Case of Jerrold Schwartz
Scoutmaster- New York City (Manhattan), NY
Adventure Trails Inc. - Colorado
Adventure Trails Inc. - New York, NY
St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue - New York, NY
Plead guilty to multiple counts of sodomizing his former scout in 1996, when the Survivor was 14 to 15 years of age.
The New York prosecutor told the judge that one sex attack on the boy occurred on Jerrold Schwartz's wedding day. The youth eventually turned to drugs and alcohol because of the emotional damage he suffered.
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Table of Contents:
1978
- Sexual assault of boy occurred (Summer, 1978)
2001
- Scout Leader Hit With Sex Charges (07/20/2001)
- Scout Leader Is Charged In Sex Abuse Of Teenager (07/20/2001)
- Letter of Support from Joseph A. Bondy (11/16/2001)
- Letter from the District Attorney to Judge Charles Solomon (11/28/2001)
- Letter from Parents to Judge Charles Solomon (12/13/2001)
2002
- Judge: Be Prepared (12/20/2002)
- Sex Rap (05/08/2002)
- Respected troop leader admits molesting Eagle Scout (05/08/2002)
- Year In Jail For Sodomite Scoutmaster (05/08/2002)
- Boy Scout Leader Guilty in Sex Abuse (05/08/2002)
- Scout Leader Pleads Guilty to Sodomy (05/08/2002)
- Scout Tour Operator Convicted Of Sexual Abuse (05/15/2002)
- 'EVIL' Scout Pedophile Gets 8 Years (08/24/2002)
2013
- New York Sex Offender Registry (12/31/2013)
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Scout Leader Hit With Sex Charges
By Barbara Ross
New York Daily News - July, 20, 2001
An East Side boy scout leader who ran a troop based at St. Bartholomew's Church was charged yesterday with 36 counts of sodomy.
The indictment of Jerrold Schwartz, 42, was announced by the Manhattan district attorney's office two months after a former scout filed a $50million lawsuit against him.
In that suit, the unidentified scout, now 20 years old, charged Schwartz had sex with him from the time he was 13 until he left Troop 666 at age 16.
In May, Michael Dowd, the teenager's lawyer, gave prosecutors four tapes on which Schwartz is heard admitting the sexual contact and apologizing for his actions.
The ex-scoutmaster pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court as his wife, an assistant school principal, watched from the gallery. Justice Micki Sherer set bail at $25,000.
Afterward, Schwartz's attorney, Charles Stillman, said: "There are people who think the world of this man."
The indictment accuses Schwartz of sodomizing the teen four times a month in his office or in an apartment on E. 80th St. from September 1996 through May 1997.
On the tapes, Schwartz tells Dowd's client: "I made a bad mistake. ... I took advantage of you ... in a sexual way. ... I'm eternally ashamed."
Investigators said Schwartz was not charged for any sexual contact he had with the boy before 1996 because the statute of limitations had expired.
None of the alleged acts occurred at St. Bartholomew's, an Episcopal church located at Park Ave. and 50th St., or at Manhattan's Central Synagogue, where Schwartz was scoutmaster before Troop 666 moved to the church in 1995.
Assistant District Attorney Evan Krutoy said in court yesterday that his office is continuing to investigate reports that Schwartz had sexual contact with other scouts.
But sources familiar with those allegations said they involve contact that happened too long ago for prosecutors to bring additional criminal charges.
A spokesman for the Boy Scouts said a sexual abuse allegation was made against Schwartz when the troop was at Central Synagogue, but the NYPD determined it was unfounded. Schwartz was permitted to remain in his position at the time, but he was fired in May, when the lawsuit was filed.
Schwartz owns a bus company based in Colorado Springs that provides transportation from the airport to boy scout and other camps in the Southwest.
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Scout Leader Is Charged In Sex Abuse Of Teenager
By Katherine E. Finkelstein
New York Times - July 20, 2001
A Manhattan Boy Scout troop leader was charged yesterday with molesting a boy in his troop on a regular basis between September 1996 and May 1997.
