Case of Guy Joseph Raz

Case of Guy Joseph Raz

(AKA: Guy Raz, Guy J. Raz)

Teacher - Pasadena Hebrew School, Pasadena, CA

Engineer - Pasadena, CA

Sherman Oaks, CA

Pleaded Guilty and was sentenced to two years in federal prison Monday for using the Internet to solicit sex with a onetime pupil.

Raz, taught from 1999 to 2001 at the Hebrew School at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, 1434 N. Altadena Drive.

There are several people by the name of Guy Raz. The individual discussed on this page was born on August 18, 1966.

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Table of Contents:  

2001

1. Man Held in Online Soliciting (10/26/2001)
2. Ex-teacher charged with soliciting sex (10/26/2001)

2002

1. Man Pleads Guilty To Soliciting Sex (01/16/2002)
2. Ex-Hebrew School teacher admits to sex charge (01/16/2002)
3. Ex-Teacher Gets Prison for Soliciting Student Sex (03/12/2002)

2006

1. California Sex Offender Registry (04/01/2006)

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Man Held in Online Soliciting

Crime: Former temple teacher tried to lure a 13-year-old pupil, say investigators from a multi-agency task force.

by David Rosenzweig 

Los Angeles Times - October 26, 2001

A former religion teacher at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center has been charged with using the Internet to solicit sex with a onetime pupil, prosecutors said Thursday.

Guy Raz, 35, was taken into custody by FBI agents and sheriff's deputies Wednesday afternoon when he showed up for a meeting with the 13-year-old girl at the Altadena public library.

Inside his car, investigators said, they found a long-stem red rose, a box of condoms and an envelope addressed to the girl.

Investigators said the girl's parents contacted them earlier this month after she began receiving sexual solicitations from Raz via the Internet.

Raz obtained the girl's e-mail address and those of other students while teaching a religion class at the temple last year, according to an investigator's affidavit.

In one message, Raz allegedly wrote: "Being a bat mitzvah is about entering womanhood. . . . And there's one aspect of that I'd prefer to show you in person."

Raz also discussed specific sexual acts and invited the teenager to come to his home in Encino but not tell her parents, investigators said.

After being shown printouts of his e-mail messages, investigators from the Southern California regional sexual assault felony enforcement team, a multi-agency task force, posed as the teenager online and carried on several more e-mail exchanges with Raz.

During one of those exchanges, Raz allegedly agreed to meet the girl in the Altadena library's ancient studies section. He was arrested after he got out of his car.

He is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center pending a bail hearing before a federal magistrate Tuesday. If convicted, he faces a maximum 15 years in prison.

Debby Singer, education director at the Pasadena synagogue, said Raz taught there on a part-time basis during the 1999-2000 school year and as a full-time instructor the following academic year. She said his contract was not renewed when it expired in June.

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Ex-teacher charged with soliciting sex

By Howard Breuer Staff Writer

Star-News (Pasadena, CA) - October 26, 2001

ALTADENA - A former instructor at a Pasadena Hebrew school has been arrested on federal charges that he used the Internet to solicit sex from a 13-year-old former student.

Guy Raz, 35, who recently moved from Pasadena to Encino, was arrested Wednesday afternoon as he arrived at the Altadena Public Library, allegedly expecting to meet the girl for sex. The encounter had been arranged by a sheriff's detective who took over the girl's e-mail address.

"He had a card, a rose and some condoms," said Luis Li, acting deputy chief of the U.S. attorney's major crimes section.

Raz was arrested by undercover FBI agents upon his arrival at the library and refused to give a statement, says an affidavit by the detective, Christopher A. Hicks, assigned to the FBI as a special U.S. marshal.

Raz, a former teacher at the Hebrew School at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, 1434 N. Altadena Drive, made his first court appearance Thursday. He was informed that he is charged with using the Internet to encourage a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and was ordered back to court Tuesday for a bail hearing. Until then, Raz will remain in custody with no bail amount set.

