Details Emerge in Federal Arrest of Rabbi Lyle Kamlet on Child Pornography Charges

By Alfred Branch
The Patch
February 3, 2015

http://patch.com/new-york/larchmont/details-emerge-federal-arrest-rabbi-lyle-kamlet-child-pornography-charges

Mount Vernon resident Rabbi Lyle Kamlet, 62, was arrested by federal authorities on Jan. 30 on charges he allegedly possessed and received child pornography, and additional details are emerging about the case.

Kamlet formerly worked at the Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, and officials of the Jewish day school emailed parents Monday notifying them of the arrest, according to JTA.org, a Jewish news site.

“As far as we know, during his tenure, the school had no information and had received no complaints concerning his involvement in any illegal activities,” the letter said, as reported by JTA. “Since his resignation, Westchester Day School has not provided any references or recommendations for Kamlet.”

Federal authorities did not identify the school Kamlet worked at, only saying that he was a “former Mamaroneck teacher,” causing some confusion in the community and initial media reports.

The Mamaroneck School District issued the following statement about the case:

“Over the last 24 hours, all of the local media outlets have picked up the news alert issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicating that a ’former Mamaroneck teacher’ was arrested on child pornography charges. Just to clarify, the teacher did work at a school located in Mamaroneck; however, we have reviewed our personnel records and confirmed that he was never employed by the Mamaroneck School District.”

According to Kamlet’s attorney, James Roth, the arrest came months after a search of his client’s home, reports The Journal News.

“This arrest was the result of a search of his house that occurred a year and a half ago,” Roth told The Journal News. “We are going to vigorously contest these charges in court.”