The troop leader, Jerrold Schwartz, 42, turned himself in to the police yesterday and pleaded not guilty to 38 counts of sodomy, which are included in an 18-page indictment. Citing the severity of the charges and the strength of the evidence against Mr. Schwartz, Justice Micki A. Scherer of State Supreme Court in Manhattan set bail at $25,000 and ordered Mr. Schwartz to turn over his passport.
Prosecutors said yesterday that they had obtained 50 minutes of taped conversations between Mr. Schwartz and the boy in which the two discussed the alleged sexual abuse. The boy, now 20, is being treated for substance abuse in a Florida center, and according to his lawyer, Michael Dowd, suffers from severe depression and sexual dysfunction as a result of his encounters with Mr. Schwartz.
Mr. Schwartz, neatly dressed in a navy blazer, gray slacks and loafers, was led into court, handcuffed, while his wife, Eileen, sat in the gallery.
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Letter of Support from Joseph A. Bondy
November 16, 2001
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Letter from the District Attorney to Judge Charles Solomon
November 28, 2001
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JUDGE: BE PREPARED
By Laura Italiano
New York Post - December 20, 2001
December 20, 2001 -- The accused pedophile scoutmaster of the Upper East Side's Troop 666 could be heading up the river - and not on a Boy Scout camping trip.
A stern Manhattan judge gave alleged boy-sodomizer Jerrold Schwartz, 42, this choice yesterday: Either take your chances with a jury or plead guilty with a guarantee of state-prison time.
Schwartz - whose request for a no-jail deal fell flat - has until his next court date, Jan. 22, to decide.
"This is terrible stuff," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon said of the accusations. "There is a real victim here - someone who has been deeply affected for life."
If Schwartz goes for the jury trial, he risks getting convicted of a total 36 sodomies against a teen boy in his troop, from which he's since been fired.
Theoretically, he'd risk up to four years in prison for each act.
But if he pleads guilty to only a single sodomy, he can expect to serve between two and eight years in prison, the judge told him.
Schwartz's alleged wrongdoings came to light when the tormented victim, now age 20, spilled his heart out to his drug and alcohol therapists in an in-house rehab program.
In April, the victim wore a wire, and confronted Schwartz with nearly four years of abuses, starting when he was only 13.
"I did something very, very dumb," the married Upper East Sider admits on tape.
Schwartz's lawyer, Charlie Stillman, argued forcefully that his client has helped hundreds of young scouts. He pointed to 19 letters from parents and ex-scouts lauding Schwartz's charisma and generosity, and told the judge, "No useful societal purpose would be served by sending this man to prison."
But lead prosecutor Evan Krutoy said three other credible victims have come forward against Schwartz, although their alleged abuses occurred too long ago to be prosecuted.
"No useful purpose? It's called justice," Krutoy said of prison.
The 19 letters praising Schwartz merely "provide a context for the difficulty these kids faced," should they even think of ratting on a scoutmaster who was so loved and respected by their parents, Krutoy said.
Instead - after Schwartz repeatedly sodomized him - the complaining witness told no one.
"He walks around with the weight of the world on his shoulders," Krutoy said. "And finally, it crushes him."
Solomon noted that he'd look less harshly at Schwartz if his crime was not committed against a person - embezzling a million dollars from the Boy Scouts, for example.
Schwartz befriended both of the boy's parents, winning their trust to let the kid go on numerous overnight scouting trips.
"Jerrold Schwartz is a very skilled pedophile," the boy's mother wrote in a letter to the judge. "There can be no excuse for what he has done."
SCOUT'S DISHONOR:
Accused Boy Scouts pedophile Jerrold Schwartz leaves Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday with an unidentified woman after his no-jail plea bid was rejected by the judge.
