Friday, May 23, 2003

Case of Seymour Kushner

Case of Seymour Kushner
(AKA: Sy Kushner, Seymour Y. Kushner)


Retired Music Teacher - Seely Place School, Edgemont, NY
Accordionist - Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY)
Accordionist - NULITE Music, Inc.
Accordionist - Kush Publications, Inc.
Accordionist -The Sy Kushner Jewish Music Ensemble
Hartsdale, NY
New Rochelle, NY
Islandia, NY
Scarsdale, NY


Pleaded guilty to a federal grand jury charge of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sex.

Seymour Kushner attempted to meet a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex in an AOL chat room and spoke to her in a sexual manner for six weeks before asking to meet.  The "girl" was a Rockland Sheriff's Office Computer Crimes Task Force officer.  U.S. District Court Judge Charles Brieant sentenced Kushner to the mandatory minimum of five years in prison and fined him $7,500.

Kushner was a music teacher in the Edgemont and Mamaroneck school districts, including a 25-year stint as a vocal music teacher at Seely Place School in Edgemont from 1973 to 1998.  

Kushner said on his Web site that he is one of the finest accordionists in the field of Jewish music. He has performed across the United States, including Nyack's First Night in 1999, a World's Fair, Town Hall in New York City and at Carnegie Hall.

For a time Kushner was in a band called The Mark 3, which travelled extensively for NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth), playing concerts at conventions around the country.

Please note there are several people who go by the name of Seymour Kushner.  The individual on this page was born around 1943.

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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents:


2003
  1. Music teacher caught in Internet sex sting  (05/23/2003)
  2. Man nabbed in sex sting (05/24/2003)
  3. Former School Teacher Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges of Using Internet to Entice Mintor to Engage in Sex (09/10/2003)
  4. Ex-teacher admits sex charge  (09/11/2003)
  5. Former teacher indicted in sex sting (09/19/2003)
  6. Teacher gets 5 years in sex case (12/04/2003)

2013

  1. Nulite (12/21/2013)


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Music teacher caught in Internet sex sting
News 12 (Long Island) - May 23, 2003


A former Westchester Music teacher, 60-year-old Seymour Kushner of Harstdale, is accused of using the Internet to entice a minor to meet and have sex with him. Police caught Kushner in an Internet sex sting last Wednesday. The person typing to Kushner on the other keyboard was an undercover police officer. The officer had been tracking the illegal computer chats for weeks.
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Man nabbed in sex sting
by Steve Lieberman
Journal News (Westchester County, NY) - May 24, 2003

Police: Former Hartsdale teacher used Internet to try to solicit teen

A retired Westchester County music teacher has been arrested for attempting to meet a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex at the Palisades Center after weeks of Internet conversations, a federal agent said yesterday.

Seymour Kushner, 60, of Hartsdale, didn't know the 13-year-old girl was actually an undercover officer for the Rockland Sheriff's Office Computer Crimes Task Force, police said.

Kushner was arrested Wednesday afternoon at the West Nyack mall on a federal charge of using the Internet to attempt to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, said Lt. John Gould, who oversees the county Computer Crimes Task Force for the sheriff and District Attorney's Office.

When reached at home yesterday, Kushner said, "No comment."

The case was turned over to the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution, Gould said, because federal penalties were more severe than state penalties in such cases. The federal charge carries a maximum 15-year sentence in prison.

Kushner, a former music teacher in the Edgemont and Mamaroneck school districts, was released on $50,000 bail after being arraigned in White Plains by Magistrate Judge Lisa Smith of the U.S. District Court.

As a condition of his release on bail, Kushner must wear an electronic monitoring device and stay inside his home at 16 Carlyle Place. He also is banned from accessing the Internet.

Kushner worked as a vocal music teacher at Seely Place School in Edgemont from 1973 to 1998, Edgemont schools Superintendent Nancy Taddiken said yesterday.

Kushner says on his Web site that he is one of the finest accordionists in the field of Jewish music. He has performed across the United States, including Nyack's First Night in 1999, a World's Fair, Town Hall in New York City and at Carnegie Hall.

In a federal complaint signed by Secret Service Agent Ted Maglia, Kushner is accused of soliciting a conversation from a Rockland girl in an America Online chatroom on April 10.
Maglia stated in the complaint that Kushner, using the screen name Nurturingmaster, sought out a chatroom user with a profile indicating she was a girl from Rockland County whose occupation was listed as "School Ugghhh."