The investigation began earlier this month when the girl told her parents Raz contacted her online for sex, Li said. Raz had instructed all his Hebrew students to give him their e-mail addresses so he could help them online with schoolwork, according to the affidavit.

The girl's parents notified the Sheriff's Department, which determined that the person sending messages to the girl was Raz, he said.

As Hicks interviewed the girl at her house, Raz sent her e-mail messages of a sexual nature, which the detective read, the affidavit says.

The girl believed Raz was an engineer by trade and worked part-time - and later full-time - as a religious education teacher, the affidavit states.

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Man Pleads Guilty To Soliciting Sex

by Howard Breuer

Daily News of Los Angeles (CA) - January 16, 2002

An Encino man pleaded guilty Tuesday to using the Internet to solicit sex from a 13-year-old female student at the Pasadena Hebrew school where he taught.

Guy Raz, 35, faces up to 15 years when he is sentenced March 11 but will probably get no more than 2 1/2 years under a plea bargain with the U.S. Attorney's Office, officials said.

Attorneys are suggesting Raz serve his time at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, N.C., which has a special program for sex offenders.

``Everybody agrees he needs treatment, and we're trying to make sure he gets treatment,'' said Luis Li, acting deputy chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office major crimes section.

Defense attorney Ronald Kaye declined to comment until after sentencing.

During Tuesday's federal court hearing, Raz admitted that he used the Internet to solicit the girl and set up a meeting with her at the Altadena Public Library. He didn't realize he was communicating with a detective from the Sheriff's Department, whom the girl's parents contacted weeks earlier.

Undercover FBI agents arrested him upon his arrival at the library.

Raz taught from 1999 to 2001 at the Hebrew School at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center.

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Ex-Hebrew School teacher admits to sex charge

by Howard Breuer

Star-News (Pasadena, CA) - January 16, 2002

LOS ANGELES -- A former instructor at a Pasadena Hebrew school pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to using the Internet to solicit sex from a 13-year-old former student.

Guy Raz, 35, of Encino faces up to 15 years when he returns for sentencing March 11, but will probably get two to two and a half years under the plea deal, federal officials said.

That's not too different from what Raz would get if he were convicted by a jury, said a U.S. Attorney's spokesman.

Attorneys are suggesting Raz serve his time at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, N.C., which has a special program for sex offenders.

"Everybody agrees he needs treatment and we're trying to make sure he gets treatment," said Luis Li, acting deputy chief of the U.S. attorney's major crimes section.

During a hearing before U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins, Raz admitted he used the Internet to solicit the girl for oral sex, and he attempted to meet her Oct. 24 in the Altadena Public Library.

"He had a card, a rose and some condoms," Li has said.

His defense attorney, Ronald Kaye, declined to comment until after sentencing.

Raz, who taught from 1999 to 2001 at the Hebrew School at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, 1434 N. Altadena Drive, had been in custody since his arrest.

He attended the hearing at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Courthouse wearing a green jacket, blue nylon slacks and sandals. Marshals refused to remove his handcuffs as he signed the deal.

Kaye, Collins and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carole Peterson explained to Raz that he was admitting to using a facility of interstate commerce -- in this case, phone lines connecting to America Online -- to knowingly attempt to persuade, induce and entice a minor to engage in sex.

Raz had made plans to meet the girl in the library's ancient studies section, not realizing he was communicating with a detective from the Sheriff's Department, whom the girl's parents contacted weeks earlier.

Undercover FBI agents arrested him upon his arrival at the library.

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Ex-Teacher Gets Prison for Soliciting Student Sex

From Times Staff Reports Metro Desk

Los Angeles Times - March 12, 2002

A former teacher at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center was sentenced to two years in federal prison Monday for using the Internet to solicit sex with a onetime pupil.

Guy Raz, 35, who pleaded guilty earlier this year, faced up to five years behind bars under terms of a plea agreement. He was arrested in October when he showed up for a meeting with the 13-year-old girl at the Altadena Public Library.

FBI agents said Raz obtained the girl's e-mail address while teaching a religion class at the temple. His contract was not renewed when it expired in June.

