Conservative Rabbi Extradited to New York to Face Rape Charges

Bryan Bramly, a rabbi at a Conservative congregation in Arizona, has been extradited to New York City to face charges that he raped a 7-year-old girl while he was a student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, according to a report in The Jewish Daily Forward.

Bramly’s arrest comes after years of high-profile scandals in the Orthodox community, where controversy has grown over the community’s reluctance to bring charges of sexual abuse by rabbis to the attention of secular authorities.

Bramly has been a rabbi in Arizona since 2006, at Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley in Chandler, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix. It is the only Conservative congregation in the immediate area.

According to The Forward, the alleged rape occurred in 2000, but was only reported last August. The alleged victim, now 17, claims Bramly hit her and then had intercourse with her. She had been friends with Bramly’s own daughter at the time, and her family was close with the Bramly family as well.

At the time the rape is alleged to have occurred, Bramly was a first-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He was living with his wife and two children, a daughter and a son, in an apartment leased by the seminary for married students, The Forward said.

The alleged victim and her mother visited Arizona last June – while Bramly was away – and told his wife that the girl had memories of the alleged rape.

Bramly, was arrested by U.S. marshals and New York detectives in Arizona on March 23. He was charged with two counts of rape in an incident that allegedly occurred a decade ago. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $10,000 bail on March 26.