Case of Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, M.A., M.Ed.
(AKA: Israel P. Kestenbaum)
(AKA: Israel P. Kestenbaum)
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| Convicted Sex Offender - Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum at home |
Far Rockaway, NY
East Elmhurst, NY
Astoria, NY
Hightstown, NY
Washington Heights, NY
New York, NY
Nework, NJ
Highland Park, NJ
Princeton, NJ
East Elmhurst, NY
Astoria, NY
Hightstown, NY
Washington Heights, NY
New York, NY
Nework, NJ
Highland Park, NJ
Princeton, NJ
- Past Director of the Jewish Institute - New York City, NY.
- Rabbi, Yeshiva University, Washington Heights, NY
- Director, Chaplaincy Services, New York Board of Rabbis - New York, NY
- Former Directorm ACPE: Jewish Institute - New York, NY
- Pastoral Care Director of Chaplaincy and the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care at the New York Board of Rabbis
- Founding director, Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care
Rabbi Kestenbaum also Wrote Parsha/s for the Pearl and Harold M. Jacobs Shabbat Learning Center for the OU Torah Insights Project.
Plead guilty, sentenced to five years of probation and counseling in a cyber-proposition case. Kestenbaum was to trying to arrange a sexual tryst over the Internet with a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl named "Katie." The judge explained that he did not sentence Kestenbaum to jail because the rabbi's wife has cancer. Meanwhile, the National Association of Jewish Chaplains expelled Kestenbaum for violating ethics rules.
Kestenbaum's ex-wife accused him of multiple affairs during their 10-year marriage. Some of those affairs began over the Internet, she alleged.
Several years ago, The New York Board of Rabbis named Kestenbaum one of its "Rabbis of the Year" for helping people in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Kestenbaum's ex-wife accused him of multiple affairs during their 10-year marriage. Some of those affairs began over the Internet, she alleged.
Several years ago, The New York Board of Rabbis named Kestenbaum one of its "Rabbis of the Year" for helping people in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
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Table of Contents:
Table of Contents:
2003
- Interesting Photo
- Rabbi arrested for attempted child endangerment (02/20/2003)
- Rabbi Pinched In Web Sex Sting - Undercover Officer Posed As Underage Teen (02/21/2003)
- Nab rabbi in - kiddie sex sting (02/21/2003)
- Rabbi Busted in NYPD Perv Sting (02/21/2003)
- Rabbi held in Internet sex case (02/21/2003)
- Highland Park rabbi arrested in sex sting (02/21/2003)
- NY Rabbi Jailed for Cybersex Date with 'Minor (02/21/2003)
- Manhattan: Rabbi Arrested Over Internet Exchange (02/21/2003)
- Rabbi in Sex Case Barred from Contact with 9-Year-Old Daughter (02/22/2003)
- Rabbi, Ethics Overseer, Denies Child Pornography Charges (02/22/2003)
- Rabbi in sex case barred from daughter - Charged with soliciting minor over Internet (02/22/2003)
- Rabbi Arraigned After Arrest In Underage Cyber Sting - Alleged Hacker Disrupts Court Again (02/22/2003)
- Rabbi arrested in cybersex sting (02/22/2003)
- 'Rubber' Rabbi All - Set for Sex: D.A. (02/22/2003)
- Rabbi Faces Kid-Sex Charges (02/22/2003)
- Prominent Rabbi Arrested on Sex Charges (02/22/2003)
- Rabbi Accused Of Soliciting Sex Online Told To Stay Away From His Family (02/26/2003)
- Outreach After Rabbi's Arrest (02/26/2003)
- Who's 14, 'Kewl' and Flirty Online? A 39-Year-Old Detective (04/07/2003)
- Rabbi Admits To Seeking Sex From Girl (08/12/2003)
- NJ Rabbi Admits He Tried To Meet Girl, 13, For Sex Man, 55, To Receive 5 Years Probation (08/12/2003)
- Jewish World: Clergy on Alert (08/13/2003)
- Kestenbaum Raps Silence Of Colleagues (08/15/2003)
- Rabbi Admits Tryst (08/19/2003)
- Chatroom Rabbi (08/31/2003)
- Wrist Slap For Cybersex Rabbi (10/11/2003)
- Rabbi does not go directly to jail (10/13/2003)
2012
Also see:
Other Cases Involving Past Students From Ner Israel Yeshiva (Baltimore, MD):
- The Case of the Students of Ner Israel Yeshiva in the 1950's
- Case of Rabbi Ephraim Bryks
- Case of Rabbi Eliezer Eisgrau
- Case of Rabbi Moshe Eisemann
- Case of Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum
- Case of Rabbi Isaac Neuberger
- Case of Rabbi Aron Tendler
- Case of Rabbi Matis Weinberg
Interesting Photo
Partners in Caring - Fall 2000
Upon hearing of the case of Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum one of The Awareness Center's volunteer's did an internet search and found this photograph. Upon looking at it she noticed that convicted sex offender Rabbi Gerrold Levy also appeared in the photograph. At that point the photograph was shown this photograph and informed us that he believed a third alleged sex offender was in the photo, at the time The Awareness Center was unable to verify the allegations, so the 3rd rabbi remained unnamed.
Several months later the third rabbi, David Kaye was arrested and charged with an attempt to soliciting a minor on the television show, DATELINE NBC.
There are 14 individuals in the photograph below. Three have been caught soliciting sex from individuals who they believed were minors. At the time the photograph was found, The Awareness Center wondered if anyone else in this photograph might have also been a sexual predator.
Kallah faculty and participants: (Back row, L to R) Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, Rabbi Sanford Akselrad, Rabbi Abraham Morduchowitz, Rabbi Michael Davis, Rabbi Moshe Morduchowitz, Rabbi Bennett Rackman, Rabbi Raphael Ostrovski, Rabbi Gerrold Levy; (Front Row, L to R) Rabbi Feivel Wagner, Rabbi Carl Perkins, Rabbi Bonita E. Taylor, Rabbi David Kaye, Rabbi Mychal Springer, Rabbi David Nelson.
Partners in Caring - Fall 2000
Upon hearing of the case of Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum one of The Awareness Center's volunteer's did an internet search and found this photograph. Upon looking at it she noticed that convicted sex offender Rabbi Gerrold Levy also appeared in the photograph. At that point the photograph was shown this photograph and informed us that he believed a third alleged sex offender was in the photo, at the time The Awareness Center was unable to verify the allegations, so the 3rd rabbi remained unnamed.
Several months later the third rabbi, David Kaye was arrested and charged with an attempt to soliciting a minor on the television show, DATELINE NBC.
There are 14 individuals in the photograph below. Three have been caught soliciting sex from individuals who they believed were minors. At the time the photograph was found, The Awareness Center wondered if anyone else in this photograph might have also been a sexual predator.
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| 3 convicted sex offenders appear in this photograph |
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Rabbi arrested for attempted child endangermentAssociated Press - February 20, 2003
NEW YORK (AP) A rabbi was arrested Thursday after a 13-year-old girl he was allegedly talking about sex with online turned out to be an undercover New York Police Department detective, authorities said.
After a month long investigation, police arrested Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., on charges of attempted endangerment of a child and attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor, said Detective Carolyn Chew, a police spokeswoman.
Kestenbaum, the director of the Jewish Institute in New York, allegedly discussed sexual acts with the ``girl'' and proposed meeting her face-to-face, police said.
The New York Police Department's computer investigation and technology unit also seized Kestenbaum's computers, authorities said.
A call to Kestenbaum's home was not answered.
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Rabbi Pinched In Web Sex Sting - Undercover Officer Posed As Underage TeenBy Rocco Parascandola, Staff Writer
Newsday - February 20, 2003
A rabbi looking for sex with a teenage girl he thought he was courting on the Internet was arrested Thursday after it turned out the "girl" was actually an undercover officer, police said.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum of Highland Park, N.J., was arrested at the midtown offices of the New York Board of Rabbis.
He was charged with attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor and attempted endangering the welfare of a child.
Police said Kestenbaum, 54, had about 13 conversations with the undercover officer over the Internet.
The officer, who is assigned to the NYPD's Computer Investigation and Technology Unit, discussed sex acts with the rabbi and talked with him about meeting for a tryst, police said.
According to police, Kestenbaum and the "girl" met Sunday at a lower Manhattan Starbucks. Details of the meeting were not available late Thursday.
Family members of Kestenbaum in Highland Park could not be reached for comment.
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Nab rabbi in - kiddie sex sting
By MARTIN MBUGUA
New York Daily News/Daily News Police Bureau - February 21, 2003
A city rabbi was busted after he tried to arrange a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl over the Internet, police said yesterday.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 54, director of the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care at the New York Board of Rabbis, was arrested in his Manhattan office yesterday after a month-long sting operation, cops said.
Kestenbaum, of Highland Park, N.J., allegedly initiated an online chat with a city detective posing as a teenage girl early last month and eventually arranged to meet the "girl" in a Manhattan coffee shop, police said.
Detectives from the NYPD Computer Investigation and Technology Unit set up surveillance at the Starbucks on Dey St. in the Financial District, where Kestenbaum turned up Sunday afternoon expecting to meet the child, police said. He eventually left when she did not appear.
Kestenbaum was picked up at his office on E. 39th St. at 1 p.m. yesterday and questioned at the 17th Precinct stationhouse.
The rabbi, who allegedly engaged the cops in at least a dozen raunchy computer chat sessions, was charged with multiple counts of attempted endangerment of a child and attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, police said.
He was being held overnight and is expected to be arraigned today. Cops seized computers from his home and office.
The New York Board of Rabbis Web site states that its chaplains "serve men, women and children in scores of institutions throughout New York State" and offer "solace, comfort, compassion - and a taste of love" to Jews who cannot celebrate festivals with their families.
The Board of Rabbis could not be reached for comment last night.
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Rabbi Busted in NYPD Perv StingBy ERIKA MARTINEZ
New York Post - February 21, 2003
A prominent rabbi was arrested yesterday on charges of trying to pick up a 13-year-old girl in an Internet chat room.
Israel Kestenbaum, 54 - who works for the New York Board of Rabbis - is accused of multiple counts of attempted child endangerment and attempted dissemination of indecent materials to a minor.
Kestenbaum, of Highland Park, N.J., was arrested at work after a month long probe, during which police say he solicited the girl for sex.
But the "girl" was really an NYPD undercover detective, cops said.
Kestenbaum allegedly arranged to meet the teenager on Sunday at a Starbucks at the corner of Dey Street and Broadway downtown.
She didn't show up, of course, but police sources say cops have video of the rabbi looking for her.
After his arrest, police sources said, Kestenbaum indignantly challenged cops, saying, "Don't you know who I am and who I know?"
Police said they confiscated Kestenbaum's computer. His career involves helping Jewish people who are infirm and homebound, and he has contributed to books on the topic.
Kestenbaum is director of chaplaincy at the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care, which is part of the Board of Rabbis.
Before he took that job last year, Kestenbaum was the founder and director of the Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care, which teaches rabbis how to help people coping with "aging, illness, loss or crisis."
Kestenbaum wrote that the institute served "chaplains, rabbis, seminarians, those seeking to learn the art of providing healing relationship in the context of our tradition."
The Board of Rabbis named Kestenbaum one of its "Rabbis of the Year" for helping people in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
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Rabbi held in Internet sex case
BY GEORGE BERKIN- Star-Ledger Staff
Star Ledger, Friday, February 21, 2003
A rabbi from Middlesex County was arrested yesterday on charges he initiated sexually explicit conversations on the Internet with someone he believed was an underage girl but in fact was a police officer, police said.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park was taken into custody about 1 p.m. in New York, said officer Louis Camacho, a spokesman for the New York Police Department.
Kestenbaum was charged with attempted child endangerment and disseminating indecent material to a minor, the officer said. The religious leader was undergoing processing in Manhattan last night and will be arraigned today.
The rabbi was arrested at the New York Board of Rabbis on East 39th Street in Manhattan where he works, the officer added.
Police said Kestenbaum initiated online conversations with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl. He was arrested following a monthlong investigation by the computer crimes unit of the NYPD.
A telephone call placed to the rabbi's home was not answered.
BY GEORGE BERKIN- Star-Ledger Staff
Star Ledger, Friday, February 21, 2003
A rabbi from Middlesex County was arrested yesterday on charges he initiated sexually explicit conversations on the Internet with someone he believed was an underage girl but in fact was a police officer, police said.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park was taken into custody about 1 p.m. in New York, said officer Louis Camacho, a spokesman for the New York Police Department.
Kestenbaum was charged with attempted child endangerment and disseminating indecent material to a minor, the officer said. The religious leader was undergoing processing in Manhattan last night and will be arraigned today.
The rabbi was arrested at the New York Board of Rabbis on East 39th Street in Manhattan where he works, the officer added.
Police said Kestenbaum initiated online conversations with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl. He was arrested following a monthlong investigation by the computer crimes unit of the NYPD.
A telephone call placed to the rabbi's home was not answered.
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NY Rabbi Jailed for Cybersex Date with 'Minor'Reuters News Service - Fri February 21, 2003 07:44 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An orthodox rabbi who leads the New York City Board of Rabbis was arrested on Friday and faces up to four years in prison on charges related to his alleged plans for a cybersex date with an undercover detective he believed to be a minor, prosecutors said. Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, New Jersey, is alleged to have induced someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to meet him at a local coffeehouse after a series of instant message conversations, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Prosecutors informed Judge William Harrington on Friday that an undercover detective posing as the young girl, named "Katie," was actually conducting the conversations in an Internet chat room called, "I Love Older Men."
Police recovered a black bag Kestenbaum carried with him to his Starbuck's meeting with Katie. It allegedly contained numerous condoms and the lubricant K-Y jelly.A search of Kestenbaum's work and home computers allegedly turned up child pornography images and evidence that he was also engaged in e-mail messaging with another young girl, prosecutors said.
