wanted.

The women’s names were redacted from the copy of the lawsuit provided to the Enterprise. Five of the women live in Oswego and one lives in Pulaski.

Through CNY Fair Housing, the women are demanding a jury trial. Since last fall, CNY Fair Housing has conducted an investigation into Waterbury, which included monitoring his Craigslist apartment listings and speaking to witnesses of the women who allege the sexual harassment.

Waterbury’s Wilmington amusement park is currently open for its summer season, operating its normal morning and afternoon hours Tuesday through Saturday. A front desk attendant at Santa’s Workshop on Thursday afternoon said that Waterbury is rarely there and added that management was unavailable for comment. In a report on the allegations in the Palladium-Times of Oswego, Waterbury only said he had “no comment,” on the lawsuit.

Speaking Thursday, Sally Santangelo, the executive director of Syracuse-based CNY Fair Housing, said it hasn’t been brought to the attention of her organization that any alleged incidents occurred in the Adirondack area.

“The allegations are all in the Oswego area,” Santangelo said. “But given the prominence of the businesses, I think it’s important for people across New York to know what’s happening in this regard, and we expect that there may be other housing providers engaging in these practices and people may not know they are protected (by law).”

Waterbury, who lives in Oswego, also owns the Renaissance Fair in Sterling, Sylvan Beach Amusement Park and about 50 rental properties mostly in the city of Oswego. The suit describes Waterbury’s rentals as a “cottage industry,” and painted him as preying off the situations of low-income women.

Santangelo added that her nonprofit was originally tipped off last fall to the alleged activity through a Facebook post in the spring on an Oswego community forum.

“Somebody identified in the (Facebook) comments that people should contact us,” Santangelo said, “and that’s how we talked to some of the women. It built from there.”

Santangelo also said there is no fair housing organization operating in the Adirondack area. CNY Fair Housing is the nearest, having worked on several cases as far away as Jefferson County.

“Our complaint is a civil complaint, not a criminal complaint,” Santangelo said, “but certainly if someone feels they are a victim of a crime they should call the police. Call Housing and Urban Development or the New York State Division of Human Rights and report any allegations there. Or also go to a legal services organization as well.”

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