A Connecticut rabbi was sentenced on Monday to two decades behind bars for sexually assaulting a minor.
Judge Jon Alander ordered Rabbi Daniel Greer, 79, to begin serving his sentence, suspended after 12 years, instead of being free on bond pending appeal.
The judge said that the rabbi has the financial capability to flee, citing his wife paying a $750,000 bond after her husband’s trial.
Alander said the Talmud “teaches that there is hope for a man who is capable of being ashamed” and expressed such for Greer.
The rabbi was convicted in September of allegedly having illegal encounters between 2002 and 2003 with Eliyahu Mirlis, then 15, at Yeshiva New Haven, which Greer had founded, taught at and served as dean.
Mirlis said that Greer had sexually assaulted him on school property, at the Greer home, and at motels in Connecticut and in Pennsylvania.
In 2017, Mirlis, currently residing in New Jersey, was awarded a $15 million civil lawsuit against Greer and the school. The award is currently being appealed.
Mirlis considered Greer as a “father figure” and kept quiet about the illegal interactions until he told his future wife in 2005. He said he didn’t think that anyone would believe him.
Greer was also originally charged with four counts of second-degree sexual assault—charges that were dismissed because the state’s statute of limitations expired.