Kestenbaum was charged with 10 counts of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child and five counts of attempting to disseminate material to a minor.
Kestenbaum, who oversees the chaplains serving city hospitals and jails, is being held on $5,000 bail.
The rabbi's attorney, Raymond Granger, denied the charges and said Kestenbaum did not attempt to solicit a minor.
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MANHATTAN: RABBI ARRESTED OVER INTERNET EXCHANGEby Tina Kelley
The New York Times, February 21, 2003
A New Jersey rabbi was arrested yesterday after arranging to meet a person he met on the Internet whom he thought was a 13-year-old girl, the police said. In reality, the Police Department's Computer Investigation and Technology Unit was monitoring his sexually explicit exchanges, and the "girl" he arranged to meet at a Starbucks was an investigator, the police said. The rabbi, Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., was taken yesterday to the 17th Precinct station house on East 51st Street for questioning, where he was arrested and charged with attempted endangerment of a child and attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, according to Detective Kevin Czartoryski. The rabbi could not be reached for comment last night.
The New York Times, February 21, 2003
A New Jersey rabbi was arrested yesterday after arranging to meet a person he met on the Internet whom he thought was a 13-year-old girl, the police said. In reality, the Police Department's Computer Investigation and Technology Unit was monitoring his sexually explicit exchanges, and the "girl" he arranged to meet at a Starbucks was an investigator, the police said. The rabbi, Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., was taken yesterday to the 17th Precinct station house on East 51st Street for questioning, where he was arrested and charged with attempted endangerment of a child and attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, according to Detective Kevin Czartoryski. The rabbi could not be reached for comment last night.
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Rabbi in Sex Case Barred from Contact with 9-Year-Old DaughterChannel 6 WPVI, ABC Action News Philadelphia
The Associated Press - February 22, 2003
(Highland Park-AP) — A Highland Park rabbi charged with soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl over the Internet has been barred from any contact with his 9-year-old daughter. Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum faces 10 counts of attempted child endangerment and five counts of disseminating indecent materials to a child.
Authorities say he used the Internet to proposition what he thought was a 13-year-old girl. In reality, it was a police officer on the other end.
The rabbi's wife sought and received a court order banning him from contacting their daughter.
(NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum filed for divorce last fall, alleging her husband was a sex addict who found women over the Internet, then met many of them form sexual encounters.
Rabbi in sex case barred from daughter - Charged with soliciting minor over InternetBY SUE EPSTEIN- Star-Ledger Staff
New Jersey Star-Ledger - Saturday, February 22, 2003
A rabbi from Highland Park who was arrested Thursday for soliciting sex from a minor over the Internet was barred by a state judge yesterday from having any contact with his 9-year-old daughter.
The rabbi's wife, (NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum, 49, sought the order in Family Court in New Brunswick, a day after Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum was arrested in his office at the New York Board of Rabbis in Manhattan.
The 54-year-old rabbi was charged with 10 counts of attempted child endangerment and five counts of disseminating indecent material to a minor. Authorities said he initiated sexually explicit conversations on the Internet with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl. He was arrested following a month-long investigation by the computer crimes unit of the New York Police Department.
(NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum filed for divorce from her husband in September, charging he was a sex addict who found women over the Internet, many of whom he then met for sex.
In court papers she filed yesterday, Kestenbaum said she held off on going through with the divorce after her husband of 10 years promised he would seek professional help to deal with his addiction.
"I was totally flabbergasted" by the rabbi's arrest, she said in her affidavit. "If I discovered that he was involved with Internet sex, or even normal extramarital affairs, I would have been greatly saddened and disappointed, especially given (his) promise to me to stop these contacts. But the idea that (he) was soliciting sex with underage girls, just totally blows me away."
Kestenbaum said she learned of her husband's arrest from police officers who were waiting at her Highland Park home when she returned from picking up her daughter at school. The officers had a search warrant and confiscated the family computer, diskettes and other items.
She said her daughter was hysterical and went to stay with neighbors.(NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum also contacted her attorney, Neal Pomper of Highland Park, asking him to proceed with the divorce and ask the court for an order barring her husband from coming near their daughter or home.
Superior Court Judge Jamie Happas temporarily barred the rabbi from having any "oral, written, personal or other form of contact or communication" with his daughter, or entering their home pending a hearing to be held Wednesday morning in New Brunswick.
Israel Kestenbaum is the director of chaplaincy services for the New York Board of Rabbis and is the former director of the Jewish Institute of Pastoral Care. Last year he was one of the institute's three chaplains of the year for his "extraordinary efforts and dedication in providing chaplaincy services" following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
He was arraigned yesterday before Judge William Harrington in Manhattan, who set bail at $5,000 and scheduled his next court appearance for Wednesday.
Adrienne Kaplan, a spokeswoman for Raymond Granger, Israel Kestenbaum's lawyer, issued a statement denying that the rabbi attempted to solicit sex from a minor.
She said the prosecutor failed to mention in court that Kestenbaum "told the undercover police officer with whom he spoke that he did not believe she was a minor, and he repeatedly stated that if they met, it would not be for sex."
Kaplan said the rabbi intends to fight the charges.
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Steiner, said in court that Kestenbaum propositioned the "girl" in explicit, graphic language. She said the rabbi asked about the girl's physical description -- including her bra size, her sexual experience, and whether she had ever been with an older man. Then he asked to meet her, the prosecutor said.
The New York Board of Rabbis issued a statement saying they were "shocked and saddened" by Kestenbaum's arrest, and that their prayers were with him and his family.
The board said the rabbi has been placed on administrative leave.
Highland Park rabbi arrested in sex sting
New Jersey - News 12 - Febuary 21, 2003
(02/21/03) HIGHLAND PARK - A prominent and well-respected figure in Highland Park has been arrested for alleged sexual Internet activity. Police say Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum had online sex conversations and arranged a meeting with an undercover officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Detectives have footage of Kestenbaum sitting in a Manhattan coffee shop waiting for his online partner. The 54-year-old rabbi was charged with child endangerment and attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor. He is behind bars after he couldn't post $250,000 cash bail.
Kestenbaum has been a leader in various Jewish communities, including Congregation Beth Shalom in Red Bank. He is also the director of the Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care in Manhattan and a member of the New York Board of Rabbis.
The New York Board of Rabbis says Kestenbaum is being placed on administrative leave.
Rabbi Arraigned After Arrest In Underage Cyber Sting - Alleged Hacker Disrupts Court AgainBy Samuel Maull
Associated Press - February 21, 2003
NEW YORK -- A rabbi, the father of a 9-year-old girl, was arraigned Friday after his arrest in Manhattan for allegedly trying to arrange a tryst with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl he met over the Internet.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., was arraigned on five felony counts of attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor and 10 misdemeanor counts of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child.
Kestenbaum's wife, who began divorce proceedings before his arrest, said she was afraid for their daughter's safety and asked that the rabbi not return home if he is released on bail, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Steiner told the court.
The prosecutor requested at least $25,000 bail, but Judge William Harrington set Kestenbaum's bail at $5,000 and scheduled his next court appearance for Feb. 26. No plea was entered at the proceeding.
Adrienne Kaplan, a spokeswoman for Raymond Granger, Kestenbaum's lawyer, issued a statement denying that the rabbi attempted to solicit sex with a minor.
She said the prosecutor failed to mention in court that Kestenbaum "told the undercover police officer with whom he spoke that he did not believe she was a minor, and he repeatedly stated that if they met, it would not be about sex."
Kaplan said the rabbi intends to fight the charges. She said he thanked family, friends and professional colleagues for their support.
As of late Friday afternoon, Kestenbaum was still in custody but was expected to be released.
Kestenbaum, director of the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care at the New York Board of Rabbis, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his Manhattan office on West 39th Street. A prosecutor said he was caught in a cybersting that began early last month.
Steiner told the court that after the rabbi was arrested, he admitted that he had exchanged instant messages with "East80Katie" while using the handle, "KESTENBAUMI."
Steiner said the sting began on Jan. 7 when Detective Mike Smith of the Police Department's Computer Technology and Investigation Unit was visiting a chat room called "I Love Older Men."
Posing as a 13-year-old girl called "East80Katie," Smith was soon having an instant message conversation with Kestenbaum, Steiner said. She said the rabbi asked about the girl's physical description _ including her bra size, her sexual experience, and whether she had ever been with an older man, and then he asked to meet her.
Steiner said Kestenbaum propositioned the girl in explicit, graphic language. The prosecutor said the rabbi "did all this while thinking that the undercover (Smith) was a 13-year-old girl named Katie."
Steiner said the defendant also gave the girl his cell phone number. The next day, Jan. 8, a female undercover officer called his cell number to prove that Katie was a real girl. The cell phone, Steiner said, is actually registered to Kestenbaum's employer, the New York Board of Rabbis.
Steiner said that Kestenbaum arranged to meet Katie on Jan. 16 at a Manhattan financial district coffee shop. She said he had a black bag, which detectives later recovered during a search of his New Jersey home.
Inside the bag, Steiner told the court, were numerous condoms and lubricants.
The prosecutor said the search of the rabbi's house also turned up at least one image of child pornography on his computer. She said police also found evidence of messages exchanged with at least one other young girl and it is possible that more charges will be filed against him.
Steiner said Kestenbaum's wife and her lawyer notified her office that she had "initiated divorce proceedings prior to the defendant's arrest for reasons I'm not at liberty to discuss."
Steiner said the wife and her lawyer also requested, "out of fear for their 9-year-old daughter's safety, that the defendant, should he be released or make bail, not return to the family home."
The New York Board of Rabbis issued a statement saying they were "shocked and saddened" by Kestenbaum's arrest and that their prayers were with him and his family.
The organization said the rabbi would immediately be placed on administrative leave.
Rabbi arrested in cybersex stingChicago Tribune - February 22, 2003
NEW YORK -- An orthodox rabbi who leads the New York City Board of Rabbis was arrested Friday on charges related to his alleged plans for a cybersex date with a minor.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., is accused of inducing someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to meet him at a local coffeehouse after a series of instant message conversations, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Prosecutors said an undercover detective posing as "Katie" was conducting the conversations in an Internet chat room called, "I Love Older Men."
A search of Kestenbaum's work and home computers turned up child porn images and evidence of e-mail messaging with another girl, prosecutors said. Kestenbaum's lawyer said he had not tried to solicit a minor.
'RUBBER' RABBI ALL - SET FOR SEX: D.A.
Israel Kestenbaum -Charged as cyber-perv.
By LAURA ITALIANO
New York Post - February 22, 2003
February 22, 2003 -- Manhattan prosecutors revealed creepy details of a New Jersey rabbi's alleged online pursuit of a 13-year-old girl yesterday - including the black bag of condoms and lubricants they say he brought to their first "date."
"We could meet and kiss," prosecutors say prominent rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 55, typed in his overture to a male undercover cop posing online as "Katie."
And in subsequent messages over the course of eight days last month, before he arranged a "date" at a lower Manhattan Starbucks, Kestenbaum allegedly typed - among far more graphic suggestions - "i dream of us being naked together . . and u and me hugging and kissing."
Prosecutors also revealed yesterday that Kestenbaum - a married father of six from Highland Park who serves on the Manhattan-based New York Board of Rabbis - may be charged with additional related crimes.
In their ongoing search of the rabbi's computer, cops found "at least one image of child pornography," prosecutor Jennifer Steiner told a Manhattan judge yesterday morning.
"Further, police also found evidence that the defendant engaged in electronic instant message conversations with another young girl," the prosecutor added, as Kestenbaum stood before the judge, eyes downcast, and dressed in black from his yarmulke to his shoes.
As his brother and his son sat in the audience, Kestenbaum, who'd spent the night in jail, was expressionless - until the prosecutor told the judge the cell phone number Kestenbaum gave "Katie" came back registered to the Board of Rabbis. Kestenbaum then shook his head, silently.
The prosecutor revealed the embarrassing details - that Kestenbaum's wife was already divorcing him, and wants him kept away from their 9-year-old daughter - in hopes Manhattan Judge William Harrington would set $25,000 cash bail.
Instead, the judge set bail at $5,000 cash or bond - meaning the rabbi could free himself with as little as a 10 percent payment on a bond, or $500.
To go free, Kestenbaum must turn in his passport - which by evening was still nowhere to be found.while, Kestenbaum vehemently denied the charges through his lawyer, Raymond Granger.
Rabbi Faces Kid_Sex Charges By SUN NEWS SERVICES
Winnipeg Sun - Saturday, February 22, 2003
World Briefs Column
NEW YORK -- An orthodox rabbi who leads the New York City Board of Rabbis was arrested yesterday and faces up to four years in prison on charges related to his alleged plans for a cybersex date with an undercover detective he believed to be a minor, prosecutors said.
Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of New Jersey, is alleged to have induced someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to meet him after a series of instant message conversations, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Prominent Rabbi Arrested on Sex Charges
LA Times - February 22, 2003 - IN BRIEF / NEW YORK
An orthodox rabbi who leads the New York City Board of Rabbis was arrested on charges related to his alleged plans for a cybersex date with an undercover detective he believed to be a minor, prosecutors said.
Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., faces up to four years in prison. He is accused of inducing someone he believed to be a girl, 13, to meet him at a coffeehouse after instant-message conversations.
Outreach After Rabbi's Arrest
Rabbinical groups here mull offer from L.A. treatment center following sex sting.by Stewart Ain
Jewish Week - 02/26/2003
In the wake of the arrest last week of Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum in a police Internet sex sting operation, the director of a Los Angeles-based residential treatment program for Jews with addictive and behavioral disorders believes a similar program is needed here and has offered to assist.
"If we can share what we have learned in our 16 years of existence, we would be glad to help," said Harriet Rossetto, director of Beit T'Shuvah, believed to be the country's only residential program for Jewish adults.