- NYP: Luiz C. Ribeiro
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Letter from Parents to Judge Charles Solomon
December 13, 2001
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Sex Rap
By BARBARA ROSS and DAVE GOLDINER
Daily News Staff Writers - May 8, 2002
An upper East Side scoutmaster was accused of sex abuse yesterday by a former boy scout who claims he was assaulted dozens of times in the troop leader's Manhattan apartment and on campouts and overnight trips.
The allegations were made in a $50 million lawsuit that targets scoutmaster Jerrold Schwartz, who has led Troop 666 at the prestigious St. Bartholomew's Church for two decades.
"Jerrold Schwartz is a pedophile. We brought this lawsuit to stop him from having contact with children," the former scout's attorney, Michael Dowd, said yesterday.
Schwartz, 41, declined to comment. The Greater New York Council of the Boy Scouts of America announced later he had been fired as scoutmaster.
The lawsuit — and four secretly recorded conversations in which Schwartz admits the sexual contact with Dowd's client — were being reviewed yesterday by Manhattan prosecutors.
On those tapes, made last month, Schwartz tells Dowd's client, who is now 19, that: "I made a bad mistake. ...I took advantage of you...in a sexual way. ...I'm eternally ashamed."
He adds: "I have a place for yo
Dowd said the abuse started in 1994, when the scout was 13. It stopped three years later, when the boy left the troop.
The suit says the sexual contact occurred in Manhattan and on trips Schwartz led to Philadelphia, Washington and Vermont. Dowd said Schwartz even attacked his client on the night before Schwartz's 1997 wedding.
Dowd said the teenager started abusing alcohol and drugs after leaving the scouts and did not tell anyone about his experiences until last fall, after getting psychological counseling. Dowd said the teen's parents reported the abuse to police, but they did not pursue the case.
An NYPD spokesman said there was no probe because the family wanted to make an anonymous complaint. Dowd said the family disputes that.
Schwartz is heard apologizing on the tapes, telling the teen he considered him "a son."
"I'm extremely sorry for my taking advantage of you, our friendship, in a sexual way....I had a sickness that I hope I'm way past," Schwartz said.
Donald York, director of field services for the scouts council, said the council received a child abuse complaint involving Schwartz in 1994. Schwartz was allowed to stay on as scoutmaster after cops determined the complaint was unfounded.
Dowd said the church, at Park Ave. and 51st St., and the scouting organization are named as defendants because they failed to supervise Schwartz.
Raymond McGarrigle, general manager of St. Bartholomew's, said the Episcopal church "takes the matter very seriously."
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Respected troop leader admits molesting Eagle Scout:
A victim of sexual abuse is suing not only his Scoutmaster, who molested him, but the Boy Scouts.
By Harriet Ryan
Court TV - May 8, 2002
NEW YORK — A former Scoutmaster praised for his selfless devotion to Manhattan boys admitted Tuesday sexually abusing an Eagle Scout in his troop.
Jerrold Schwartz, 42, pleaded guilty to four counts of third-degree sodomy for molesting the teenager in 1996. Judge Charles Solomon told Schwartz he would face up to eight years in prison when he is sentenced in August. Schwartz was originally charged with 36 counts of sodomy over a two-year period.
The victim, now a 19-year-old college student, claims he was raped by Schwartz in his office and apartment after weekly meetings for Troop 666, a group based in a church and synagogue on the Upper East Side. The abuse continued on camping trips to Colorado, New Mexico and the Florida Keys, and even occurred on the eve of Schwartz's wedding in Disneyworld, the victim alleged.
The victim, the son of a doctor and lawyer who were deeply involved with the troop, is suing Schwartz, the Boy Scouts, the church and the synagogue for $150 million. According to his mother, the teenager's normal adolescence was destroyed by the abuse.
In a letter to the judge, she said he engaged in self-mutilation, cocaine and marijuana abuse, and promiscuity and would spend hours in the bathtub trying to cleanse himself. He first told his parents about the molestation after he was kicked out of college and sent to a rehab center.
The teenager's lawyer, Michael Dowd, said Schwartz's plea ensures he will be found liable in the civil suit. Dowd also represents more than 40 other clients who say they were sexually abused as children.
