Not Guilty Pleas Entered for Boca Rabbi in Internet Sex Case

By Kevin Krause
Originally published in the Sun-Sentinel, May 24, 2001

WEST PALM BEACH — Not guilty pleas were entered Thursday morning for a Boca Raton rabbi who was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he sought sex with boys he met on the Internet.

The indictment charges Jerrold Levy with two counts of using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, two counts of possessing child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography.

The pleas were entered by U.S. Magistrate Ann Vitunac at Thursday morning’s arraignment after attorney Edward Shohat decided against entering any pleas for his client. Shohat was given 28 days to file motions. Levy’s next hearing was scheduled for June 11th.

Levy, 58, former associate rabbi of Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, remains in jail without bail.

If convicted on all counts, he faces 55 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Most of the child pornographic images allegedly found on Levy's computer were downloaded from the Internet, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. It's unclear how many images were recovered from the computer's hard drive because each count says "one or more images" were found.

Levy was initially arrested April 5 by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office after authorities said he sent sexually explicit computer messages to a deputy posing as a 14-year-old boy and then arranged to meet him, reports show.

Three weeks later, Levy was hospitalized overnight after attempting suicide in his Boca Raton apartment, police said.