Rabbi charged with assaulting underage female relatives

From brooklyneagle.com

A Brooklyn man who fled to Israel in 2010 to escape charges that he repeatedly sexually assaulted two young relatives has been extradited to Brooklyn. 

Gershon Kranczer, 65, a rabbi who was formerly the head  of a Brooklyn yeshiva, was arraigned Friday on an indictment in which he is charged with course of sexual conduct against a child, criminal sexual act and sexual abuse.

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “This defendant tried to escape justice by fleeing our jurisdiction. Today’s arraignment on these serious charges is our first step to bringing him to justice for this alleged terrible betrayal of trust. There is no place in our society for this type of predatory behavior, and I am committed to prosecuting cases such as this despite lengthy extradition proceedings.”DAILY TOP BROOKLYN NEWSNews for those who live, work and play in Brooklyn and beyond

Kranczer was arraigned on Friday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas and was charged with second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, second-degree criminal sexual act and second-degree sexual abuse. He was ordered held without bail and to return to court on March 25, 2021.

Gonzalez said that, according to the investigation, on multiple occasions from August 1996 to February 2003, in Midwood, Brooklyn, the defendant allegedly sexually assaulted a child from the time she was six years old to 13 years old. He allegedly sexually abused a second child between March 2001 and September 2002 when she was approximately 11 years old.

The defendant fled to Israel in November 2010 to allegedly escape prosecution. He was returned to New York today by the United States Marshals Service.

The investigation was conducted by New York City Police Detective Steve Litwin, formerly assigned to the Brooklyn Special Victims Squad and currently assigned to the Cold Case Squad.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Connie Solimeo, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Chief.