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California Sex Offender Registry

Megan's Law: Information on Registered Sex Offenders - April 1, 2006

http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov

Last Name: RAZ    First Name: GUY    Middle Name: JOSEPH

Description

Last Known Address: 93003

County: VENTURA

Zip Code 93003

Date of Birth: 08-18-1966

Sex: MALE

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 172

Eye Color: BLUE

Hair Color: BLONDE

Ethnicity: WHITE

Specific address not subject to disclosure

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Informing on Fellow Jews who Commit Crimes: Mesira in Modern Times

Informing on Fellow Jews who Commit Crimes:

Mesira in Modern Times

Rabbi Michael J. Broyde*

The S. Daniel Abraham & Ira L. Rennert Torah Ethics Project

The Orthodox Caucus

Toronto, Canada

Netivot HaTorah Day School

October 19, 2001, at 8:00 p.m.

 

This lecture addresses the question of whether and when Jewish law permits, prohibits or mandates that a person inform governmental authorities of the fact that a law is violating one aspect or another of secular law. In particular, this lecture will focus on the application of the classical rules of informing (mesira) to modern day America and Canada, with it's (procedurally} just system of government. 

Even though Jewish law expects people to observe the laws of the land, and even imposes that obligation as a religious duty, the Talmud recounts - in a number of places - that it is prohibited to inform on Jews to the secular government, even when their conduct is a violation of secular law and even when their conduct is a violation of Jewish law. While there are a number of exceptions to this prohibition (which are explained further in this section), the essential halacha was that Jewish law prohibits such informing absent specific circumstances. Even is secular government were to incorporate substantive Jewish law into secular law and punish violations of what is, in effect, Jewish law, Jews would still be prohibited from cooperating with such a system. Indeed, classical Jewish law treats a person who frequently informs on others as a pursuer (a rodef) who may be killed to prevent him from informing, even without a formal court ruling.

The reason for the rabbinic decree positing, that an informer (moser) is a life-threatening pursuer (rodef) is simply stated by Rabbenu Asher. Rosh states:

One who runs to inform so that Jewish money is given to a bandit (anas) is analogized by the rabbis to one who is running after a person to kill him. This is seen from the verse (Isaiah 51:20) 'your children lie in a swoon at the corner of every street, like an antelope caught in a net.' Just like when an antelope caught in a net, the hunter has no mercy towards it, so too the money of a Jew, once it falls into the hands of bandits, the bandits have no mercy on the Jew. They take some money today, and tomorrow all of it, and in the end, they capture and kill him, since perhaps he has more money Thus, an informer is like a pursuer to kill someone and the victim may be saved at the cost of the life of the pursued. (Teshuvot haRosh 17:1).

Eight different sets of rules can be given that outline the general approach halacha takes.

1. It is prohibited to inform on a fellow Jew to a gentile, whether the act of informing is about monetary matters or physical security. One may not inform on a Jew even if the Jew is a sinful and bad person.
2. One who informs is liable to pay damages if his act of informing damages another Even though, as a general rule one is not liable for torts done to another by a third party, informing is an exception to this rule.
3. Even without the order of a Jewish law court, one may kill a person who has certainly set out to inform on another, prior to their act of informing, as informing poses a danger to the one who is informed on. Once a person informs, one may not kill the informer as punishment for the sin and one may not steal from an informer (unless taking his property will stop him from informing). One who regularly informs may be killed without warning.
4. One who troubles the community through misconduct may be informed on: so too one who engages in conduct that endangers members of the community may be informed on. One who hits other people, or otherwise engages in acts of violence against people, may be informed on.
5. When a Jew owes money to a gentile, and the Jew is seeking to improperly avoid payment of the money to the gentile, and another Jew informs the gentile of this fact who then collects the money rightfully owed to him, that is not called informing, as the Jew who is informed on only has to pay that which he ought to pay, anyway. Payment of taxes to the government is exactly such a debt. Some say such informing is frowned on when it gratuitously benefits a pagan, and others say such conduct is proper. All agree that when such conduct leads to a desecration of God's name, it is prohibited to decline to report such a person.
6. A Jew who is threatened with physical harm unless he informs on another is not called an informer if he delivers information and he is not liable for the damage caused. There is a dispute as to whether such conduct is proper or simply immune from liability.
7. There is a dispute about whether a Jew who is threatened with economic harm unless he illicitly informs on another is called an informer or not and whether such conduct is permitted or not.
8. Many authorities rule that no liability is present if one informs on another to save one's own property without any gratuitous intent to hurt the other person.

