Oswego, N.Y. -- An Oswego landlord accused of sexually harassing tenants in low-income housing will pay $400,000 and have an outside company manage his 50 rental units.

Doug Waterbury, who also owns the Sterling Renaissance Festival, Sylvan Beach Amusement Park and Santa’s Workshop, has been permanently barred from ever managing rental properties, according to the settlement.

The agreement settles a 2017 case filed by CNY Fair Housing and eight women who say Waterbury harassed them, subjecting them to unwanted sexual behavior.

According to the lawsuit, Waterbury harassed dozens of tenants, including a teenager who he subjected to non-consensual sex. Waterbury has not been charged with rape, or any other crimes.

There is a separate lawsuit against him, filed in 2018 by the U.S. Department of Justice, accusing Waterbury of the same allegations made in the suit by CNY Fair Housing and the eight women.

The allegations go back to at least 2012, and are made by eight different women.

When women came to rent apartments, Waterbury gave them inflated prices. But then he offered them lower prices in exchange for sex, according to the suit. In some cases, he let the garage of the apartments fill with garbage and the apartment became rodent-infested. When the women complained, he told them it was because they weren’t having enough sex with him.

He would refuse to address problems unless women had sex with him, according to the suit. And he would use his key to get into their apartments, uninvited, according to the lawsuit.

Waterbury has not been charged with a crime.

“We are pleased to have reached a settlement agreement that will get Doug Waterbury out of the rental business,” said Sally Santangelo, executive director of CNY Fair Housing, which helped bring the claim against Waterbury. “We admire the bravery of the many women who stepped forward. No woman should be subjected to sexual harassment and nowhere should a woman feel safer than in her own home.”

Marnie Eisenstadt is a reporter who writes about public affairs in Central New York. Have an idea or question? Contact her anytime: email | twitter| Facebook | 315-470-2246