The heart of the prosecution's case was secretly recorded audio tapes in which the victim confronted Schwartz about the abuse.
"I took advantage of you sexually," Schwartz admitted in the April 2001 meeting. "I'm eternally, eternally sorry."
He blamed the abuse on "a sickness" and said, "I did things that were not becoming of an adult that you looked up to, not becoming of an adult period."
Before the plea, Schwartz's lawyer, Joseph Bondy — who became an Eagle Scout in Troup 666 under Schwartz's leadership — said his client made the statements in fear of the victim's volatility, but acknowleged the "horrible, horrible tape" would be compelling to jurors.
Schwartz was involved with Troop 666 since his own youth, becoming an Eagle Scout, then an assistant scoutmaster and finally the leader.
In letters sent to Judge Solomon pleading for leniency, troop parents and scouts described Schwartz as caring and charismatic and said they could not believe the allegations.
"I count him among the most dedicated and compassionate people I have had the honor to know and befriend," one Eagle Scout, now a college junior, wrote.
Dowd, the victim's lawyer, said his client was living out of state and had not heard about the plea because he was busy taking his final exams.
"He'll be gratified to know he's not going to hurt any other kids," Dowd said.
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Year In Jail For Sodomite Scoutmaster
By Laura Italiano
New York Post - May 8, 2000
May 8, 2002 -- The boy-sodomizing scoutmaster of the Upper East Side's Troop 666 'fessed up in court yesterday - but was given a summer vacation from prison, to the anger of his victim's family.
Under the surprise deal in Manhattan Supreme Court, married, 42-year- old Jerrold Schwartz pleaded guilty to four instances of sodomizing a scout in the fall of 1996.
The boy was only 12 when the abuse began, and four other victims have come forward with credible accusations that are too old to take action on, prosecutors said in court papers.
Schwartz will serve at least a year in prison, said Justice Charles Solomon. But he won't start until sometime in August, so, as his lawyer put it, he can "attend to his affairs."
Schwartz will spend the summer in Colorado, said the lawyer, Robert Fogelnest. Amazingly, Schwartz, who is free on $25,000 bail, continues to own a tour-bus company there that caters to scouting trips.
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Boy Scout Leader Guilty in Sex Abuse
By Karen Freifeld - STAFF WRITER
News Day - May 8, 2002
A Manhattan Boy Scout leader who ran a troop at St. Bartholomew's Church on the East Side pleaded guilty yesterday to repeatedly sodomizing one of the scouts.
Scout master Jerrold Schwartz, 43, of Troop 666, pleaded guilty to four counts of deviant sexual intercourse with the 16-year-old boy from September to December 1996.
Schwartz, who is free on $25,000 bail, will be sentenced in August.
State Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon said prosecutors recommended 2 2/3 to 8 years in prison. But "I'm making no promises on sentence," Solomon said, adding that Schwartz would be registered with the state as a sex offender.
The mother of the victim said that her son had been abused by Schwartz when he was about 13.
A law enforcement source said at least one other alleged victim had come forward, but that case was outside the statute of limitations, which is five years after the child's 18th birthday.
"Jerry very cleverly manipulated his business and the scout troop to get these boys alone with him," the mother said.
Schwartz owns a Colorado bus company that provides transportation to Boy Scout and other camps.
Schwartz was charged with 36 counts of sodomy last year after the former scout filed a $50 million suit against him. The victim secretly recorded four conversations in which Schwartz admitted the sexual contact, which even allegedly took place the night before Schwartz's 1997 wedding.
Schwartz's wife, Eileen, an Upper West Side assistant principal, kissed her husband after he pleaded guilty yesterday. She was among nearly a dozen supporters in the courtroom, including the assistant scout master of Troop 666.
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Scout Leader Pleads Guilty to Sodomy
Associated Press - May 8, 2002
NEW YORK (AP) -- The leader of a Boy Scout troop has pleaded guilty to repeatedly sodomizing one of his young charges.
