Man Charged in Extorting Boston-area Rabbi Having Affair with Teen

JTA
May 12, 2015

http://www.jta.org/2015/05/12/news-opinion/united-states/boston-area-man-indicted-for-extorting-from-rabbi-having-affair-with-teen

Rabbi Barry Starr allegedly paid nearly half a million dollars to hide his two-year affair with a 16-year-old. (YouTube)

A 30-year-old man was indicted on charges of extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from a prominent Boston-area rabbi who was having an affair with a male teenager.

Nicholas Zemeitus, of suburban Boston, was arrested and charged on Monday, the Boston Globe reported. He had threatened to expose the affair unless he was paid by Rabbi Barry Starr,who resigned a year ago from Temple Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Sharon, Massachusetts.

Starr allegedly paid nearly half a million dollars — taken from synagogue funds and borrowed from his congregants — to hide his two-year affair with the 16-year-old. Much of the money came from the rabbi’s discretionary fund, including checks altered by the rabbi. Starr also borrowed thousands of dollars from an elderly congregant, a Holocaust survivor.

Zemeitus claimed to be the older brother of the teen, who was 18 when the affair ended.

He was charged with eight counts of larceny, two counts of receiving stolen property and one count of extortion.

Zemeitus said he met the rabbi on Craigslist, according to the Globe, citing court documents. He met Starr at his home after an exchange of emails.

It is still unclear if Zemeitus is related to the teen, though he claimed to have copies of emails exchanged between the rabbi and the teen, as well as photographs of them together. The affair started three years ago and ended about a year ago.

Starr, a married father of two, is credited with expanding the congregation he served for 28 years to over 600 families. He has served on the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Theological Seminary and as president of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, as well as the region’s Rabbinical Assembly.