]Rossetto said three of the 110 Jews in her program are rabbis there for sexual addiction. She is convinced that their cases, as well as the arrests in recent years of rabbis accused of sex crimes, are "just the tip of the iceberg."
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, president of the New York Board of Rabbis, for whom Rabbi Kestenbaum worked as the director of chaplaincy for the past nine months, said he would discuss Rossetto's offer this week with the officers of the Board of Rabbis.
"Anything that strengthens the character of the people and deals with issues that years ago were not as obvious or open as today we should [consider]," Rabbi Potasnik said. "When there is a problem of this nature, the organization has to confront it and not conceal it. That is why the decision was made to cooperate with authorities; the public really wants the authorities to investigate fully.
"We have heard of instances in which organizations have not been forthcoming, but we have to be committed [to cooperating with the authorities]."
Rabbi Kenneth Hain, immediate past president of the Orthodox movement's Rabbinical Council of America, of which Rabbi Kestenbaum is a member, said he was unaware of Beit T'Shuvah "but I certainly would be interested in talking with [Rossetto]."
Rabbi Hain said his organization's 40-member executive committee would be meeting within the next two weeks and could be expected to discuss the status of Rabbi Kestenbaum's membership.
"When you have a situation in which a person is charged with conduct that would be regarded as improper or unbecoming a rabbi, there is an obligation to allow the judicial process to take place," he said. "There may still be the option to suspend a member during that judicial process. The executive would decide that after reviewing the situation.
"We would act appropriately for the dignity of the rabbinate and to be compassionate to any member and his family."
Rabbi Hain said he could not recall any instance in which a member of the RCA had been suspended for sexual improprieties.
The call for a treatment program for rabbis comes after a string of much-publicized cases involving Jewish clergy charged with sexual abuse of minors. They include Rabbi Baruch Lanner, who last June was sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing two girls when he was principal of a New Jersey yeshiva in the 1990s. Rabbi Lanner is free pending an appeal.
Also, Cantor Howard Nevison of Temple Emanu-el in Manhattan was charged last spring with sexually abusing his young nephew. That trial has not begun.
Rabbi Kestenbaum's arrest is not the first involving a rabbi accused of using the Internet to lure minors. In December 2001, Rabbi Jerald Levy, 58, of Boca Raton, Fla., was sentenced to six years in federal prison for downloading child pornography and luring teenage boys to meet him for sex. He was arrested when he arrived at a rendezvous arranged by an undercover detective who had posed online as a teenager.
Rabbi Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., was arrested at his office following a monthlong sting operation. The rabbi allegedly entered an on-line chat room called "I Love Older Men" and struck up a conversation with a detective from the New York Police Department's Computer Investigation and Technology Unit who was posing as a 13-year-old girl named "Katie." He is said to have called himself Kestenbaum1.
Rabbi Kestenbaum allegedly had about a dozen on-line chats with Katie and propositioned her using graphic language. He reportedly asked her to describe herself, including her bra size, sexual experience and whether she had ever been with an older man.
He is said to have asked to meet Katie and gave her his cell phone number, which was registered to the New York Board of Rabbis. A female detective placed the call and they reportedly arranged to meet Jan. 16 at a coffee shop. Authorities said he showed up and left when no one was there to meet him.
Rabbi Potasnik said Rabbi Kestenbaum was director of the board's Jewish Center for Spiritual Care, where he trained and supervised rabbis who serve as chaplains at correctional institutions, hospitals and other health-related facilities.
Following his arrest, Rabbi Kestenbaum immediately was placed on administrative leave.
His salary is to be paid into an escrow account, Rabbi Potasnik said.
Rabbi Kestenbaum has six children, five from his first marriage. Published reports said his second wife began divorce proceedings before his arrest and that she feared for their 9-year-old daughter's safety.
The rabbi pleaded not guilty to five felony charges of attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor and 10 misdemeanor counts of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said he is confident the facts will prove that Rabbi Kestenbaum did not violate the law.
"The evidence is very clear that Rabbi Kestenbaum did not intend to engage in any sexual activity with the person he was communicating with, who was in fact an undercover police officer," Brafman said.
"This is obviously a very sad case because Rabbi Kestenbaum appears to be a very gentle, sweet man who has suffered public humiliation over this incident that nobody deserves," he added. "Even if at the end of the day the charges are dismissed or he is completely exonerated, the reputation of a wonderful man will have in my judgment been unfairly tarnished."
Rabbi Hain pointed out that in the last few years the RCA has included such issues as divorce, spousal and child abuse, and families at risk in its rabbinic continuing education conferences.
"There has also been a greater inclusion of issues ... that a generation ago did not confront rabbis, from addiction to eating disorders and homosexuality," Rabbi Hain added. "These are issues that are in our midst and we obviously can't stick our heads in the sand. We have to confront them and learn about them so that we are equipped as rabbis to deal with them."
Rabbi Jack Bloom, a psychologist and author of "The Rabbi as Symbolic Exemplar: By the Power Vested in Me," said he believes instances of rabbis engaging in deviant and criminal sexual behavior is no greater today than in previous years.
"It's just that what has happened in the Catholic Church has made the issue more prominent and people are less afraid" of going public with accusations against the clergy, he said. "And it makes great press because people believe the clergy are supposed to be better than other people."
In the aftermath of two highly publicized child abuse cases involving a rabbi teaching at a day school and a kosher butcher, the Chicago Rabbinical Council a number of years ago established a special bet din, or rabbinical court, to address allegations of sexual abuse of children. The court consists of four rabbis who consult with a team of area rabbis, social workers, psychologists and lawyers in reviewing complaints.
Rabbi Joseph Ozarowski, executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and a member of the bet din's advisory board, said if the bet din believes there is truth to allegations of sexual abuse involving children, "we will get that person away from that sector of the community."
"We don't want to destroy a human being, but at the same time we have to protect the community," said Rabbi Ozarowski, formerly of Long Island. "We don't compete with the police. Once the person has been arrested, the bet din does not have a role."
He stressed that Jewish law has different standards of proof than criminal law and something that would be considered immoral may not be criminal.
Rabbi Ozarowski said he recently received a complaint of sexual abuse against someone who was a youth adviser 20 years ago and is now living in the Chicago area.
"If he is now working with teens, we would want to remove him" from that position, he said.
Rabbi Admits To Seeking Sex From GirlBy Stephanie Saul, Staff Writer
Newsday - August 12, 2003
A disgraced rabbi admitted Tuesday that he sought sex with an e-mail pal he thought was a 13-year-old girl — but turned out to be a cop.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum pleaded guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court to two charges, ending a sordid case that embarrassed one of the city's leading rabbinical groups. As part of a plea deal, Kestenbaum will avoid prison time.
Until his arrest in February at the offices of the New York Board of Rabbis, where he worked, Kestenbaum had been highly regarded for his leadership in developing pastoral care programs for the infirm.
His fall from grace began Jan. 2, when he exchanged the first of a series of e-mails with "Katie" in an internet chat room called "I Love Older Men."
In those messages, Kestenbaum, 55, used explicit language to describe the sex acts he'd like to perform with "Katie," he admitted Tuesday. The two agreed to meet at a Starbucks in lower Manhattan on Jan. 16.
But "Katie" never showed up. She was really a male detective for the NYPD. Police who went to the Starbucks at the agreed-upon time saw Kestenbaum there, apparently waiting for "Katie."
In court Tuesday, Kestenbaum quietly answered "yes" to a series of questions posed to him by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Steiner, admitting that he had believed "Katie" was 13 years old, that he had exchanged explicit messages with her and that he had arranged to meet with her.
Justice Charles Solomon approved a plea deal in which the 10-count indictment against Kestenbaum was whittled down to 2 counts — attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor and attempting to endanger the welfare of a child.
Instead of the four years he could have faced in prison under the original indictment, Kestenbaum will be on probation for five years. He will also attend counseling at a sex offender treatment program.
Kestenbaum, an ordained Orthodox rabbi, appeared in court in a gray business suit, clean-shaven, and missing the usual yarmulke.
Referring to his client as "Mr. Kestenbaum," attorney Benjamin Brafman said the rabbi, who lives in Highland Park, N.J., is unemployed.
Kestenbaum's criminal case was punctuated by a divorce battle started before the rabbi's arrest. In court papers, (NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum accused her husband of multiple affairs during their 10-year marriage. Some of those affairs began over the Internet, she alleged.
Both Brafman and Mrs. Kestenbaum's attorney, Neal M. Pomper, said Tuesday that the two have reconciled and are living together.
Kestenbaum Raps Silence Of Colleagues
The following remarks and views are from one of our readers who wishes his/her name be withheld. The article follows his/her comments.
The Jewish Week article (below) that includes a short interview with Kestenbaum does not sound to me like a person who has acknowledged his behavior and taken responsibility for his actions.
Sounds more like he's learned the value of an expensive lawyer and the art of the spin.
said he had experienced a "personal lapse on the computer for which I do not excuse myself."
A personal lapse?
1) He put up a web site on AOL of himself in his office (which you can view at: http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/kestenbuam) with a picture of his 9 year-old daughter on the desk and used that site and AOL to solicit sex with little girls mere years older than his daughter.
2) He "prepared" his potential victim over several days in a way that is typical of a predator.
The rabbi asked Katie whether she had ever been with an older man, and asked her for a physical description of herself, including her bra size.
"He repeatedly invited Katie to meet him and participate in various sex acts with him or for his benefit, including kissing, touching each other's intimate body parts and masturbation," Ms. Steiner said.
"And in subsequent messages over the course of eight days last month, before he arranged a "date" at a lower Manhattan Starbucks, Kestenbaum allegedly typed - among far more graphic suggestions - "i dream of us being naked together . . and u and me hugging and kissing."
3) His black bag
Police recovered a black bag Kestenbaum carried with him to his Starbuck's meeting with Katie. It allegedly contained numerous condoms and the lubricant K-Y jelly.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum said he is "incredibly thankful" that there were no victims and that he "did not in fact engage in any inappropriate things with minors."
Of course by pleading to 2 of the 10 counts of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child, he avoids 8 charges and possible additional charges and a public record related to those other (and possible) charges:
1) Possession of child pornography.
2) Similar messaging to and disseminating material to an actual minor.
A search of Kestenbaum's work and home computers allegedly turned up child pornography images and evidence that he was also engaged in e-mail messaging with another young girl, prosecutors said.
Rabbi Kestenbaum expressed "disappointment" with his rabbinic colleagues for turning their backs on him after his arrest at a time when he was professing his innocence.
What chutzpah! Given the video of him at Starbucks and the contents of the black bag and his "profession of innocence" (which was clearly a lie) why should anyone have believed him or enabled such behavior. He's disappointed we didn't buy his lies?
Further, he had the nerve to say this when arrested.
After his arrest, police sources said, Kestenbaum indignantly challenged cops, saying, "Don't you know who I am and who I know?"
He should be thankful that the police caught him and that his community and colleagues chose not to enable his behavior by protecting him from the consequences of his actions. Everything points to a pattern of behavior that if it had not been caught and prosecuted would have likely resulted in even more serious behavior, damage to children and charges. He needed to be stopped not "coddled".
Rabbi Kestenbaum said he would encourage the Jewish community to establish resources "for rabbis who are good people but who have difficulties."
Good people don't prey on children. If anything, this whole affair indicates we need more resources to protect the Jewish community from people like Kestehbaum. Thank God that the police had resources like they did in this case to catch someone who attempted to prey on vulnerable children.
"arrested for committing a crime in my personal life, not in my professional life. What I did was to lose my sense of boundaries. But professionally I have always been very careful."
Junk.
1) Use of office at the New York Board of Rabbis. His web site on AOL had a picture of himself in his office at the New York Board of Rabbis.
2) Use of business cellphone. He gave his cellphone number, which is registered to the New York Board of Rabbis, to the female undercover officer who called him and used it to arrange a meeting at Starbucks.
3) Use of computer at the New York Board of Rabbis for his activities. A search of Kestenbaum's work and home computers allegedly turned up child pornography images and evidence that he was also engaged in e-mail messaging with another young girl, prosecutors said.
He said he will appear next month before a competency review panel of the American Association for Clinical Pastoral Education in an attempt to have his certification to practice renewed.
Hopefully, it won't be renewed.
"I will not return to the New York Board of Rabbis," he said. "Hopefully, I will work where it makes sense. Hopefully, there will be some sensitive people who will understand the nature of the circumstances and realize that [my] capacity to do good is still there."
Hopefully, such enablers do not exist.
Rabbi Kestenbaum needs to remain in counselling, needs to remain monitored as a sex offender and needs to remain removed from any position of authority and position of trust with anyone vulnerable.
His very words indicate that he has yet to take reponsibility and accept the consequences of his actions.
It's utter chutzpah to blame others for not enabling his behavior and lies.
You may get the impression from the above that I don't think much of the Jewish Week article or Kestenbaum. You're right.
Wrist Slap For Cybersex Rabbi
By Laura Italiano
New York Post - October 11, 2003
October 11, 2003 -- A prominent rabbi received a no-jail sentence in Manhattan yesterday for explicitly cyber-propositioning a male cop he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 55, of Highland Park, N.J., will continue sex-offender counseling indefinitely, and serve five years' probation.
In return for the no-jail sentence, Kestenbaum admitted in Manhattan Supreme Court that he repeatedly solicited sex from an undercover cop who was posing online as a 13-year- old girl named "Katie."
Justice Charles Solomon OK'd the no-jail deal because the rabbi's wife is critically ill with cancer, and they have a 9-year-old daughter at home. Officials believe the daughter is at no risk from her father, prosecutors said.
