Brookline Rabbi Pleads Guilty to Child Sexual Assault

Wicked Local Brookline
August 2, 2012

http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/news/x1253625629/Brookline-rabbi-pleads-guilty-to-child-sexual-assault#axzz22NuwifmD

Rabbi Stanley Z. Levitt

A former Maimonides School teacher pleaded guilty Wednesday, Aug. 1, to charges of sexual contact with children more than 30 years ago, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Rabbi Stanley Levitt, 66, most recently of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child as the trial was set to begin, according to a release from the Suffolk DA’s office. He will be sentenced Aug. 2.

Had the case made it to trial, Assistant District Attorney David Deakin would have shown that Levitt had sexually assaulted three sixth-grade boys during the mid-1970s.

“This is a victory, not just for the victims in this case, but for every person who suffered abuse at the hands of a trusted adult,” Conley said. “The defendant’s full admission of guilt is proof that the men he abused as children were telling the truth when they finally shared their terrible secret.”

In 2009, two victims reported that Levitt had molested them while they were students at Maimonides, where he taught from 1974 to 1977.

In one case, Levitt assaulted a student at Children’s Hospital Boston, where the boy was recuperating after injuring his hand in an accident, the DA said. Another victim was assaulted twice during a weekend visit to Levitt’s then-Brighton home while the boy’s parents were out of town. Both incidents happened in 1975, according to the release.

After indictments were handed down for those incidents, a third man came forward to report he had been abused during 1975-1976 school year, when he attended a sleepover at Levitt’s home. Levitt reportedly assaulted the student after telling him to shower before bed.

In 2006, the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse was extended from 15 to 27 years, allowing older cases like those of Levitt’s victims to be prosecuted. Conley was behind those efforts to change the law. However, because Levitt left Massachusetts, the clock stopped on the statute of limitations anyway, the release said.

Scott Curtis represented Levitt.

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