Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Lawsuit: New Haven Rabbi Sexually Assaulted Teen


In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, a New Jersey man accuses a prominent rabbi from New Haven of repeatedly sexually assaulting him when he was a teenager.

The target of the allegation is Rabbi Daniel Greer, a well-known member of the Orthodox Jewish community in New Haven and a former member of the city's board of police commissioners and governor's commission on school choice. The suit was filed electronically in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport Tuesday morning, a court clerk said.

The suit names as co-defendants two schools run by the rabbi, Yeshiva of New Haven, Inc. and The Gan School, Inc. It accused the schools of "allowing the violent sexual abuse to continue unabated for years."

It alleges that Greer sexually abused another male student as well. [...]

William Ward, Greer's attorney, said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and couldn't address the specific allegations. But he questioned the plaintiff's motives and the delay in bringing forward his allegations.

"It only takes a moment to make allegations with despicable indifference to the consequences of the damage they would cause to my client, to his family and to his reputation that he spent a lifetime building in this community. This is a difficult time for my client and his family, but I would remind the public to ask for evidence before rushing to judgment."

"Ask yourself why [the plaintiff] would wait 14 years. Ask yourself why [the plaintiff] well into his adulthood, repeatedly honored the man he accuses." He has repeatedly said the rabbi helped him personally in several ways, Ward said.

"Ask yourself why [the plaintiff] himself an Orthodox Jew, would not seek redress in the form of a rabbinical arbitration court. Finally, ask yourself why [the plaintiff's] first stop was his lawyer's office to seek money." [...]

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