Rabbi does not go directly to jail
JTA - October 13, 2003
A New Jersey rabbi was sentenced to five years of probation and counseling in a cyber-proposition case. Israel Kestenbaum, of Highland Park, N.J., received the sentence last week after he had pleaded guilty to trying to arrange a sexual tryst over the Internet with a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl named "Katie." The judge explained that he did not sentence Kestenbaum to jail because the rabbi's wife has cancer. Meanwhile, the National Association of Jewish Chaplains expelled Kestenbaum for violating ethics rules.
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The Associated Press - February 22, 2003
(Highland Park-AP) — A Highland Park rabbi charged with soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl over the Internet has been barred from any contact with his 9-year-old daughter. Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum faces 10 counts of attempted child endangerment and five counts of disseminating indecent materials to a child.
Authorities say he used the Internet to proposition what he thought was a 13-year-old girl. In reality, it was a police officer on the other end.
The rabbi's wife sought and received a court order banning him from contacting their daughter.
(NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum filed for divorce last fall, alleging her husband was a sex addict who found women over the Internet, then met many of them form sexual encounters.
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Rabbi, Ethics Overseer, Denies Child Pornography ChargesBy DANIEL J. WAKIN
New York Times - Feb. 22, 2003
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, an ethics watchdog for a national pastors association and a chaplain of the year for his work at ground zero, assumed a different role yesterday, that of defendant in a child pornography case.
The rabbi pleaded not guilty in State Supreme Court in Manhattan to five felony counts of attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor and 10 misdemeanor counts of attempted endangering the welfare of a minor.
He was arrested at his office at the New York Board of Rabbis on Thursday after being taken to the 17th Precinct station house on East 51st Street for questioning. The police said he had engaged in erotic electronic conversation with someone presented to him as a 13-year-old girl named Katie and had arranged a tryst with her at a Starbucks in Manhattan. In fact, he was talking with an undercover police officer.
Yesterday, an assistant district attorney, Jennifer Steiner, said that computers at the rabbi's home in Highland Park, N.J., had been searched and that the police had found at least one image of child pornography and messages to another under-age girl.
Rabbi Kestenbaum, 54, was expected to be released yesterday on $5,000 bail, pending the surrender of his passport. He faces four years in prison if convicted.
The rabbi's lawyer, Raymond Granger, said, "My client has pled not guilty and will fight these charges." He noted that the rabbi was a member of the ethics panel of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, a professional group.
The rabbi has a reputation as an expert in chaplain affairs. He founded and directed the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care, which was set up to provide pastoral services to the homebound and infirm. The center is part of the New York Board of Rabbis, which immediately placed him on administrative leave.
"We are extremely troubled by the seriousness of the allegations, and we will cooperate with the authorities to the fullest extent possible," the board said in a statement. "Our prayers are with Rabbi Kestenbaum and his family during this difficult time." Rabbi Kestenbaum is married and has six children.
The board, an association of 700 rabbis in the metropolitan area, named him chaplain of the year last February for his ministerial work at ground zero. Rabbi Kestenbaum also contributed to a handbook called Jewish Pastoral Care and has appeared as a featured speaker at chaplain gatherings, including a symposium last year sponsored by the UJA-Federation of New York.
Before joining the New York Board of Rabbis, Rabbi Kestenbaum was director of the Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care of the HealthCare Chaplaincy, a chaplain training institute.
New details of the charges emerged in court yesterday. According to Ms. Steiner, Rabbi Kestenbaum entered a chat room called "I Love Older Men" and held instant-message conversations with "Katie." Katie was actually Detective Mike Smith of the New York Police Department's computer investigation unit, Ms. Steiner said. The rabbi asked Katie whether she had ever been with an older man, and asked her for a physical description of herself, including her bra size.
"He repeatedly invited Katie to meet him and participate in various sex acts with him or for his benefit, including kissing, touching each other's intimate body parts and masturbation," Ms. Steiner said.
He gave his cellphone number, which is registered to the New York Board of Rabbis, and a female undercover officer called him, the prosecutor said. They arranged to meet at the Starbucks on Jan. 16, and the police observed the rabbi there, apparently looking for someone who never arrived.
New York Times - Feb. 22, 2003
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, an ethics watchdog for a national pastors association and a chaplain of the year for his work at ground zero, assumed a different role yesterday, that of defendant in a child pornography case.The rabbi pleaded not guilty in State Supreme Court in Manhattan to five felony counts of attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor and 10 misdemeanor counts of attempted endangering the welfare of a minor.
He was arrested at his office at the New York Board of Rabbis on Thursday after being taken to the 17th Precinct station house on East 51st Street for questioning. The police said he had engaged in erotic electronic conversation with someone presented to him as a 13-year-old girl named Katie and had arranged a tryst with her at a Starbucks in Manhattan. In fact, he was talking with an undercover police officer.
Yesterday, an assistant district attorney, Jennifer Steiner, said that computers at the rabbi's home in Highland Park, N.J., had been searched and that the police had found at least one image of child pornography and messages to another under-age girl.
Rabbi Kestenbaum, 54, was expected to be released yesterday on $5,000 bail, pending the surrender of his passport. He faces four years in prison if convicted.
The rabbi's lawyer, Raymond Granger, said, "My client has pled not guilty and will fight these charges." He noted that the rabbi was a member of the ethics panel of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, a professional group.
The rabbi has a reputation as an expert in chaplain affairs. He founded and directed the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care, which was set up to provide pastoral services to the homebound and infirm. The center is part of the New York Board of Rabbis, which immediately placed him on administrative leave.
"We are extremely troubled by the seriousness of the allegations, and we will cooperate with the authorities to the fullest extent possible," the board said in a statement. "Our prayers are with Rabbi Kestenbaum and his family during this difficult time." Rabbi Kestenbaum is married and has six children.
The board, an association of 700 rabbis in the metropolitan area, named him chaplain of the year last February for his ministerial work at ground zero. Rabbi Kestenbaum also contributed to a handbook called Jewish Pastoral Care and has appeared as a featured speaker at chaplain gatherings, including a symposium last year sponsored by the UJA-Federation of New York.
Before joining the New York Board of Rabbis, Rabbi Kestenbaum was director of the Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care of the HealthCare Chaplaincy, a chaplain training institute.
New details of the charges emerged in court yesterday. According to Ms. Steiner, Rabbi Kestenbaum entered a chat room called "I Love Older Men" and held instant-message conversations with "Katie." Katie was actually Detective Mike Smith of the New York Police Department's computer investigation unit, Ms. Steiner said. The rabbi asked Katie whether she had ever been with an older man, and asked her for a physical description of herself, including her bra size.
"He repeatedly invited Katie to meet him and participate in various sex acts with him or for his benefit, including kissing, touching each other's intimate body parts and masturbation," Ms. Steiner said.
He gave his cellphone number, which is registered to the New York Board of Rabbis, and a female undercover officer called him, the prosecutor said. They arranged to meet at the Starbucks on Jan. 16, and the police observed the rabbi there, apparently looking for someone who never arrived.
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Rabbi in sex case barred from daughter - Charged with soliciting minor over InternetBY SUE EPSTEIN- Star-Ledger Staff
New Jersey Star-Ledger - Saturday, February 22, 2003
A rabbi from Highland Park who was arrested Thursday for soliciting sex from a minor over the Internet was barred by a state judge yesterday from having any contact with his 9-year-old daughter.
The rabbi's wife, (NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum, 49, sought the order in Family Court in New Brunswick, a day after Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum was arrested in his office at the New York Board of Rabbis in Manhattan.
The 54-year-old rabbi was charged with 10 counts of attempted child endangerment and five counts of disseminating indecent material to a minor. Authorities said he initiated sexually explicit conversations on the Internet with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl. He was arrested following a month-long investigation by the computer crimes unit of the New York Police Department.
(NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum filed for divorce from her husband in September, charging he was a sex addict who found women over the Internet, many of whom he then met for sex.
In court papers she filed yesterday, Kestenbaum said she held off on going through with the divorce after her husband of 10 years promised he would seek professional help to deal with his addiction.
"I was totally flabbergasted" by the rabbi's arrest, she said in her affidavit. "If I discovered that he was involved with Internet sex, or even normal extramarital affairs, I would have been greatly saddened and disappointed, especially given (his) promise to me to stop these contacts. But the idea that (he) was soliciting sex with underage girls, just totally blows me away."
Kestenbaum said she learned of her husband's arrest from police officers who were waiting at her Highland Park home when she returned from picking up her daughter at school. The officers had a search warrant and confiscated the family computer, diskettes and other items.
She said her daughter was hysterical and went to stay with neighbors.(NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum also contacted her attorney, Neal Pomper of Highland Park, asking him to proceed with the divorce and ask the court for an order barring her husband from coming near their daughter or home.
Superior Court Judge Jamie Happas temporarily barred the rabbi from having any "oral, written, personal or other form of contact or communication" with his daughter, or entering their home pending a hearing to be held Wednesday morning in New Brunswick.
Israel Kestenbaum is the director of chaplaincy services for the New York Board of Rabbis and is the former director of the Jewish Institute of Pastoral Care. Last year he was one of the institute's three chaplains of the year for his "extraordinary efforts and dedication in providing chaplaincy services" following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
He was arraigned yesterday before Judge William Harrington in Manhattan, who set bail at $5,000 and scheduled his next court appearance for Wednesday.
Adrienne Kaplan, a spokeswoman for Raymond Granger, Israel Kestenbaum's lawyer, issued a statement denying that the rabbi attempted to solicit sex from a minor.
She said the prosecutor failed to mention in court that Kestenbaum "told the undercover police officer with whom he spoke that he did not believe she was a minor, and he repeatedly stated that if they met, it would not be for sex."
Kaplan said the rabbi intends to fight the charges.
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Steiner, said in court that Kestenbaum propositioned the "girl" in explicit, graphic language. She said the rabbi asked about the girl's physical description -- including her bra size, her sexual experience, and whether she had ever been with an older man. Then he asked to meet her, the prosecutor said.
The New York Board of Rabbis issued a statement saying they were "shocked and saddened" by Kestenbaum's arrest, and that their prayers were with him and his family.
The board said the rabbi has been placed on administrative leave.
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Highland Park rabbi arrested in sex sting
New Jersey - News 12 - Febuary 21, 2003
(02/21/03) HIGHLAND PARK - A prominent and well-respected figure in Highland Park has been arrested for alleged sexual Internet activity. Police say Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum had online sex conversations and arranged a meeting with an undercover officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Detectives have footage of Kestenbaum sitting in a Manhattan coffee shop waiting for his online partner. The 54-year-old rabbi was charged with child endangerment and attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor. He is behind bars after he couldn't post $250,000 cash bail.
Kestenbaum has been a leader in various Jewish communities, including Congregation Beth Shalom in Red Bank. He is also the director of the Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care in Manhattan and a member of the New York Board of Rabbis.
The New York Board of Rabbis says Kestenbaum is being placed on administrative leave.
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Rabbi Arraigned After Arrest In Underage Cyber Sting - Alleged Hacker Disrupts Court AgainBy Samuel Maull
Associated Press - February 21, 2003
NEW YORK -- A rabbi, the father of a 9-year-old girl, was arraigned Friday after his arrest in Manhattan for allegedly trying to arrange a tryst with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl he met over the Internet.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., was arraigned on five felony counts of attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor and 10 misdemeanor counts of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child.
Kestenbaum's wife, who began divorce proceedings before his arrest, said she was afraid for their daughter's safety and asked that the rabbi not return home if he is released on bail, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Steiner told the court.
The prosecutor requested at least $25,000 bail, but Judge William Harrington set Kestenbaum's bail at $5,000 and scheduled his next court appearance for Feb. 26. No plea was entered at the proceeding.
Adrienne Kaplan, a spokeswoman for Raymond Granger, Kestenbaum's lawyer, issued a statement denying that the rabbi attempted to solicit sex with a minor.
She said the prosecutor failed to mention in court that Kestenbaum "told the undercover police officer with whom he spoke that he did not believe she was a minor, and he repeatedly stated that if they met, it would not be about sex."
Kaplan said the rabbi intends to fight the charges. She said he thanked family, friends and professional colleagues for their support.
As of late Friday afternoon, Kestenbaum was still in custody but was expected to be released.
Kestenbaum, director of the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care at the New York Board of Rabbis, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his Manhattan office on West 39th Street. A prosecutor said he was caught in a cybersting that began early last month.
Steiner told the court that after the rabbi was arrested, he admitted that he had exchanged instant messages with "East80Katie" while using the handle, "KESTENBAUMI."
Steiner said the sting began on Jan. 7 when Detective Mike Smith of the Police Department's Computer Technology and Investigation Unit was visiting a chat room called "I Love Older Men."
Posing as a 13-year-old girl called "East80Katie," Smith was soon having an instant message conversation with Kestenbaum, Steiner said. She said the rabbi asked about the girl's physical description _ including her bra size, her sexual experience, and whether she had ever been with an older man, and then he asked to meet her.
Steiner said Kestenbaum propositioned the girl in explicit, graphic language. The prosecutor said the rabbi "did all this while thinking that the undercover (Smith) was a 13-year-old girl named Katie."
Steiner said the defendant also gave the girl his cell phone number. The next day, Jan. 8, a female undercover officer called his cell number to prove that Katie was a real girl. The cell phone, Steiner said, is actually registered to Kestenbaum's employer, the New York Board of Rabbis.
Steiner said that Kestenbaum arranged to meet Katie on Jan. 16 at a Manhattan financial district coffee shop. She said he had a black bag, which detectives later recovered during a search of his New Jersey home.
Inside the bag, Steiner told the court, were numerous condoms and lubricants.
The prosecutor said the search of the rabbi's house also turned up at least one image of child pornography on his computer. She said police also found evidence of messages exchanged with at least one other young girl and it is possible that more charges will be filed against him.
Steiner said Kestenbaum's wife and her lawyer notified her office that she had "initiated divorce proceedings prior to the defendant's arrest for reasons I'm not at liberty to discuss."
