Monsey Rabbi Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Abuse of Boy, 7

By Steve Lieberman
Journal News
August 12, 2014

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2014/08/12/rabbi-gavriel-bodenheimer-monsey-sexual-abuse-charges-guilty-rockland-court-attorney-kenneth-gribetz/13942307/

Rabbi Gavriel Bodenheimer, photographed at a news conference on East Ramapo school funding in April.(Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News)

Bodenheimer, who has 14 children and 100 grandchildren, has led the Bais Mikroh on Viola Road for decades. Allegations of corporal punishment have dogged the school, with former students making claims on blogs and news sites.

The boy and his mother filed a sex-abuse complaint against Bodenheimer in December, Detective Lt. Mark Emma said. The investigation was conducted by police and the Rockland District Attorney's Office Special Victim's Unit.

Bodenheimer, while serving as principal, subjected the student to sexual abuse starting when the boy was 7, in 2009, District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said in a statement. The sexual assaults took place in the rabbi's school office between Aug. 1, 2009, and July 31, 2010, Zugibe said.

Wolikow-Loewenberg tried to persuade the judge to release Bodenheimer without bail, saying he had been a lifelong fixture in the community.

"He's not a flight risk. There is no reason to suspect he will not return to court. His roots are here," she said.

Prosecutor John McGowan asked for $100,000 bail.

Nelson issued an order directing the rabbi to not contact the victim.

Bodenheimer, who lives on Dunhill Lane, has no arrest record. He is due back in court Aug. 26.

The charges against him carry a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Kenneth Gribetz, a former county district attorney, said he and Wolikow-Loewenberg will take the case to trial and that the rabbi never had an opportunity to testify before the grand jury.

He said the rabbi's "reputation is impeccable, without exaggeration."

"This is a total fabrication," Gribetz said. "Nothing ever happened with this boy. He's a troubled young man."

Bodenheimer has been active recently in the push to change the state education aid formula to bring more aid to the East Ramapo school district, whose board is controlled by Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish residents, and to the private schools that many of its young residents attend.