Boca Rabbi Pleads Guilty To Sex Abuse, Porn Charges

Originally published by The Associated Press, August 21, 2001

FORT LAUDERDALE — A Boca Raton rabbi pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges he used his computer to download child pornography and lure teen-age boys to meetings with him for sex.

Jerrold Levy, 58, had pleaded innocent in May, but changed his plea to guilty at a hearing before U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas.

Levy, who resigned from his post as associate rabbi at Boca Raton's Temple Beth El after his arrest earlier this year, faces up to 60 years in federal prison when sentenced. A sentencing date was set for Dec. 21.

A federal grand jury indicted Levy on two counts of using an Internet account to arrange sexual meetings with two teens he met online. He also was indicted on charges of possessing child pornography on his computer and receiving a pornographic image of a youth.

Prosecutors say Levy had sex with a 14-year-old Wellington boy in the back of the rabbi's car in February. He was arrested in April when he arrived at a library to meet another boy who turned out to be an undercover sheriff's detective.

Levy's attorney, Edward Shohat, has said his client attended therapy while being held in jail without bond.