Steiner said the wife and her lawyer also requested, "out of fear for their 9-year-old daughter's safety, that the defendant, should he be released or make bail, not return to the family home."
The New York Board of Rabbis issued a statement saying they were "shocked and saddened" by Kestenbaum's arrest and that their prayers were with him and his family.
The organization said the rabbi would immediately be placed on administrative leave.
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Rabbi arrested in cybersex stingChicago Tribune - February 22, 2003
NEW YORK -- An orthodox rabbi who leads the New York City Board of Rabbis was arrested Friday on charges related to his alleged plans for a cybersex date with a minor.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., is accused of inducing someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to meet him at a local coffeehouse after a series of instant message conversations, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Prosecutors said an undercover detective posing as "Katie" was conducting the conversations in an Internet chat room called, "I Love Older Men."
A search of Kestenbaum's work and home computers turned up child porn images and evidence of e-mail messaging with another girl, prosecutors said. Kestenbaum's lawyer said he had not tried to solicit a minor.
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'RUBBER' RABBI ALL - SET FOR SEX: D.A.
Israel Kestenbaum -Charged as cyber-perv.
By LAURA ITALIANO
New York Post - February 22, 2003
February 22, 2003 -- Manhattan prosecutors revealed creepy details of a New Jersey rabbi's alleged online pursuit of a 13-year-old girl yesterday - including the black bag of condoms and lubricants they say he brought to their first "date."
"We could meet and kiss," prosecutors say prominent rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 55, typed in his overture to a male undercover cop posing online as "Katie."
And in subsequent messages over the course of eight days last month, before he arranged a "date" at a lower Manhattan Starbucks, Kestenbaum allegedly typed - among far more graphic suggestions - "i dream of us being naked together . . and u and me hugging and kissing."
Prosecutors also revealed yesterday that Kestenbaum - a married father of six from Highland Park who serves on the Manhattan-based New York Board of Rabbis - may be charged with additional related crimes.
In their ongoing search of the rabbi's computer, cops found "at least one image of child pornography," prosecutor Jennifer Steiner told a Manhattan judge yesterday morning.
"Further, police also found evidence that the defendant engaged in electronic instant message conversations with another young girl," the prosecutor added, as Kestenbaum stood before the judge, eyes downcast, and dressed in black from his yarmulke to his shoes.
As his brother and his son sat in the audience, Kestenbaum, who'd spent the night in jail, was expressionless - until the prosecutor told the judge the cell phone number Kestenbaum gave "Katie" came back registered to the Board of Rabbis. Kestenbaum then shook his head, silently.
The prosecutor revealed the embarrassing details - that Kestenbaum's wife was already divorcing him, and wants him kept away from their 9-year-old daughter - in hopes Manhattan Judge William Harrington would set $25,000 cash bail.
Instead, the judge set bail at $5,000 cash or bond - meaning the rabbi could free himself with as little as a 10 percent payment on a bond, or $500.
To go free, Kestenbaum must turn in his passport - which by evening was still nowhere to be found.while, Kestenbaum vehemently denied the charges through his lawyer, Raymond Granger.
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Rabbi Faces Kid_Sex Charges By SUN NEWS SERVICES
Winnipeg Sun - Saturday, February 22, 2003
World Briefs Column
NEW YORK -- An orthodox rabbi who leads the New York City Board of Rabbis was arrested yesterday and faces up to four years in prison on charges related to his alleged plans for a cybersex date with an undercover detective he believed to be a minor, prosecutors said.
Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of New Jersey, is alleged to have induced someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to meet him after a series of instant message conversations, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.
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Prominent Rabbi Arrested on Sex Charges
LA Times - February 22, 2003 - IN BRIEF / NEW YORK
An orthodox rabbi who leads the New York City Board of Rabbis was arrested on charges related to his alleged plans for a cybersex date with an undercover detective he believed to be a minor, prosecutors said.
Israel Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., faces up to four years in prison. He is accused of inducing someone he believed to be a girl, 13, to meet him at a coffeehouse after instant-message conversations.
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Rabbi Accused Of Soliciting Sex Online Told To Stay Away From His FamilyThe Associated Press - February 26, 2003
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A rabbi who allegedly tried to arrange a tryst with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet has been ordered to stay away from his family.
Israel Kestenbaum, 54, agreed Tuesday to a consent order that prohibits him from entering his Highland Park home or making contact with his wife and 9-year-old daughter. The girl is undergoing therapy, and the order will remain in effect until the therapist makes a written recommendation on whether she should speak with her father.
Kestenbaum was arrested last week after he allegedly had sexually expliconline conversations with a person who later was revealed to be a New York City police detective. He was charged with 10 counts of attempted child endangerment and five counts of disseminating indecent material to a minor.
The consent order came about after the rabbi's wife, (NAME REMOVED), said she was afraid for their daughter's safety and asked that he be kept away from them. (NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum, 49, had begun divorce proceedings last year.
Kestenbaum, the director of the Jewish Institute in New York and the head of chaplaincy services for the New York Board of Rabbis, remains free on $5,000 bail. Board officials said he has been placed on an indefinite administrative leave.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A rabbi who allegedly tried to arrange a tryst with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet has been ordered to stay away from his family.
Israel Kestenbaum, 54, agreed Tuesday to a consent order that prohibits him from entering his Highland Park home or making contact with his wife and 9-year-old daughter. The girl is undergoing therapy, and the order will remain in effect until the therapist makes a written recommendation on whether she should speak with her father.
Kestenbaum was arrested last week after he allegedly had sexually expliconline conversations with a person who later was revealed to be a New York City police detective. He was charged with 10 counts of attempted child endangerment and five counts of disseminating indecent material to a minor.
The consent order came about after the rabbi's wife, (NAME REMOVED), said she was afraid for their daughter's safety and asked that he be kept away from them. (NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum, 49, had begun divorce proceedings last year.
Kestenbaum, the director of the Jewish Institute in New York and the head of chaplaincy services for the New York Board of Rabbis, remains free on $5,000 bail. Board officials said he has been placed on an indefinite administrative leave.
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Outreach After Rabbi's Arrest
Rabbinical groups here mull offer from L.A. treatment center following sex sting.by Stewart Ain
Jewish Week - 02/26/2003
In the wake of the arrest last week of Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum in a police Internet sex sting operation, the director of a Los Angeles-based residential treatment program for Jews with addictive and behavioral disorders believes a similar program is needed here and has offered to assist.
"If we can share what we have learned in our 16 years of existence, we would be glad to help," said Harriet Rossetto, director of Beit T'Shuvah, believed to be the country's only residential program for Jewish adults.
]Rossetto said three of the 110 Jews in her program are rabbis there for sexual addiction. She is convinced that their cases, as well as the arrests in recent years of rabbis accused of sex crimes, are "just the tip of the iceberg."
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, president of the New York Board of Rabbis, for whom Rabbi Kestenbaum worked as the director of chaplaincy for the past nine months, said he would discuss Rossetto's offer this week with the officers of the Board of Rabbis.
"Anything that strengthens the character of the people and deals with issues that years ago were not as obvious or open as today we should [consider]," Rabbi Potasnik said. "When there is a problem of this nature, the organization has to confront it and not conceal it. That is why the decision was made to cooperate with authorities; the public really wants the authorities to investigate fully.
"We have heard of instances in which organizations have not been forthcoming, but we have to be committed [to cooperating with the authorities]."
Rabbi Kenneth Hain, immediate past president of the Orthodox movement's Rabbinical Council of America, of which Rabbi Kestenbaum is a member, said he was unaware of Beit T'Shuvah "but I certainly would be interested in talking with [Rossetto]."
Rabbi Hain said his organization's 40-member executive committee would be meeting within the next two weeks and could be expected to discuss the status of Rabbi Kestenbaum's membership.
"When you have a situation in which a person is charged with conduct that would be regarded as improper or unbecoming a rabbi, there is an obligation to allow the judicial process to take place," he said. "There may still be the option to suspend a member during that judicial process. The executive would decide that after reviewing the situation.
"We would act appropriately for the dignity of the rabbinate and to be compassionate to any member and his family."
Rabbi Hain said he could not recall any instance in which a member of the RCA had been suspended for sexual improprieties.
The call for a treatment program for rabbis comes after a string of much-publicized cases involving Jewish clergy charged with sexual abuse of minors. They include Rabbi Baruch Lanner, who last June was sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing two girls when he was principal of a New Jersey yeshiva in the 1990s. Rabbi Lanner is free pending an appeal.
Also, Cantor Howard Nevison of Temple Emanu-el in Manhattan was charged last spring with sexually abusing his young nephew. That trial has not begun.
Rabbi Kestenbaum's arrest is not the first involving a rabbi accused of using the Internet to lure minors. In December 2001, Rabbi Jerald Levy, 58, of Boca Raton, Fla., was sentenced to six years in federal prison for downloading child pornography and luring teenage boys to meet him for sex. He was arrested when he arrived at a rendezvous arranged by an undercover detective who had posed online as a teenager.
Rabbi Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., was arrested at his office following a monthlong sting operation. The rabbi allegedly entered an on-line chat room called "I Love Older Men" and struck up a conversation with a detective from the New York Police Department's Computer Investigation and Technology Unit who was posing as a 13-year-old girl named "Katie." He is said to have called himself Kestenbaum1.
Rabbi Kestenbaum allegedly had about a dozen on-line chats with Katie and propositioned her using graphic language. He reportedly asked her to describe herself, including her bra size, sexual experience and whether she had ever been with an older man.
He is said to have asked to meet Katie and gave her his cell phone number, which was registered to the New York Board of Rabbis. A female detective placed the call and they reportedly arranged to meet Jan. 16 at a coffee shop. Authorities said he showed up and left when no one was there to meet him.
Rabbi Potasnik said Rabbi Kestenbaum was director of the board's Jewish Center for Spiritual Care, where he trained and supervised rabbis who serve as chaplains at correctional institutions, hospitals and other health-related facilities.
Following his arrest, Rabbi Kestenbaum immediately was placed on administrative leave.
His salary is to be paid into an escrow account, Rabbi Potasnik said.
Rabbi Kestenbaum has six children, five from his first marriage. Published reports said his second wife began divorce proceedings before his arrest and that she feared for their 9-year-old daughter's safety.
The rabbi pleaded not guilty to five felony charges of attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor and 10 misdemeanor counts of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said he is confident the facts will prove that Rabbi Kestenbaum did not violate the law.
"The evidence is very clear that Rabbi Kestenbaum did not intend to engage in any sexual activity with the person he was communicating with, who was in fact an undercover police officer," Brafman said.
"This is obviously a very sad case because Rabbi Kestenbaum appears to be a very gentle, sweet man who has suffered public humiliation over this incident that nobody deserves," he added. "Even if at the end of the day the charges are dismissed or he is completely exonerated, the reputation of a wonderful man will have in my judgment been unfairly tarnished."
Rabbi Hain pointed out that in the last few years the RCA has included such issues as divorce, spousal and child abuse, and families at risk in its rabbinic continuing education conferences.
"There has also been a greater inclusion of issues ... that a generation ago did not confront rabbis, from addiction to eating disorders and homosexuality," Rabbi Hain added. "These are issues that are in our midst and we obviously can't stick our heads in the sand. We have to confront them and learn about them so that we are equipped as rabbis to deal with them."
Rabbi Jack Bloom, a psychologist and author of "The Rabbi as Symbolic Exemplar: By the Power Vested in Me," said he believes instances of rabbis engaging in deviant and criminal sexual behavior is no greater today than in previous years.
"It's just that what has happened in the Catholic Church has made the issue more prominent and people are less afraid" of going public with accusations against the clergy, he said. "And it makes great press because people believe the clergy are supposed to be better than other people."
In the aftermath of two highly publicized child abuse cases involving a rabbi teaching at a day school and a kosher butcher, the Chicago Rabbinical Council a number of years ago established a special bet din, or rabbinical court, to address allegations of sexual abuse of children. The court consists of four rabbis who consult with a team of area rabbis, social workers, psychologists and lawyers in reviewing complaints.
Rabbi Joseph Ozarowski, executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and a member of the bet din's advisory board, said if the bet din believes there is truth to allegations of sexual abuse involving children, "we will get that person away from that sector of the community."
"We don't want to destroy a human being, but at the same time we have to protect the community," said Rabbi Ozarowski, formerly of Long Island. "We don't compete with the police. Once the person has been arrested, the bet din does not have a role."
He stressed that Jewish law has different standards of proof than criminal law and something that would be considered immoral may not be criminal.
Rabbi Ozarowski said he recently received a complaint of sexual abuse against someone who was a youth adviser 20 years ago and is now living in the Chicago area.
"If he is now working with teens, we would want to remove him" from that position, he said.
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Who's 14, 'Kewl' and Flirty Online? A 39-Year-Old DetectiveBy SHAILA K. DEWAN
The New York Times - April 7, 2003
It is the job of undercover police officers to pose as characters of the demimonde: prostitutes, johns, drug addicts. That means learning the ways of the street: the shuffling gait, the sneakers, the slang.
But three undercover officers in the New York Police Department spend their time studying other things, like Prom Magazine, "American Idol" and the chatter at the mall. It is their job to impersonate not cocaine smugglers, but teenage girls — and, sometimes, boys — to serve as their invisible protectors.
They are members of the Computer Crime Squad, a fast-growing unit of the department that deals with sexual predators, identity theft and other crimes in a world where screen names are changed much more deftly than street handles, and where forensic examinations are performed on hard drives.
"In the same way criminals take advantage of this and use whatever they need to prey on their victim, we can do the same thing," said Lt. John Otero, the commander of the squad, which was expanded to its current strength of 26 detectives in 2001.
