Brooklyn Rabbi Samuel Waldman Hit With Child Pornography Charge

Crackdown: Preet Bharara, federal Manhattan prosecutor, said Samuel Waldman was arrested in a crackdown on internet child porn. Image by getty images

By Forward Staff March 6, 2014

A Brooklyn rabbi was charged with downloading child pornography after federal agents caught him in a sting, authorities said.

Samuel Waldman, 52, a teacher at a Jewish girls seminary, faces a possible five years in prison after he admitted downloading at least three short films depicting young boys and girls engaging in sex acts.

“Samuel Waldman’s position of trust in the community, as both a rabbi and a teacher, makes his alleged distribution of child pornography all the more disturbing,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.

Waldman is charged with one count of transporting or distributing child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Agents went to Waldman’s home in the Kensington section, where he admitted obtaining the films from sharing sites, agents said in court papers. The rabbi said he has watched child pornography for several years on his computer, the agents claimed.

One video depicted young girls performing oral sex on men and being raped, court papers revealed. Another showed a young boy masturbating for the camera while a third showed an adult fondling a prepubescent boy.

The Forward’s staff contributors are listed in our masthead.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO