Mass. Rabbi Gets Decade Probation on Abuse Charges

San Francisco Chronicle
August 2, 2012

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Rabbi-gets-10-years-probation-on-abuse-charges-3756029.php

A rabbi who admitted sexually abusing three boys while working in the Boston area as a religious teacher in the 1970s was sentenced Thursday to 10 years of probation but spared jail time.

Stanley Levitt pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child as his trial was set to begin.

On Thursday, prosecutors asked for a 2?-year sentence, plus 10 years of probation. But Superior Court Judge Geraldine Hines said she would stick to the terms of a plea agreement reached last year between prosecutors and Levitt's attorney.

Prosecutors say the 66-year-old Philadelphia man lived in Boston and worked in Brookline when he abused three boys.

A grand jury indicted him in 2009 after two victims said Levitt assaulted them in 1975 while they were his students. A third victim later came forward.

Prosecutors say Levitt assaulted one victim in a Boston hospital room while visiting after the boy hurt his hand, and the others were assaulted at Levitt's home.

Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley, said the earlier plea agreement was declared void after Levitt didn't plead guilty as expected in December.

"It was unusual that the judge in this case felt that she was bound by an agreement that was declared null and void eight months ago," Wark said.

"We stand by our recommendation. We felt that jail time was warranted, that it was appropriate."

Mitchell Garabedian, who represents two victims, said they are deciding whether to sue Levitt and the Maimonides School in Brookline. When the assaults happened during the 1975-76 school year, Levitt worked at the school and the victims were 6th-grade students there.

"The harm to sexually abused children is irreparable, and preventive measures must be put in place to protect children at all costs," Garabedian said.