The complaint says Kushner initiated an AOL Instant Messenger conversation with the "girl," who was really an undercover officer with the Rockland County Sheriff's Office, and asked how old she was. The officer responded that she was 13. He also asked, "do you like older guys" and told her he was 49, according to the complaint.

When the "girl" asked him what he was a master of, according to the complaint, Kushner responded, "master of making a woman feel good."

As part of Internet investigations, police computers record Instant Messenger conversations. The Rockland task force's investigations have led to more than 60 arrests of people from across the country over the past several years.

The federal complaint says Kushner again used Instant Messenger to communicate with the "girl" on May 16, when she told him she was going to a mall.

He is accused of asking her if he "could pick you up at the mall ... drive you to my home ... and we could get to know each other.

"I know how to make girls feel real good," he was quoted as saying in the complaint. "I'll make you feel real good, teach you new things, touch you in new ways."

The "girl" agreed to meet him at the mall, and, the complaint stated, he told her not to tell anyone about him because he could get in trouble.

The meeting never took place.

On Monday, the complaint said, he again contacted the "girl." At his request, the undercover officer sent him a computer-generated picture of a girl and had an extensive sexually explicit conversation with him, according to the complaint.

"You will be my slut," he is accused of writing to her.

After another conversation on Tuesday, they agreed to meet, according to the complaint.
Kushner told the girl he would be driving a blue Mercedes-Benz and asked her what school she attended and what grade she was in, according to the complaint. She responded that she was in the eighth grade.

Kushner was arrested at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday at the agreed-upon location in one of the mall's parking lots, Gould said.

The complaint stated that Kushner had six condoms in his pocket and was carrying a briefcase containing various sexual implements.

Staff Writer Karen Pasternack contributed information to this report.


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Former School Teacher Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge of Using Internet to Entice Minor to Engage in Sex
United States Attoreny Southern District of New York - September 10, 2003
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/September03/kushnerplepr.pdf.




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Ex-teacher admits sex charge
Man was arrested in Internet sting
by John Kryger; Staff The Journal News
Journal News, The (Westchester County, NY) - September 11, 2003


A retired music teacher from Hartsdale pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to felony Internet sex charge.

Seymour Kushner, 60, was arrested May 21 and accused of attempting to meet a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex at the Palisades Center mall. The indictment alleged the meeting came after weeks of Internet conversations.

Kushner didn't know the 13-year-old girl was actually an undercover investigator for the Rockland Sheriff's Office Computer Crimes Task Force. Yesterday, Kushner pleaded guilty to the sex charge in U.S. District Court in White Plains, according to U.S. Attorney James B. Comey. Kushner was indicted June 1. He is to be sentenced Dec. 3. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 30 years, plus a $250,000 fine, Comey said.

Kushner was a music teacher in the Edgemont and Mamaroneck school districts, including 25 years as a vocal music teacher at Seely Place School in Edgemont from 1973 to 1998. On his Web site are claims that he is "considered one of the finest accordionists in the field of Jewish music."

On April 10, using the screen name Nurturingmaster, he located what he thought was a Rockland girl in an America Online chat room, police said.

In a series of online conversations, Kushner asked the girl her age and whether she liked older men, according to the criminal complaint. He said he was a "master of making a woman feel good," the complaint stated.

The undercover officer, the complaint said, replied the girl was 13 and in the eighth grade. Two days before the scheduled meeting, Kushner wrote the girl, "You will be my slut," authorities said.

When he was arrested, police said, he had six condoms in his pocket and a briefcase containing various sexual implements.

Staff writers Steve Lieberman and Timothy O'Connor contributed to this report.

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Former teacher indicted in sex sting
Cops: Man used Net to meet person he thought was girl, 13
by Timothy O'Connor; Staff The Journal News
Journal News, The (Westchester County, NY) - June 19, 2003

WHITE PLAINS - A retired music teacher from Hartsdale has been indicted on a charge he tried to lure someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl via the Internet to the Palisades Center for sex.

But the girl was actually an undercover officer with the Rockland County Sheriff's Office Computer Crimes Task Force. Police said Seymour Kushner, 60, went to the West Nyack mall on May 21 to meet with the girl, and was arrested.

He was turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution because federal statutes carry stiffer penalties in such cases. If convicted of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sex, he faces up to 15 years in federal prison.

