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.

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