Jerrold Schwartz, scout master of Manhattan's Troop 666, pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of third-degree sodomy. Schwartz admitted he sexually abused the boy in his home and office for several months during the fall of 1996.
Schwartz, 42, entered the plea after State Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon said he would give him at most eight years in prison, and possibly less. Solomon said he will schedule an August sentencing date later.
Solomon rejected earlier pleas from Schwartz' lawyers who said putting him in prison would serve no social purpose. Schwartz was allowed to remain free on $25,000 bail.
The victim, now 20, has filed a $150 million lawsuit against Schwartz and others.
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Scout Tour Operator Convicted Of Sexual Abuse
New York Man Pleaded Guilty To Four Counts Of Sodomizing 12-Year-Old
The Denver Channel (The Associated Press contributed to this report) - May 15, 2002
DENVER -- A Boy Scout leader convicted of sodomizing a 12-year-old member of his troop in New York City has been allowed to travel to Colorado to run his tour business pending sentencing in August.
Jerrold Schwartz, scout master of Troop 666 in Manhattan, pleaded guilty to four counts of third-degree sodomy last week.
Schwartz admitted that he sexually abused the boy in his home and office for several months during the fall of 1996.
Schwartz, 42, pleaded guilty after a New York State Supreme Court judge said he would give him at most eight years in prison, and possibly less.
Justice Charles Solomon rejected earlier pleas from Schwartz' lawyers who said putting him in prison would serve no social purpose. Schwartz was allowed to remain free on $25,000 bail and travel to Colorado where he has a tour business, Adventure Trails Inc.
It is based in New York City and Colorado Springs, and provides, among other things, boy scout trips to the Air Force Academy.
"Adventure Trails has provided thousands of Scouts over the years with unforgettable memories and experiences," says its Web site.
The mother of the New York City victim, in court to hear Schwartz' plea, said she was not satisfied with the sentencing range that was promised, but she said she was happy that her son would not have to testify at a trial.
The woman said Schwartz, after winning her trust, began abusing her son when he was 12 and continued until he was 16. The victim, now 20, "is still very fragile," she said. "He still gets nightmares every night."
The New York prosecutor told the judge that one sex attack on the boy occurred on Schwartz's wedding day. The youth eventually turned to drugs and alcohol because of the emotional damage he suffered.
Schwartz, whose Boy Scout troop for a while was given space in St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue, was originally charged with 36 counts of sodomy.
The assistant district attorney asked the judge to sentence the defendant to at least eight years in prison if he pleaded guilty.
The victim has filed a $150 million lawsuit against Schwartz and others.
Solomon accepted Schwartz's guilty plea and said he would have to register as a sex offender in New York.
He is required to do the same in Colorado within five days of his arrival or face arrest, according to an agent with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
None of the local scout groups 7NEWS talked with say they have dealings with the organization.
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'EVIL' Scout Pedophile Gets 8 Years
By DAREH GREGORIAN
New York Post - August 24, 2002
August 24, 2002 -- A Manhattan judge sentenced the sicko Scout master who repeatedly sexually abused one of the Boy Scouts in the Upper East Side's Troop 666 to 22/3 to 8 years in prison yesterday for his "evil" acts.
"This case involves a young boy being taken advantage of in the worst way . . . by a man he thought was a friend and mentor," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon said as he sentenced Jerrold Schwartz.
"What [Schwartz] did was more than bad, more than troubling - it's evil."
Schwartz, 42, pleaded guilty in May to multiple counts of sodomizing his former scout in 1996, when the victim was 14 and 15.
Prosecutor Evan Krutoy, who called Schwartz "the worst kind of criminal," has said the abuse actually started when the boy was 12. The victim, now 20, told Solomon the repeated assaults had left his life in tatters - sending him spiraling into a life of drug abuse and self-mutilation.
"The physical and emotional pain still haunts me today . . . I can't remember the last time I slept for more than four hours," he told the judge.
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New York Sex Offender Registry
December 31, 2013
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