Case of Cantor Philip Friedman

Case of Cantor Philip Friedman

Former Cantor - Temple Israel, Albany, NY

Queens, NY

Bar and Bat Mitzvah Teacher - Long Island Jewish Center, Long Island, NY

Teacher - Hebrew Academy, Pittsburg, PA

Former Cantor - East Northport Jewish Center, East Northport, NY

New Scotland Avenue synagogue

Back in 2000 criminal charges were never filed yet in another case a lawsuit was settled out of court in 2000 for 20 years of payouts to the girl totaling about $600,000.

Temple Israel fired its longtime cantor for "inappropriate behavior" toward a member of the congregation. Philip Friedman is NOT a member of the Cantors Assembly.

Philip Friedman, who had served in various synagogues for more than 40 years, pleaded guilty in August, 2006 to forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child under a plea bargain. He will be required to register as a sex offender and is expected to be classified as a Level 1 offender, the lowest. Court records indicate that Friedman, 66, hugged, kissed and touched the breasts and buttocks of the girl in incidents occurring between May 2004 and May 2005.

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Table of Contents:

1990

1. A Suffolk County synagogue forced Friedman to resign in 1990 after allegations were raised about his conduct with at least one child.  Friedman, never faced criminal charges and the lawsuit was settled in 2000 for 20 years of payouts to the girl totaling about $600,000. 

2006

1. Background Information
2. Albany temple fires cantor (07/19/2006)
3. Fired cantor has a troubled history - Philip Friedman, dismissed by Temple Israel, was accused of molesting a girl on Long Island  (08/21/2006)
4. Former cantor pleads guilty to molestation  (08/24/2006)
5. Local Cantor Guilty of Sex Crime  (08/24/2006)
6. Cantor admits fondling girl, 11 - District attorney says Philip Friedman, formerly of Temple Israel, had other victims (08/25/2006)
7. Cantor Molests Girl Preparing For Bat Mitzvah (08/25/2006)
8. Cantor receives six years probation: Philip Friedman, former cantor at Temple Israel, must also register as sex offender for molesting girl (12/14/2006)
9. Ex-Albany Cantor Sentenced For Molesting Student (12/15/2006)
10. Former cantor sentenced  (12/15/2006)

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Background Information

BORN: Nov. 19,1940

HOMETOWN: Pittsburgh; moved to Albany in August 1992.

RELIGIOUS AFFILATION: Cantor at the conservative Temple Israel in Albany, since 1992.

Cantor Philip Friedman has been an integral part of the Judaic studies program for 13 years. He has influenced a great number of Hebrew Academy students with his scholarship and beautiful voice. Todah Rabbah.

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Fired cantor has a troubled history

Philip Friedman, dismissed by Temple Israel, was accused of molesting a girl on Long Island

By Marc Parry 

Times Union - Monday, August 21, 2006

ALBANY–– A former Temple Israel cantor now under investigation for inappropriate conduct with a member of his Albany congregation was accused of molesting a young girl at a Long Island Jewish Center where he used to work, according to court records and a law enforcement official.

The girl claimed in a lawsuit that Cantor Philip Friedman fondled her while they were alone in his office at the East Northport Jewish Center. She was a religion student between 8 and 10 years old during the alleged abuse. The Suffolk County synagogue forced Friedman to resign in 1990 after allegations were raised about his conduct with at least one child, court documents show.

Friedman, 65, never faced criminal charges and the lawsuit was settled in 2000 for 20 years of payouts to the girl totaling about $600,000. But legal documents obtained by the Times Union outline a disturbing picture of a religious leader once again accused of misconduct.

This time, the setting is Albany's largest Conservative synagogue.

And the story's elements -- a clergyman accused of predatory behavior, only to work with children again elsewhere -- evoke the abuse scandals that consumed the Roman Catholic Church.

"It was devastating for her, for the young girl that I represented," said Harvey Weitz, a Manhattan-based lawyer who handled the East Northport case. "... It had a really terrible effect on her relationship with her entire family. It was just an awful, awful affair."

The Albany County district attorney's office, which is looking into the allegations here, started investigating Friedman after the board of trustees at Temple Israel came forward with accusations that appear to resemble those he faced in Long Island. Friedman served as the temple's cantor from 1992 until synagogue leaders fired him in May.

Rachel McEneny, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, confirmed that the Philip Friedman named in the lawsuit is the same man now under investigation by her office.

Friedman, reached at home in Albany, refused to discuss the East Northport lawsuit, either himself or through his attorney.

"I will instruct my attorney not to talk to you," he said.

But at the time, Friedman denied wrongdoing, documents show. He admitted only that he gave the girl candy, kissed her on the cheek and sat her on his lap. He said the door was open and that his behavior was appropriate. The decision to terminate him, he said, was unfair.

Temple Israel hired him as cantor about two years later -- to do essentially the same job in Albany he did in Long Island. There is no indication synagogue leaders here knew of his past problems.

Friedman's duties, according to one Temple Israel member, involved chanting the liturgy of services, teaching Hebrew school and conducting one-on-one lessons to prepare students for bar and bat mitzvahs.

His job description is characteristic of how cantors' roles have evolved over the last generation. Historically "pulpit artists" who mesmerized congregations through their voice and prayer, cantors now do everything from fundraising to family counseling to life-cycle events like weddings and funerals.

"We're seen as full clergy, not just decorative addendums," said Steven Stoehr, president of the Cantors Assembly, an international group that is effectively the union for Conservative cantors. "... It's almost a mirror career to a rabbi."

In Long Island, meanwhile, word that Friedman had furthered his career with a new job at a large temple upstate filtered down to the East Northport Jewish Center.

Robert Jay Dinerstein, a lawyer who represented the Jewish Center when it was targeted for damages in the Friedman abuse case, said some congregants' children attended the University at Albany, which draws more than 25 percent of its undergraduates from Long Island.

"And I think they, either directly or through their parents, were the source for telling us that he was engaged up there," Dinerstein said.

He added, "I felt it should have raised some eyebrows (at Temple Israel) that he was fired and had something to do with inappropriate conduct with a child."

Temple President Gavin Setzen told the Times Union last week that he had been advised not to talk about the former cantor while the district attorney's office continues to investigate him.

But in June, Setzen co-signed a chilling letter to his fellow congregants at the New Scotland Avenue synagogue. It revealed that the board of trustees had fired Friedman for "inappropriate behavior" toward a member of the congregation.

The cryptic letter gave few details beyond saying that temple leaders had reported the incident to law enforcement officials. The synagogue urged any others with concerns about Friedman's behavior to come forward.

One congregant who did not want his name published said the letter prompted "a real candid discussion" with his child, who studied Hebrew under Friedman. The child said nothing inappropriate happened.

"It's what makes this situation disheartening, because I'm still not sure what happened," the temple member said.

One thing appears clear. The temple did not find Friedman through what -- at least over the last dozen years -- has become standard procedure for hiring from the relatively small pool of Conservative cantors.

Most cantors belong to Stoehr's roughly 500-member Cantors Assembly. The group, in turn, gets most of its members from two established cantorial programs, both based in New York.

"Almost all Conservative congregations will make their initial attempt at hiring a cantor through our placement services," Stoehr said. Philip Friedman has never been a member of the Cantors Assembly, Stoehr said.

Officials from the district attorney's office won't officially say what Friedman is suspected of doing at Temple Israel. But McEneny, the spokeswoman, noted that the case was referred to the special victims unit. That bureau specializes in sex crimes and crimes against children, she said.

"I think you can draw your own conclusions," she said.

She added, "It appears ... that this particular cantor has a predatory nature. The lawsuit confirms that. And I don't believe that Temple Israel knew about this."

Other questions remain. Did Friedman work between 1990 and 1992? Did he face any other allegations? Why were no criminal charges pursued in Long Island?

Dinerstein, the East Northport temple's attorney, got involved only when the synagogue faced the lawsuit in 1996. That came roughly six years after the abuse the girl allegedly suffered ended, according to court papers.

At that point, he said, "It wasn't timely to bring it to the attention of police, especially since Friedman was no longer affiliated with the East Northport Jewish Center."

When Dinerstein tried to find out what happened, he was advised that the only person who would know if the Jewish Center had consulted with police was Stan Rubenstein, a former temple president. Rubenstein had passed away.

And, as Dinerstein recalled, the infraction that got Friedman fired in 1990 was not molestation, but lesser misdeeds, like having the girl sit on his lap.

The lawyer was not surprised to hear his former cantor had run into trouble again, however.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire," Dinerstein said. "While I believe that my interrogation of the girl established that her story wouldn't withstand scrutiny, I believe that certain elements of it were certainly true, and that was enough to raise questions about Cantor Friedman's trustworthiness with children."

For all their demonization of Friedman, the legal documents also raise questions about the credibility of his accuser. When first questioned by her parents in 1990, the girl denied Friedman had molested her. The lawsuit was filed six years later.

Paul Shapiro, a former president of the East Northport Jewish Center, seized on that time lapse in a sworn affidavit. By the time the abuse allegations did surface, the girl was in psychological counseling for conditions such as oppositional defiant disorder and borderline personality disorder, he said.

Shapiro viewed the case as "analogous to the Tawana Brawley debacle," a reference to the allegations of a black teenager whose claims that a group of white men kidnapped and raped her were found to be made up.

The district attorney's office declined to say what the next step would be in its investigation of Friedman.

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Albany temple fires cantor

Letter cites episode of "inappropriate behavior" as prosecutor takes look 

By Marc Parry 

Times Union - July 19, 2006

ALBANY -- Temple Israel fired its longtime cantor for "inappropriate behavior" toward a member of the congregation, and the Albany County district attorney's office confirmed Tuesday that it is investigating the matter.

The Albany temple's board of trustees voted unanimously to terminate Cantor Philip Friedman on May 31, Temple Israel President Gavin Setzen said in a prepared statement responding to questions from the Times Union. Synagogue trustees reported the episode to law enforcement officials on the advice of counsel, he said.

Setzen declined to provide details about Friedman's inappropriate behavior, citing an ongoing investigation by the district attorney's office.

Friedman, 65, became cantor of Temple Israel in 1992. The 57-year-old temple on New Scotland Avenue is Albany's largest Conservative synagogue. Friedman served congregations in Queens and Long Island before he moved to Albany.

A cantor chants the liturgy of a service. Friedman also worked with students at the temple.

"Relieving Cantor Friedman was a wrenching, painful decision," said a June 6 letter to Temple Israel congregants co-signed by Setzen. "The board, however, had no alternative, given Cantor Friedman's conduct."

Mark Harris, bureau chief of the district attorney's homicide and special victims unit, said information "was provided to the district attorney's office, and there is an ongoing investigation of that matter."

Harris said he is handling the probe but declined to give any details.

Special victims unit cases range from domestic violence to child abuse to failing to register as a sex offender, Harris said.

Friedman, reached at home, had no comment.

The letter to congregants announcing Friedman's departure said temple leaders would not give more details about the incident at this time "out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of the family involved."

"Should anyone have had any concerns about Cantor Friedman's conduct, please advise us as soon as possible," the letter said.

The synagogue's Web site now lists Rogerio Marx as cantor.

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Local Cantor Guilty of Sex Crime

WTEN-Channel 10 (Albany) - August 24, 2006

The cantor at a capital region temple has pled guilty to inappropriately touching a young girl.

Philip Friedman, the former cantor at Albany's Temple Israel, pled guilty today to sex crime charges involving a young girl.

Court documents sate that Friedman, 65, hugged, kissed, and touched the breast and buttocks of an 11 year-old girl. The incidents took place between May 2005 and May 2005. The girl was a member of Temple Israel in Albany, where Friedman was a cantor at the time.

In a plea bargain, Friedman faces six years probation after pleading guilty to one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child and one count of Forcible Touching. In addition, Friedman will have to register as a sex offender.

Temple Israel fired Friedman and reported him to the police after the allegations surfaced in May. In a written statement, Temple Israel officials stated "Sadly, the Board of Trustees had to meet this recent challenge by, among other things, terminating Mr. Friedman and referring the matter to the District Attorney's Office; reaching out to the Congregation to determine if others had been victimized; providing professional victim counseling; and notifying the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Cantor's Assembly of Mr. Friedman's behavior."

This is not the first time Friedman has been accused of inappropriate conduct with a child. In 1990, the ex-cantor was forced to resign from a temple in Long Island after a similar allegation surface.

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Cantor admits fondling girl, 11

District attorney says Philip Friedman, formerly of Temple Israel, had other victims

By Marc Parry

Albany Times Union, NY - August 25, 2006

ALBANY -- A longtime religious leader entrusted with teaching children at Albany's largest Conservative synagogue admitted in City Court Thursday that he molested an 11-year-old girl -- and District Attorney David Soares later said there were other victims.

Philip Friedman, cantor at Temple Israel until synagogue leaders fired him in May, faces six years of probation after pleading guilty to two misdemeanors in a deal with prosecutors. Friedman had access to the child while preparing her for the Jewish rite of passage known as bat mitzvah, Soares told the Times Union.

For more than 40 years, Friedman served as a religious pillar in several synagogues, chanting at services and teaching children. But on Thursday, dressed for court in a white fedora and dark suit, he waited for his turn before a judge next to accused criminals in yellow jump suits. He exhaled deeply and repeatedly checked his watch.

When Judge William Carter called Friedman to rise, the cantor -- once loved for his uplifting voice -- pleaded guilty in a barely audible murmur to endangering the welfare of a child and forcible touching.

The 65-year-old father of two sons groped the girl's breast and buttocks and inappropriately hugged and kissed her, according to court documents. It happened over a roughly one-year period between 2004 and 2005, when she was 11 and 12 years old.

Friedman will have to register with the state as a sex offender. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 12.

By surrendering to authorities and pleading guilty Thursday, Friedman completed a long fall that began at least 16 years ago when a Long Island synagogue forced him to resign as cantor after allegations surfaced about his behavior with at least one young girl.

Friedman's only words as reporters trailed him out of the busy Morton Avenue courthouse Thursday were "no comment."

The Albany charges emerged from Friedman's abuse of one girl at Temple Israel. But Soares told the Times Union the cantor preyed on more children there.

"I can say that there were other victims, and I would encourage them to come forward," the district attorney said in an interview. "I would offer the parents my word that we would do everything within our ability to not expose their children to further trauma."

Asked how many others, Soares said only that "there were a few other children that we did not receive cooperation from."

The district attorney praised Temple Israel for cooperating with investigators. He added pointedly that East Northport Jewish Center in Suffolk County, which employed Friedman from 1971 until it forced him to resign in 1990, "had an obligation here to put all other temples on notice."

Friedman never faced criminal charges for the alleged abuse on Long Island. But after the alleged victim sued claiming he molested her, she won payouts totaling about $600,000 in a 2000 legal settlement.

Now, Friedman will be under intense supervision over the next six years, prohibited from work involving children. But where that will be isn't clear.

In a July interview with the Times Union, the cantor indicated he would be leaving town. On Thursday, a "for sale" sign flapped in the breeze outside his house on Albany's Hackett Boulevard.

At Temple Israel, a brick building by St. Peter's Hospital, Executive Director Richard Caplan greeted a reporter's inquiry with a prepared statement.

"A difficult chapter in the life of Temple Israel is closed," read the statement from Temple President Gavin Setzen and Vice President Henry Greenberg.

"Now we at Temple Israel look forward to moving ahead, squarely focused on the heart of our existence: our religious programming and services, our prayer and spiritual growth."

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Cantor Molests Girl Preparing For Bat Mitzvah

North Country Gazette - August 25, 2006

ALBANY---A long-time cantor at Temple Israel, entrusted with teaching children, has admitted that he molested an 11-year-old girl while preparing her for her bat mitzvah.

Philip Friedman, who had served in various synagogues for more than 40 years, pleaded guilty to forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child. He will likely face six years of probation when sentenced on Oct. 12. He will have to register as a sex offender.

Court records indicate that Friedman hugged, kissed and touched the breasts and buttocks of the girl in incidents occurring between May 2004 and May 2005.

Friedman, 65, was fired in May. He is the father of two sons. He had been forced to resign as a cantor in 1990 from a Long Island synagogue after allegations arose about his behavior with another young girl. He was not criminally charged in that situation but the alleged victim won about $600,000 in a 2000 settlement. 8-25-06

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Cantor receives six years probation: Philip Friedman, former cantor at Temple Israel, must also register as sex offender for molesting girl
By Marc Parry
Times Union - December 14, 2006

ALBANY -- A City Court judge on Thursday sentenced disgraced cantor Philip Friedman to six years probation for molesting an 11-year-old girl.
 
The former cantor at Albany's Temple Israel must also register as a sex offender under the sentence imposed by Judge William Carter.

``I wish to apologize to the members of Temple Israel, to Rabbi Paul Silton, and, most of all, to my students,'' Friedman said in court, according to his lawyer.

Friedman, 66, had access to the child while preparing her for the Jewish rite of passage known as bat mitzvah.

He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in August in a deal with prosecutors.

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Former cantor sentenced 

Philip Friedman, 66, gets six years' probation for groping 11-year old girl

By Marc Parry 

Times Sun - Friday, December 15, 2006

ALBANY -- A City Court judge on Thursday sentenced disgraced cantor Philip Friedman to six years' probation for molesting an 11-year-old girl.

The former cantor at Albany's Temple Israel also must register as a sex offender under the sentence imposed by Judge William Carter.

"I wish to apologize to the members of Temple Israel, to Rabbi Paul Silton, and, most of all, to my students," Friedman said in court, according to his lawyer.

Friedman, 66, had access to the child while preparing her for the Jewish rite of passage known as bat mitzvah.

He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in August in a deal with prosecutors.

The father of two sons groped the girl's breast and buttocks and inappropriately hugged and kissed her, according to court documents.

Friedman has moved to Florida, where he and his wife have a residence, according to his attorney, Eugene Z. Grenz.

"He came back here to be sentenced," Grenz said.

In court Thursday, Friedman acknowledged that he would never teach again but said he hoped to "redeem myself by being a contributing member of society in the future."

He described his actions as "unlawful and sinful."

"I have undertaken a course of therapy to understand my behavior and cure me," he said.

Temple Israel fired Friedman in May. He acknowledged molesting one girl, but District Attorney David Soares has said Friedman preyed on more children at the synagogue.

"At this point, based on our investigation, there are no more victims who are willing to come forward for a prosecution," said Mark Harris, bureau chief of the homicide and special victims unit in Soares' office.

Friedman is due back in court in February, when a judge will classify him as a level 1, 2 or 3 sex offender. He is expected to be classified Level 1, the lowest level.

Harris said Friedman's apology may be "an indication that he now understands that it was not a high testosterone level that caused him to commit this sexual offense against a child, which he had previously stated was the reason."

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