Taken at face value, these rules would prohibit a person from calling the governmental authorities when he is aware of illicit activity by a Jew unless the informer is himself under duress to inform, or the criminal is violent or threatening of the community, or according to some decisors, the informer does so to protect his own property. These rules, by their simple direct application, would prevent a person from informing on his neighbor who is cheating on his taxes, violating non-safety related zoning law stealing cable television from the cable company, and a host of other violations of law. Informing on a serial killer, mugger, assaulter, child abuser, or any other violent criminal would be permitted.

How do the halachic rules of informing apply to a just government of laws - with non-discriminatory laws properly enforced by police who obey the laws, and who punish people in accordance with its laws -- is the question this section will address. This section makes certain assumptions about the nature and operation of law that need to be stated, as this section is predicated on these assumptions. At least four specific assumptions are posited in this section about the nature of society and its government.

The governments of the United States of America and of Canada and of the various states and provinces and other governmental units are just and proper governments that do not, as a general matter, punish people beyond the dictates of the secular law. They are not corrupt governments.

Governmental actions are not generally motivated by an anti-Semitism, and the conduct of governmental officials is not anti-Semitic.

As a matter of American and Canadian law, people cannot be compelled to go to a Jewish law court (a bet din) to resolve claims against them if they do not wish to submit to the bet din.

As a matter of American and Canadian law, batai din are unable to adjudicate matters that require physical punishment incarceration or restraint of people, and cannot respond in emergency situations when force is needed.

No less than five different halachic answers have been presented with regard to whether the prohibition against informing applies in a just society. These five views can be summarized as follows:

1. The View of the Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg: No Prohibition to Inform when Government is Just

Rabbi Yecheil Michel Epstein Aruch Hashulchan Choshen Mishpat 388:7

Note: As is widely known, in times of old in places far away, no person had any assurance in the safety of his life or money because of the pirates and bandits, even if they took upon themselves the form of government. It is known that this is true nowadays in some places in Africa where the government itself is grounded in theft and robbery. One should remind people of the kingdoms in Europe and particularly our ruler the Czar and his predecessors, and the kings of England, who spread their influence over many lands in order that people should have confidence in the security of their body and money. The wealthy do not have to hide themselves so that others will not loot or kill them. On all of this (the presence of looting and killing) hinges the rules of informing (moser) and slandering (malshin) in the talmud and later authorities, as I will explain infra: These rules apply only to one who informs on another to bandits and so endangers that person's money and life, as these bandits chase after the person's body and money, and thus one may use deadly force to save oneself.

Rabbi Waldenberg, Tzitz Eliezer 19:52

Even in the understanding of the secular court system it appears that there is a difference between primitive and enlightened governments as is noted by the Aruch Hashulchan in Choshen Mishpat 388:7 where it states that "every issue related to informing found in the Talmud and poskim deals with those far away places where no one was secure in his money or body because of bandits and pirates, even those who had authority, as we know nowadays in places like Africa" such is not the case in Europe, as the Aruch Hashulchan notes...I write this as a notation of general importance in the matter of the laws of informing.

B. The view of Rabbi Ezra Batzri: There are No Just Legal Systems and No Just Prisons

Rabbi Ezra Batzri Dinnai Momonut 4:2:5n at page 86 writes:

Do not be surprised by the rules of this chapter, and think they are all inapplicable nowadays since governments are enlightened and democratic, a beacon for people to travel. This should be thought true of only by the very naive, as even in democracies, in truth when there is a matter that involve the government, the matter is treated as out of the normal protocol as happens when matters relate to security of the state. All rules of informing are applicable even currently. Anyone who knows and understands and sees not only what is externally visible, and what previously was, will see will see that only the external appearance has changed--but the central characteristic [of government] has not changed. Even if they bring all matters to court, it is clear that, through interrogation and the police, government can destroy people and in many places they do in fact destroy people.