In February, for example, a New Jersey rabbi was arrested and accused of trying to arrange a meeting with a 13-year-old girl at a Starbucks in downtown Manhattan.
The girl was actually Detective Michael Smith, 39, who a prosecutor said had conversed with the rabbi in an Internet chat room called "I love older men."
Detective Smith — who calls himself a "Starbucks, Barnes & Noble kind of guy" — has become something of an expert in early teenagedom, and he has done so without the benefit of having offspring of the appropriate age. He ventures into cyberspace under some 30 different screen names, mostly as girls, each with her own personality, looks and even bra size (a prosecutor said the rabbi, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted endangerment of and disseminating indecent material to a minor, had wanted to know).
Because adults who want to prey on children are aware that people like Detective Smith and his partners, Detectives Travis Rapp and Michael Gishner, are out there, it is very important to keep those characters straight. "They tell you in the training that you can keep track by writing down, for example, `Barbara, blue eyes, blond hair, etc.' But you would never remember," Detective Smith said, speaking in an office almost as narrow as his computer screen is wide.
His own method is to model and name each character after a real woman he knows. "I'll morph her description down to that of an 11-year-old," he said.
Detective Smith, who has been on the force for 17 years, began his career as a virtual woman not in an attempt to nab sexual predators, but to build a case on a man he suspected was selling Ecstasy over the Internet. At the time, he was in the narcotics division. "I thought: `What is one thing dealers like to do? They like to brag to women,' " he said.
Eventually, "Ingrid" persuaded the man to ship more than 100 pills to New York, and he was convicted in what was one of the first Internet drug-trafficking cases. But soon Detective Smith realized that the Internet provided an easy portal into the bedrooms of children. The tip line at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has received more than 8,000 reports of "online enticement" in the last five years.
"I can find a pervert in a Britney Spears chat room," Detective Smith said. "I can find a pervert in a Harry Potter chat room."
To demonstrate, Detective Smith created a new female screen name and entered a chat room similar to the one the rabbi is accused of frequenting. Seconds later, instant-message windows bloomed all over the screen. An advertisement for a site called "Free Teens" popped up.
"Three out of five older men, when I tell them I'm 13 or 14 or 15 or 12, they'll still talk to me," Detective Smith said.
On screen, he tells one waiting correspondent that he is only 12. "You are too young," is the response. "Are you home alone?"
Detective Smith's alter egos build relationships with people online, and the squad captures the dialogues and archives them. In response to one man who wanted a physical description, the detective messaged, "I have brown hair with three blond streaks that my mom hates."
Using the Internet equivalent of slang — funny spelling — the man, who said he was in his mid-40's, answered, "I think to streak your hair is so kewl."
Occasionally, a correspondent crosses the line of what is legal, either by using explicit language, sending pornographic images (used to desensitize young victims) or even arranging a meeting. "One guy wanted to meet in City Hall Park, in the middle of an orange alert, at the fountain," Detective Smith said, shaking his head. The man was arrested.
Once a crime is committed, the detectives have to build a case, using their shoe leather as much as their keyboards. They must ascertain that they have the right person (and not, for example, a roommate borrowing a screen name), compile evidence and obtain search warrants before making an arrest. "It's a lot of fun when they look at you and realize they've been had," Lieutenant Otero said.
Even if no arrest occurs, Detective Smith said, the time would-be predators spend chatting online with fictitious characters distracts them from real victims. He said parents often allow their children to become easy targets by letting them include too many specifics, like the schools they attend, in their Internet profiles.
Although the type of undercover work these investigators do is not as dangerous as posing as a drug dealer or a gun buyer is, one false move can still blow a case.
"I made mistakes early on," Detective Smith said. "I would overemphasize that I was a female. Not every woman looks like an aerobics instructor."
His correspondents sometimes test him, sending him scurrying to find female colleagues and ask them things like "I'm 13 and weigh 102 pounds — what size pantyhose do I wear?" or "What's a brand of nail polish remover?" The job requires deep research into trivial subjects: on his desk is a copy of Men's Health magazine, open to an article about the significance of the location of women's tattoos.
Detective Smith keeps his antennas aligned toward teenagers and their culture, although, he acknowledged, it is sometimes a torturous duty. "The other day, he made me watch `American Idol,' " he groused about Detective Rapp.
They know, for example, that "Britney is finished," and that Avril Lavigne has become too popular to be used as a favorite music star. "You can't say your favorite artist is Eminem," Detective Smith said. "You can't say the obvious one."
Then there are the times, he said, when they have to forget who they are entirely. "What if someone asks, `Who's your favorite Beatle?' and I say, `Paul McCartney'? Why would an 11-year-old know who Paul McCartney is?"
"One of the hardest questions I got was how many tampons in a box," Detective Smith said. "I didn't know. Nobody knew."
The New York Times - April 7, 2003
It is the job of undercover police officers to pose as characters of the demimonde: prostitutes, johns, drug addicts. That means learning the ways of the street: the shuffling gait, the sneakers, the slang.
But three undercover officers in the New York Police Department spend their time studying other things, like Prom Magazine, "American Idol" and the chatter at the mall. It is their job to impersonate not cocaine smugglers, but teenage girls — and, sometimes, boys — to serve as their invisible protectors.
They are members of the Computer Crime Squad, a fast-growing unit of the department that deals with sexual predators, identity theft and other crimes in a world where screen names are changed much more deftly than street handles, and where forensic examinations are performed on hard drives.
"In the same way criminals take advantage of this and use whatever they need to prey on their victim, we can do the same thing," said Lt. John Otero, the commander of the squad, which was expanded to its current strength of 26 detectives in 2001.
In February, for example, a New Jersey rabbi was arrested and accused of trying to arrange a meeting with a 13-year-old girl at a Starbucks in downtown Manhattan.
The girl was actually Detective Michael Smith, 39, who a prosecutor said had conversed with the rabbi in an Internet chat room called "I love older men."
Detective Smith — who calls himself a "Starbucks, Barnes & Noble kind of guy" — has become something of an expert in early teenagedom, and he has done so without the benefit of having offspring of the appropriate age. He ventures into cyberspace under some 30 different screen names, mostly as girls, each with her own personality, looks and even bra size (a prosecutor said the rabbi, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted endangerment of and disseminating indecent material to a minor, had wanted to know).
Because adults who want to prey on children are aware that people like Detective Smith and his partners, Detectives Travis Rapp and Michael Gishner, are out there, it is very important to keep those characters straight. "They tell you in the training that you can keep track by writing down, for example, `Barbara, blue eyes, blond hair, etc.' But you would never remember," Detective Smith said, speaking in an office almost as narrow as his computer screen is wide.
His own method is to model and name each character after a real woman he knows. "I'll morph her description down to that of an 11-year-old," he said.
Detective Smith, who has been on the force for 17 years, began his career as a virtual woman not in an attempt to nab sexual predators, but to build a case on a man he suspected was selling Ecstasy over the Internet. At the time, he was in the narcotics division. "I thought: `What is one thing dealers like to do? They like to brag to women,' " he said.
Eventually, "Ingrid" persuaded the man to ship more than 100 pills to New York, and he was convicted in what was one of the first Internet drug-trafficking cases. But soon Detective Smith realized that the Internet provided an easy portal into the bedrooms of children. The tip line at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has received more than 8,000 reports of "online enticement" in the last five years.
"I can find a pervert in a Britney Spears chat room," Detective Smith said. "I can find a pervert in a Harry Potter chat room."
To demonstrate, Detective Smith created a new female screen name and entered a chat room similar to the one the rabbi is accused of frequenting. Seconds later, instant-message windows bloomed all over the screen. An advertisement for a site called "Free Teens" popped up.
"Three out of five older men, when I tell them I'm 13 or 14 or 15 or 12, they'll still talk to me," Detective Smith said.
On screen, he tells one waiting correspondent that he is only 12. "You are too young," is the response. "Are you home alone?"
Detective Smith's alter egos build relationships with people online, and the squad captures the dialogues and archives them. In response to one man who wanted a physical description, the detective messaged, "I have brown hair with three blond streaks that my mom hates."
Using the Internet equivalent of slang — funny spelling — the man, who said he was in his mid-40's, answered, "I think to streak your hair is so kewl."
Occasionally, a correspondent crosses the line of what is legal, either by using explicit language, sending pornographic images (used to desensitize young victims) or even arranging a meeting. "One guy wanted to meet in City Hall Park, in the middle of an orange alert, at the fountain," Detective Smith said, shaking his head. The man was arrested.
Once a crime is committed, the detectives have to build a case, using their shoe leather as much as their keyboards. They must ascertain that they have the right person (and not, for example, a roommate borrowing a screen name), compile evidence and obtain search warrants before making an arrest. "It's a lot of fun when they look at you and realize they've been had," Lieutenant Otero said.
Even if no arrest occurs, Detective Smith said, the time would-be predators spend chatting online with fictitious characters distracts them from real victims. He said parents often allow their children to become easy targets by letting them include too many specifics, like the schools they attend, in their Internet profiles.
Although the type of undercover work these investigators do is not as dangerous as posing as a drug dealer or a gun buyer is, one false move can still blow a case.
"I made mistakes early on," Detective Smith said. "I would overemphasize that I was a female. Not every woman looks like an aerobics instructor."
His correspondents sometimes test him, sending him scurrying to find female colleagues and ask them things like "I'm 13 and weigh 102 pounds — what size pantyhose do I wear?" or "What's a brand of nail polish remover?" The job requires deep research into trivial subjects: on his desk is a copy of Men's Health magazine, open to an article about the significance of the location of women's tattoos.
Detective Smith keeps his antennas aligned toward teenagers and their culture, although, he acknowledged, it is sometimes a torturous duty. "The other day, he made me watch `American Idol,' " he groused about Detective Rapp.
They know, for example, that "Britney is finished," and that Avril Lavigne has become too popular to be used as a favorite music star. "You can't say your favorite artist is Eminem," Detective Smith said. "You can't say the obvious one."
Then there are the times, he said, when they have to forget who they are entirely. "What if someone asks, `Who's your favorite Beatle?' and I say, `Paul McCartney'? Why would an 11-year-old know who Paul McCartney is?"
"One of the hardest questions I got was how many tampons in a box," Detective Smith said. "I didn't know. Nobody knew."
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Rabbi Admits To Seeking Sex From GirlBy Stephanie Saul, Staff Writer
Newsday - August 12, 2003
A disgraced rabbi admitted Tuesday that he sought sex with an e-mail pal he thought was a 13-year-old girl — but turned out to be a cop.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum pleaded guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court to two charges, ending a sordid case that embarrassed one of the city's leading rabbinical groups. As part of a plea deal, Kestenbaum will avoid prison time.
Until his arrest in February at the offices of the New York Board of Rabbis, where he worked, Kestenbaum had been highly regarded for his leadership in developing pastoral care programs for the infirm.
His fall from grace began Jan. 2, when he exchanged the first of a series of e-mails with "Katie" in an internet chat room called "I Love Older Men."
In those messages, Kestenbaum, 55, used explicit language to describe the sex acts he'd like to perform with "Katie," he admitted Tuesday. The two agreed to meet at a Starbucks in lower Manhattan on Jan. 16.
But "Katie" never showed up. She was really a male detective for the NYPD. Police who went to the Starbucks at the agreed-upon time saw Kestenbaum there, apparently waiting for "Katie."
In court Tuesday, Kestenbaum quietly answered "yes" to a series of questions posed to him by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Steiner, admitting that he had believed "Katie" was 13 years old, that he had exchanged explicit messages with her and that he had arranged to meet with her.
Justice Charles Solomon approved a plea deal in which the 10-count indictment against Kestenbaum was whittled down to 2 counts — attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor and attempting to endanger the welfare of a child.
Instead of the four years he could have faced in prison under the original indictment, Kestenbaum will be on probation for five years. He will also attend counseling at a sex offender treatment program.
Kestenbaum, an ordained Orthodox rabbi, appeared in court in a gray business suit, clean-shaven, and missing the usual yarmulke.
Referring to his client as "Mr. Kestenbaum," attorney Benjamin Brafman said the rabbi, who lives in Highland Park, N.J., is unemployed.
Kestenbaum's criminal case was punctuated by a divorce battle started before the rabbi's arrest. In court papers, (NAME REMOVED) Kestenbaum accused her husband of multiple affairs during their 10-year marriage. Some of those affairs began over the Internet, she alleged.
Both Brafman and Mrs. Kestenbaum's attorney, Neal M. Pomper, said Tuesday that the two have reconciled and are living together.
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NJ Rabbi Admits He Tried To Meet Girl, 13, For Sex Man, 55, To Receive 5 Years Probation
Associated Press - August 12, 2003
NEW YORK -- A rabbi pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he tried to arrange a sexual tryst with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl he met over the Internet -- only to learn he had been talking with a detective.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 55, of Highland Park, N.J., will receive five years probation under a plea deal he reached with prosecutors in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. The plea also requires him to undergo treatment.
Kestenbaum, the father of a 9-year-old girl, pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute sexual materials to minors, a felony, and attempting to endanger the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 10.
He admitted that he tried to arrange to meet the person he thought was a 13-year-old girl in Manhattan for sexual contact but learned that he instead had been conversing over the Internet for more than a week with a detective posing as the teen. Kestenbaum was director of the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care at the New York Board of Rabbis before his February arrest. He no longer has the position.
Prosecutors said the Internet sting started Jan. 7, when Detective Mike Smith, of the police department's Computer Technology and Investigation Unit, was visiting a chat room called "I Love Older Men."
Posing as a 13-year-old girl with the online nickname East80Katie, Smith had an instant-message conversation with Kestenbaum, who prosecutors alleged asked for the girl's physical description, bra size and sexual experience and whether she had ever been with an older man. Eventually, a prosecutor said, Kestenbaum asked to meet her.