Kushner was a music teacher in the Edgemont and Mamaroneck school districts, including a 25-year stint as a vocal music teacher at Seely Place School in Edgemont from 1973 to 1998.

He says on his Web site that he is "considered one of the finest accordionists in the field of Jewish music." He says that he has performed all over the world, including Carnegie Hall, and has "established himself as one of the leading innovators in Jewish music."

His musical prowess was not what he was touting on the Internet on April 10, police said. Using the screen name Nurturingmaster, he located what he thought was a Rockland girl in an America Online chatroom, police said.

In a series of conversations on the Internet, Kushner asked the girl her age and whether she liked older men, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in White Plains. He said he was a "master of making a woman feel good," according to the complaint.

The undercover officer, the complaint said, replied the girl was 13 and in eighth grade. In a sexually explicit conversation two days before the scheduled meeting, Kushner wrote the girl, "You will be my slut," authorities said.

When he was arrested, police said, he had six condoms in his pocket and a briefcase containing various sexual implements.

He was arraigned yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith and pleaded not guilty. Smith continued the bail of $50,000 plus home confinement. Kushner must continue to wear an electronic ankle monitor. He is due back in court July 17.

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Teacher gets 5 years in sex case
County officer posed as girl, 13, lured by man to Palisades mall
By Steve Lieberman
Journal News, The (Westchester County, NY) - December 4, 2003


A retired Westchester music teacher was sentenced to five years in federal prison yesterday for luring someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl to the Palisades Center mall in West Nyack for sex.

Seymour Kushner, 60, of Hartsdale, solicited the youngster in an AOL chat room and spoke to her in a sexual manner for six weeks before asking to meet her on May 21. The "girl" was a Rockland Sheriff's Office Computer Crimes Task Force officer and Kushner was arrested.
Kushner, an accordion player, pleaded guilty in September to a federal grand jury charge of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sex.

Yesterday in White Plains' federal courthouse, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Brieant sentenced Kushner to the mandatory minimum of five years in prison and fined him $7,500.
Kushner, who faced up to 30 years, will also receive prohibitions involving children when he is released from prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said yesterday. He must surrender for prison assignment on Jan. 15, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Herbert Hadad said yesterday.

Kushner worked as a teacher for the Edgemont and Mamaroneck school districts, including 25 years as a vocal-music teacher at Seely Place School in Edgemont from 1973 to 1998.

On his Web site, Kushner claimed he was "considered one of the finest accordionists in the field of Jewish music," having performed across the United States, including Nyack's First Night in 1999, a World's Fair, and Manhattan's Town Hall and Carnegie Hall.

As part of an Internet investigation, police computers record Instant Messenger conversations. The Rockland task force's investigations have led to more than 60 arrests of people from across the country during the past several years.

In a federal complaint, Kushner was accused of soliciting a conversation from a girl in an America Online chat room on April 10.

Using the screen name Nurturingmaster, Kushner sought out a chat room user with a profile indicating she was a girl from Rockland County whose occupation was listed as "School Ugghhh."

The complaint says Kushner initiated an AOL Instant Messenger conversation with the "girl," who was a police officer trolling rooms for pedophiles. The officer responded that she was 13. Kushner also asked, "do you like older guys" and told her he was 49, according to the complaint.
When the "girl" asked him what he was a master of, according to the complaint, Kushner responded, "master of making a woman feel good."

The federal complaint says Kushner again used Instant Messaging to communicate with the "girl" on May 16, when she told him she was going to a mall.

He asked her if he "could pick you up at the mall ... drive you to my home ... and we could get to know each other.

"I know how to make girls feel real good," he was quoted as saying in the complaint. "I'll make you feel real good, teach you new things, touch you in new ways."

The "girl" agreed to meet him at the mall and, the complaint stated, he told her not to tell anyone about him because he could get in trouble.

The meeting never took place.

At Kushner's request for a photo, the officer sent him a computer-generated picture of a girl and had an extensive sexually explicit conversation with him, according to the complaint.
"You will be my slut," Kushner wrote her.

In setting up a meeting with the girl, Kushner told her that he would be driving a blue Mercedes-Benz. The complaint stated that when arrested at the mall, Kushner had six condoms in his pocket and was carrying a briefcase containing various sexual implements.

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Nulite
December 21, 2013










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