Rabbi Blau. Pitchai Choshen 7:4 in note 1 writes:

Nonetheless the punishment of imprisonment is analogous to endangering a person's life by informing on them in a way that endangers their life, since imprisonment poses a possibility of life threatening conditions.

C. The view of Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes: informing as a Tort in a Just Government

Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes, Beit Yitzchak Yoreh Deah 49(12), states:

As you wrote on the central matter of one who informs about monetary matters nowadays, such a person does not have the status of a pursuer, as there is no fear nowadays that such informing will lead to danger to life, and certainly such a person is not ineligible to serve as a witness according to Torah law....

D. The view of Rabbi Shmuel Wozner; Informing is Permitted when Jewish law Recognizes Secular Law as Valid

Rabbi Shmuel Wozner. Shever Halevi Yoreh Deah 58. writes;

In the matter of one who works in the tax offices, and where he sees one who defrauds the government he has to report him to the courts. That person wants to know if he is in the status of an informer or "the law of the land is the law [and is thus proper]," It is clear that according to the halacha, taxes -- without dispute or controversy-- are covered by the obligation to obey the law of the land...On the question of informing to the government, it is clear from the incident discussed in Bava Mezia 83b with Rabbi Eliezer who informed on a person to the government, that this conduct was permitted because of loyalty to the government; even though they said to him "how long will you hand over God's nation to be killed?" that is because this matter relates to the danger to the life of a Jew. So too, that which Elijah recounts to Rabbi Yishmael [that he should cease informing] is applicable, but the technical halachaappears that this matter has a benefit to the government...See also Rama [Chosen Mishpat] 388:11 who notes that if one wishes to flee to avoid paying a gentile what he actually owes him, and another reveals this information, the latter person lacks the status of an informer. Even though that Rama concludes "nonetheless, bad was done, as it is analogous to returning the lost object to a pagan," that is limited to returning the lost object to an individual pagan. However, that which is relevant to the government and its designee, there is no sin [either of informing or returning lost objects improperly]. Nonetheless, ab initio it is better not to accept an appointment to engage in such activity, since it entails informing on one even in a permissible way, which is not the conduct of the righteous, as is noted in the Jerusalem Talmud Teruma 8:4..

E. The View of Rabbis Feinstein. The Prohibition is Unchanged by a Just Government

Rabbi Feinstein, Iggrot Moshe Chosen Mishpat, 1:8 writes:

I received your letter with regard to an evil doer who came into a kosher factory and forged the kosher symbol, placed it on non-kosher items, which he sold to Jews as kosher. The question is can one inform on him to the secular authorities who will judge him severely with either a fine or prison, or must the rabbis judge him according to Jewish law? In my opinion, even though his sin is great, and he shows no repentance, nonetheless so long as we cannot say that the Jewish judges cannot judge him, one may not turn the matter over to the secular authorities...In addition, since it is certain that the secular authorities will adjudicate the matter through incarceration or a fine inconsistent with Jewish law, one must be fearful of the prohibition of informing, as it is prohibited to inform on a Jew to the secular authorities, whether through danger to his body or his money, even if he be a sinner.

Rabbi Feinstein, Iggrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9(11) writes:

It is prohibited for us to inform on a person for a matter where the punishment is unfounded in Jewish law. In Jewish law, theft is resolved through restitution as measured by an expert, and secular law punishes through imprisonment, unfounded in Jewish law.

Sexual Abuse in Jewish Community - Jerusalem, Israel

Menstuff


The Awareness Center is organizing the first international conference on Sexual Abuse in the Jewish Community.  Jerusalem, Israel.

For more information contact: Vicki Polin, MA, ATR, LCPC at VickiPolin@aol.com or 011-972-5-090-4743