Prosecutors said Kestenbaum arranged to meet the girl on Jan. 16 at a Manhattan financial district coffee shop and arrived with a black bag containing condoms and lubricants.
Outside court Tuesday, Kestenbaum declined to comment.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said his client was looking for work.
"He's struggling," Brafman said. "We are obviously greatly relieved that there is no victim in this case and the defendant was at all times exchanging messages with someone who was a police officer."
The lawyer said Kestenbaum had reconciled with his wife.
Associated Press - August 12, 2003
NEW YORK -- A rabbi pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he tried to arrange a sexual tryst with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl he met over the Internet -- only to learn he had been talking with a detective.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 55, of Highland Park, N.J., will receive five years probation under a plea deal he reached with prosecutors in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. The plea also requires him to undergo treatment.
Kestenbaum, the father of a 9-year-old girl, pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute sexual materials to minors, a felony, and attempting to endanger the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 10.
He admitted that he tried to arrange to meet the person he thought was a 13-year-old girl in Manhattan for sexual contact but learned that he instead had been conversing over the Internet for more than a week with a detective posing as the teen. Kestenbaum was director of the Jewish Center for Spiritual Care at the New York Board of Rabbis before his February arrest. He no longer has the position.
Prosecutors said the Internet sting started Jan. 7, when Detective Mike Smith, of the police department's Computer Technology and Investigation Unit, was visiting a chat room called "I Love Older Men."
Posing as a 13-year-old girl with the online nickname East80Katie, Smith had an instant-message conversation with Kestenbaum, who prosecutors alleged asked for the girl's physical description, bra size and sexual experience and whether she had ever been with an older man. Eventually, a prosecutor said, Kestenbaum asked to meet her.
Prosecutors said Kestenbaum arranged to meet the girl on Jan. 16 at a Manhattan financial district coffee shop and arrived with a black bag containing condoms and lubricants.
Outside court Tuesday, Kestenbaum declined to comment.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said his client was looking for work.
"He's struggling," Brafman said. "We are obviously greatly relieved that there is no victim in this case and the defendant was at all times exchanging messages with someone who was a police officer."
The lawyer said Kestenbaum had reconciled with his wife.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Jewish World: Clergy on Alert
In a far-reaching decision, Orthodox rabbis take aim at abusive colleagues
by Marilyn Henry
Jerusalem Report Magazine - August 13, 2003
New York -- One Sunday last January, a 54-year-old man went to Starbucks in lower Manhattan. He allegedly planned a sexual rendezvous with a 13-year-old girl after a dozen explicit cyberchats at a site called "I Love Older Men."
The girl, named Katie, never showed. Katie, officials say, was the chatty creation of an undercover detective of the New York Police Department, whose officers staked out the café and videotaped the man awaiting her. The sting ended a month later when they arrested Israel Kestenbaum, an Orthodox rabbi who at the time was the director of chaplaincy of the New York Board of Rabbis. Kestenbaum, who was immediately placed on leave from his job, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of attempted endangerment of a child and attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor. He faces four years in jail. The rabbi and his current wife, who initiated divorce proceedings before the arrest, have a daughter, 9; he also has five children from his first marriage.
The Kestenbaum case comes as the Orthodox community continues to be haunted by its decades-long mishandling of repeated allegations against Rabbi Baruch Lanner, the one-time leader of the Orthodox Union's National Council of Synagogue Youth, who was convicted last year of sexually abusing two girls in the 1990s when he was principal of a New Jersey yeshivah.
In response, America's mainstream modern Orthodox rabbinical association, the Rabbinical Council of America, has organized in an unprecedented fashion to confront acts of violence and abuse in the Orthodox community. In May, three months after Kestenbaum's arrest, the RCA's 1200- member convention unanimously passed the "Resolution Regarding Members Accused of Improprieties," pledging that by next June 30, it would have in place standards, policies and procedures to reprimand, censure, suspend or oust members. The criteria for sanctions and the mechanisms to evaluate the veracity of accusations have yet to be devised. The resolution was drafted by Mark Dratch, a pulpit rabbi in Stamford, Connecticut, who had worked on it for over a decade.
The RCA's new policy -- the most far-reaching of its kind among the various Jewish denominations -- seeks to find a balance between identifying and punishing perpetrators of abuse and protecting victims while preserving the dignity and reputation of the rabbinate. Some RCA members would expel rabbis who faced three unverified allegations. Others, while expressing concern for victims, fear that there will be an overreaction to unsubstantiated charges in an era in which respect for clergy has been eroded by sexual scandals; vigilance, they say, will become a witch hunt. The resolution says the RCA will help rabbis who behave improperly to find "appropriate therapeutic support" and also will aid rabbis who are falsely accused.
"That is one of the major issues we have to struggle with in the next year as we develop our policy -- how we deal with accusations that may be difficult to substantiate and how we act responsibly both toward the victim and toward the accused, because there could be an innocent victim on either side," says Rabbi Basil Herring, the RCA's executive director. "We don't want to act irresponsibly, but at the same time, we don't want to sit with our hands tied and not help people who are victims, whose lives are torn apart, and whose religious and spiritual commitments are challenged because of what they faced."
The RCA also calls on rabbis to report acts or suspicions of child abuse to secular authorities. Tackling a halakhic issue, as well as a taboo, the resolution maintains that because victims of abuse remain in jeopardy until the offender is stopped, this reporting is not mesirah, which bars Jews from informing, or "squealing," on other Jews to outsiders.
Within the Orthodox community, there is no argument about what constitutes an impropriety. The dilemma is how to enforce the rules. While no rabbi is prepared to be fired over unsubstantiated allegations, no congregation wants to be affiliated with an institution that does not investigate accusations.
Dratch is chairing a committee of rabbis, lay people and professionals that will develop the policy for the RCA to consider. "I wrote an article on child abuse for the RCA Roundtable 10 to 15 years ago," he says. "I was told we should not be airing dirty laundry in public, and it was tantamount to hillul Hashem, desecrating God's name. I felt the exact opposite, that it was a terrible hillul Hashem not to deal with it." Dratch notes that the support and awareness, and the number of social service and counseling agencies for child abuse and domestic violence in the Orthodox world, have grown tremendously since then (see box).
Rabbi Yosef Blau, guidance counselor at Yeshiva University and an outspoken advocate for victims of abuse, commends the resolution as an important first step. "But, as often in life, everything is in the details," he says. There must be a threshold of credibility for accusations, he believes, stressing that a judgment about a credible accusation is not an assertion of guilt. Regarding expulsion from the RCA, the ultimate sanction, says Blau, "there are some situations where one allegation is enough."
Within the RCA, there is a movement to expel a rabbi after three unverified complaints. This is a difficult balancing act because both Jewish and secular law entail a presumption of innocence for those accused of crimes. When there are allegations of abuse, this presumption collides with the need to protect the possible victims.
"If there are persistent allegations, the resolution indicates that you don't have to prove it in order to take action against the one who is allegedly acting improperly," says Herring. "There have to be sufficient grounds to suspect that these are not just trumped-up charges. If it happens three times, from different directions or people, that should be sufficient to take strong steps to make sure there is no possibility of ongoing or future improper activity, pending complete resolution of the case in hand.
"Take the Lanner case," he says. "It just kept going on and on and on, and there were allegations, and the exposure to the young people kept on going. You don't want that to happen. Does it mean you have to fire the person, right then and there? I would say no, but you want to prevent the possibility of improper behavior."
The RCA, says Herring, has membership in 15 countries and expulsion would protect the wider community: "We have strong connections to the established Orthodox rabbinate all over the world. While we cannot defrock anyone, if someone has been disbarred from the RCA, I would think they would find it very difficult to go elsewhere."
The problem of sexual impropriety, abuse and harassment is an issue in virtually every religion. Catholic priests have been prosecuted by civil authorities, and the Church has paid multi-million-dollar settlements for exposing congregants to abusive clergy. Within the Jewish world, the Conservative movement has an ethics committee that examines charges of misconduct against rabbis, while the Reform rabbinate is revising its ethics policy. "People's spirituality has been hurt, and the reputation and dignity of the various religions have been challenged," Herring says. "The real yardstick is how we move forward and deal with these issues."
In a far-reaching decision, Orthodox rabbis take aim at abusive colleagues
by Marilyn Henry
Jerusalem Report Magazine - August 13, 2003
New York -- One Sunday last January, a 54-year-old man went to Starbucks in lower Manhattan. He allegedly planned a sexual rendezvous with a 13-year-old girl after a dozen explicit cyberchats at a site called "I Love Older Men."
The girl, named Katie, never showed. Katie, officials say, was the chatty creation of an undercover detective of the New York Police Department, whose officers staked out the café and videotaped the man awaiting her. The sting ended a month later when they arrested Israel Kestenbaum, an Orthodox rabbi who at the time was the director of chaplaincy of the New York Board of Rabbis. Kestenbaum, who was immediately placed on leave from his job, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of attempted endangerment of a child and attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor. He faces four years in jail. The rabbi and his current wife, who initiated divorce proceedings before the arrest, have a daughter, 9; he also has five children from his first marriage.
The Kestenbaum case comes as the Orthodox community continues to be haunted by its decades-long mishandling of repeated allegations against Rabbi Baruch Lanner, the one-time leader of the Orthodox Union's National Council of Synagogue Youth, who was convicted last year of sexually abusing two girls in the 1990s when he was principal of a New Jersey yeshivah.
In response, America's mainstream modern Orthodox rabbinical association, the Rabbinical Council of America, has organized in an unprecedented fashion to confront acts of violence and abuse in the Orthodox community. In May, three months after Kestenbaum's arrest, the RCA's 1200- member convention unanimously passed the "Resolution Regarding Members Accused of Improprieties," pledging that by next June 30, it would have in place standards, policies and procedures to reprimand, censure, suspend or oust members. The criteria for sanctions and the mechanisms to evaluate the veracity of accusations have yet to be devised. The resolution was drafted by Mark Dratch, a pulpit rabbi in Stamford, Connecticut, who had worked on it for over a decade.
The RCA's new policy -- the most far-reaching of its kind among the various Jewish denominations -- seeks to find a balance between identifying and punishing perpetrators of abuse and protecting victims while preserving the dignity and reputation of the rabbinate. Some RCA members would expel rabbis who faced three unverified allegations. Others, while expressing concern for victims, fear that there will be an overreaction to unsubstantiated charges in an era in which respect for clergy has been eroded by sexual scandals; vigilance, they say, will become a witch hunt. The resolution says the RCA will help rabbis who behave improperly to find "appropriate therapeutic support" and also will aid rabbis who are falsely accused.
"That is one of the major issues we have to struggle with in the next year as we develop our policy -- how we deal with accusations that may be difficult to substantiate and how we act responsibly both toward the victim and toward the accused, because there could be an innocent victim on either side," says Rabbi Basil Herring, the RCA's executive director. "We don't want to act irresponsibly, but at the same time, we don't want to sit with our hands tied and not help people who are victims, whose lives are torn apart, and whose religious and spiritual commitments are challenged because of what they faced."
The RCA also calls on rabbis to report acts or suspicions of child abuse to secular authorities. Tackling a halakhic issue, as well as a taboo, the resolution maintains that because victims of abuse remain in jeopardy until the offender is stopped, this reporting is not mesirah, which bars Jews from informing, or "squealing," on other Jews to outsiders.
Within the Orthodox community, there is no argument about what constitutes an impropriety. The dilemma is how to enforce the rules. While no rabbi is prepared to be fired over unsubstantiated allegations, no congregation wants to be affiliated with an institution that does not investigate accusations.
Dratch is chairing a committee of rabbis, lay people and professionals that will develop the policy for the RCA to consider. "I wrote an article on child abuse for the RCA Roundtable 10 to 15 years ago," he says. "I was told we should not be airing dirty laundry in public, and it was tantamount to hillul Hashem, desecrating God's name. I felt the exact opposite, that it was a terrible hillul Hashem not to deal with it." Dratch notes that the support and awareness, and the number of social service and counseling agencies for child abuse and domestic violence in the Orthodox world, have grown tremendously since then (see box).
Rabbi Yosef Blau, guidance counselor at Yeshiva University and an outspoken advocate for victims of abuse, commends the resolution as an important first step. "But, as often in life, everything is in the details," he says. There must be a threshold of credibility for accusations, he believes, stressing that a judgment about a credible accusation is not an assertion of guilt. Regarding expulsion from the RCA, the ultimate sanction, says Blau, "there are some situations where one allegation is enough."
Within the RCA, there is a movement to expel a rabbi after three unverified complaints. This is a difficult balancing act because both Jewish and secular law entail a presumption of innocence for those accused of crimes. When there are allegations of abuse, this presumption collides with the need to protect the possible victims.
"If there are persistent allegations, the resolution indicates that you don't have to prove it in order to take action against the one who is allegedly acting improperly," says Herring. "There have to be sufficient grounds to suspect that these are not just trumped-up charges. If it happens three times, from different directions or people, that should be sufficient to take strong steps to make sure there is no possibility of ongoing or future improper activity, pending complete resolution of the case in hand.
"Take the Lanner case," he says. "It just kept going on and on and on, and there were allegations, and the exposure to the young people kept on going. You don't want that to happen. Does it mean you have to fire the person, right then and there? I would say no, but you want to prevent the possibility of improper behavior."
The RCA, says Herring, has membership in 15 countries and expulsion would protect the wider community: "We have strong connections to the established Orthodox rabbinate all over the world. While we cannot defrock anyone, if someone has been disbarred from the RCA, I would think they would find it very difficult to go elsewhere."
The problem of sexual impropriety, abuse and harassment is an issue in virtually every religion. Catholic priests have been prosecuted by civil authorities, and the Church has paid multi-million-dollar settlements for exposing congregants to abusive clergy. Within the Jewish world, the Conservative movement has an ethics committee that examines charges of misconduct against rabbis, while the Reform rabbinate is revising its ethics policy. "People's spirituality has been hurt, and the reputation and dignity of the various religions have been challenged," Herring says. "The real yardstick is how we move forward and deal with these issues."
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Kestenbaum Raps Silence Of Colleagues
The following remarks and views are from one of our readers who wishes his/her name be withheld. The article follows his/her comments.
The Jewish Week article (below) that includes a short interview with Kestenbaum does not sound to me like a person who has acknowledged his behavior and taken responsibility for his actions.
Sounds more like he's learned the value of an expensive lawyer and the art of the spin.
said he had experienced a "personal lapse on the computer for which I do not excuse myself."
A personal lapse?
1) He put up a web site on AOL of himself in his office (which you can view at: http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/kestenbuam) with a picture of his 9 year-old daughter on the desk and used that site and AOL to solicit sex with little girls mere years older than his daughter.
2) He "prepared" his potential victim over several days in a way that is typical of a predator.
The rabbi asked Katie whether she had ever been with an older man, and asked her for a physical description of herself, including her bra size.
"He repeatedly invited Katie to meet him and participate in various sex acts with him or for his benefit, including kissing, touching each other's intimate body parts and masturbation," Ms. Steiner said.
"And in subsequent messages over the course of eight days last month, before he arranged a "date" at a lower Manhattan Starbucks, Kestenbaum allegedly typed - among far more graphic suggestions - "i dream of us being naked together . . and u and me hugging and kissing."
3) His black bag
Police recovered a black bag Kestenbaum carried with him to his Starbuck's meeting with Katie. It allegedly contained numerous condoms and the lubricant K-Y jelly.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum said he is "incredibly thankful" that there were no victims and that he "did not in fact engage in any inappropriate things with minors."
Of course by pleading to 2 of the 10 counts of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child, he avoids 8 charges and possible additional charges and a public record related to those other (and possible) charges:
1) Possession of child pornography.
2) Similar messaging to and disseminating material to an actual minor.
A search of Kestenbaum's work and home computers allegedly turned up child pornography images and evidence that he was also engaged in e-mail messaging with another young girl, prosecutors said.
Rabbi Kestenbaum expressed "disappointment" with his rabbinic colleagues for turning their backs on him after his arrest at a time when he was professing his innocence.
What chutzpah! Given the video of him at Starbucks and the contents of the black bag and his "profession of innocence" (which was clearly a lie) why should anyone have believed him or enabled such behavior. He's disappointed we didn't buy his lies?
Further, he had the nerve to say this when arrested.
After his arrest, police sources said, Kestenbaum indignantly challenged cops, saying, "Don't you know who I am and who I know?"
He should be thankful that the police caught him and that his community and colleagues chose not to enable his behavior by protecting him from the consequences of his actions. Everything points to a pattern of behavior that if it had not been caught and prosecuted would have likely resulted in even more serious behavior, damage to children and charges. He needed to be stopped not "coddled".
Rabbi Kestenbaum said he would encourage the Jewish community to establish resources "for rabbis who are good people but who have difficulties."
Good people don't prey on children. If anything, this whole affair indicates we need more resources to protect the Jewish community from people like Kestehbaum. Thank God that the police had resources like they did in this case to catch someone who attempted to prey on vulnerable children.
"arrested for committing a crime in my personal life, not in my professional life. What I did was to lose my sense of boundaries. But professionally I have always been very careful."
Junk.
1) Use of office at the New York Board of Rabbis. His web site on AOL had a picture of himself in his office at the New York Board of Rabbis.
2) Use of business cellphone. He gave his cellphone number, which is registered to the New York Board of Rabbis, to the female undercover officer who called him and used it to arrange a meeting at Starbucks.
3) Use of computer at the New York Board of Rabbis for his activities. A search of Kestenbaum's work and home computers allegedly turned up child pornography images and evidence that he was also engaged in e-mail messaging with another young girl, prosecutors said.
He said he will appear next month before a competency review panel of the American Association for Clinical Pastoral Education in an attempt to have his certification to practice renewed.
Hopefully, it won't be renewed.
"I will not return to the New York Board of Rabbis," he said. "Hopefully, I will work where it makes sense. Hopefully, there will be some sensitive people who will understand the nature of the circumstances and realize that [my] capacity to do good is still there."
Hopefully, such enablers do not exist.
Rabbi Kestenbaum needs to remain in counselling, needs to remain monitored as a sex offender and needs to remain removed from any position of authority and position of trust with anyone vulnerable.
His very words indicate that he has yet to take reponsibility and accept the consequences of his actions.
It's utter chutzpah to blame others for not enabling his behavior and lies.
You may get the impression from the above that I don't think much of the Jewish Week article or Kestenbaum. You're right.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Kestenbaum Raps Silence Of Colleagues
By Stewart Ain
The Jewish Week - August 15, 2003 )
One day after pleading guilty to attempted child endangerment charges after being caught in a police Internet sex sting operation, Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum said he is "incredibly thankful" that there were no victims and that he "did not in fact engage in any inappropriate things with minors."
In a phone interview Wednesday morning, Rabbi Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., said he had experienced a "personal lapse on the computer for which I do not excuse myself."
Authorities said he had struck up a conversation with a police detective posing as a 13-year-old girl named Katie after entering an on-line chat room called "I Love Older Men." They said he gave her his cell phone number, which was registered to the New York Board of Rabbis, where he worked as director of its Jewish Center for Spiritual Care.
The rabbi, who was arrested in February and is now in therapy, pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to avoid up to four years in prison. He is slated to be sentenced in October to five years probation with treatment and registration as a sex offender.
Rabbi Kestenbaum expressed "disappointment" with his rabbinic colleagues for turning their backs on him after his arrest at a time when he was professing his innocence.
"I was a member of the Rabbinical Council of America for 30 years and not one member of the board or any representative of the board ever called me to ask how I was doing or to express any personal support," he said. "All they did was to ask my lawyer for me to tender a resignation so they would not have to deal with it. And the New York Board of Rabbis did similarly. I'm very disappointed in the Jewish community — in a community I worked for."
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, president of the Board of Rabbis, said of Rabbi Kestenbaum's plea: "This is a closed matter as far as the board is concerned. ... It is a very difficult time for him and his family and I would hope he is able to rehabilitate himself ...."
The president of the Rabbinical Council of America, Rabbi Kenneth Auman, said he did not know Rabbi Kestenbaum personally or what interaction the organization's late executive director had with him following his arrest.
Rabbi Kestenbaum said he would encourage the Jewish community to establish resources "for rabbis who are good people but who have difficulties."
The rabbi stressed that he was "arrested for committing a crime in my personal life, not in my professional life. What I did was to lose my sense of boundaries. But professionally I have always been very careful."
He said he will appear next month before a competency review panel of the American Association for Clinical Pastoral Education in an attempt to have his certification to practice renewed.
"I will not return to the New York Board of Rabbis," he said. "Hopefully, I will work where it makes sense. Hopefully, there will be some sensitive people who will understand the nature of the circumstances and realize that [my] capacity to do good is still there."
By Stewart Ain
The Jewish Week - August 15, 2003 )
One day after pleading guilty to attempted child endangerment charges after being caught in a police Internet sex sting operation, Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum said he is "incredibly thankful" that there were no victims and that he "did not in fact engage in any inappropriate things with minors."
In a phone interview Wednesday morning, Rabbi Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., said he had experienced a "personal lapse on the computer for which I do not excuse myself."
Authorities said he had struck up a conversation with a police detective posing as a 13-year-old girl named Katie after entering an on-line chat room called "I Love Older Men." They said he gave her his cell phone number, which was registered to the New York Board of Rabbis, where he worked as director of its Jewish Center for Spiritual Care.
The rabbi, who was arrested in February and is now in therapy, pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to avoid up to four years in prison. He is slated to be sentenced in October to five years probation with treatment and registration as a sex offender.
Rabbi Kestenbaum expressed "disappointment" with his rabbinic colleagues for turning their backs on him after his arrest at a time when he was professing his innocence.
"I was a member of the Rabbinical Council of America for 30 years and not one member of the board or any representative of the board ever called me to ask how I was doing or to express any personal support," he said. "All they did was to ask my lawyer for me to tender a resignation so they would not have to deal with it. And the New York Board of Rabbis did similarly. I'm very disappointed in the Jewish community — in a community I worked for."
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, president of the Board of Rabbis, said of Rabbi Kestenbaum's plea: "This is a closed matter as far as the board is concerned. ... It is a very difficult time for him and his family and I would hope he is able to rehabilitate himself ...."
The president of the Rabbinical Council of America, Rabbi Kenneth Auman, said he did not know Rabbi Kestenbaum personally or what interaction the organization's late executive director had with him following his arrest.
Rabbi Kestenbaum said he would encourage the Jewish community to establish resources "for rabbis who are good people but who have difficulties."
The rabbi stressed that he was "arrested for committing a crime in my personal life, not in my professional life. What I did was to lose my sense of boundaries. But professionally I have always been very careful."
He said he will appear next month before a competency review panel of the American Association for Clinical Pastoral Education in an attempt to have his certification to practice renewed.
"I will not return to the New York Board of Rabbis," he said. "Hopefully, I will work where it makes sense. Hopefully, there will be some sensitive people who will understand the nature of the circumstances and realize that [my] capacity to do good is still there."
____________________________________________________________________________________
Rabbi Admits Tryst
by Alex Sholem
TotallyJewish.com - Aug 19, 2003
An American rabbi has admitted attempting to arrange a sexual liaison over the internet with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl – but was actually a police officer.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, a former director of the Jewish centre of spiritual care at the New York board of rabbis, is likely to escape a jail sentence and receive only five years probation after pleading guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court to arranging the tryst.
The 55-year-old New Jersey-based rabbi admitted striking up an email friendship with "Katie" – who he believed to be a young girl - in an internet chat room called, I Love Older Men. They soon agreed to meet at a coffee shop in Manhattan.
And when NYPD officers arrived at the coffee shop at the arranged time they observed Kestenbaum waiting there. He left after "Katie" failed to show up, but was soon arrested.
Kestenbaum, who acted as a chaplain at Ground Zero following the World Trade Centre attacks in 2001, will also be required to attend a sex offender treatment programme.
by Alex Sholem
TotallyJewish.com - Aug 19, 2003
An American rabbi has admitted attempting to arrange a sexual liaison over the internet with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl – but was actually a police officer.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, a former director of the Jewish centre of spiritual care at the New York board of rabbis, is likely to escape a jail sentence and receive only five years probation after pleading guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court to arranging the tryst.
The 55-year-old New Jersey-based rabbi admitted striking up an email friendship with "Katie" – who he believed to be a young girl - in an internet chat room called, I Love Older Men. They soon agreed to meet at a coffee shop in Manhattan.
And when NYPD officers arrived at the coffee shop at the arranged time they observed Kestenbaum waiting there. He left after "Katie" failed to show up, but was soon arrested.
Kestenbaum, who acted as a chaplain at Ground Zero following the World Trade Centre attacks in 2001, will also be required to attend a sex offender treatment programme.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Chatroom Rabbi
by Alex Sholem
TotallyJewish.com (London, England) - Aug 21, 2003
An American rabbi has admitted attempting to arrange a sexual liaison over the internet with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl – but was actually a police officer.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, a former director of the Jewish centre of spiritual care at the New York board of rabbis, is likely to escape a jail sentence and receive only five years probation after pleading guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court last week to arranging the tryst.
The 55-year-old New Jersey-based rabbi admitted striking up an email friendship with "Katie" – who he believed to be a young girl - in an internet chat room called, I Love Older Men. They soon agreed to meet at a coffee shop in Manhattan.
And when NYPD officers arrived at the coffee shop at the arranged time they observed Kestenbaum waiting there. He left after "Katie" failed to show up, but was soon arrested.
by Alex Sholem
TotallyJewish.com (London, England) - Aug 21, 2003
An American rabbi has admitted attempting to arrange a sexual liaison over the internet with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl – but was actually a police officer.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, a former director of the Jewish centre of spiritual care at the New York board of rabbis, is likely to escape a jail sentence and receive only five years probation after pleading guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court last week to arranging the tryst.
The 55-year-old New Jersey-based rabbi admitted striking up an email friendship with "Katie" – who he believed to be a young girl - in an internet chat room called, I Love Older Men. They soon agreed to meet at a coffee shop in Manhattan.
And when NYPD officers arrived at the coffee shop at the arranged time they observed Kestenbaum waiting there. He left after "Katie" failed to show up, but was soon arrested.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Wrist Slap For Cybersex Rabbi
By Laura Italiano
New York Post - October 11, 2003
October 11, 2003 -- A prominent rabbi received a no-jail sentence in Manhattan yesterday for explicitly cyber-propositioning a male cop he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, 55, of Highland Park, N.J., will continue sex-offender counseling indefinitely, and serve five years' probation.
In return for the no-jail sentence, Kestenbaum admitted in Manhattan Supreme Court that he repeatedly solicited sex from an undercover cop who was posing online as a 13-year- old girl named "Katie."
Justice Charles Solomon OK'd the no-jail deal because the rabbi's wife is critically ill with cancer, and they have a 9-year-old daughter at home. Officials believe the daughter is at no risk from her father, prosecutors said.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Rabbi does not go directly to jail
JTA - October 13, 2003
A New Jersey rabbi was sentenced to five years of probation and counseling in a cyber-proposition case. Israel Kestenbaum, of Highland Park, N.J., received the sentence last week after he had pleaded guilty to trying to arrange a sexual tryst over the Internet with a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl named "Katie." The judge explained that he did not sentence Kestenbaum to jail because the rabbi's wife has cancer. Meanwhile, the National Association of Jewish Chaplains expelled Kestenbaum for violating ethics rules.
____________________________________________________________________________________
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