Baruch Lanner
{{short description|American former Orthodox rabbi (born 1949)}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Baruch Lanner
| image_name = Baruch Lanner.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = Mug shot of Lanner
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|10|20|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New Jersey, United States
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alias = Bernard S. Lanner
| conviction = Child sexual abuse
| conviction_penalty = Seven years in prison, paroled for four years
| conviction_status = On parole
| occupation = Former rabbi
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}
Baruch S. Lanner (born October 20, 1949)[https://www6.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/details?x=1248335&n=0 Offender Details] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523223447/https://www6.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/details?x=1248335&n=0 |date=May 23, 2011 }}, accessed via [https://www6.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatefinder?i=I "NJ Dept of Corrections - Offender Details"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118080958/https://www6.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatefinder?i=I |date=January 18, 2012 }}. (Click on "accept"; on the next screen enter "Lanner" and "Baruch" and click on "submit"; on the next screen click on his "sbi number", which is 000652003C.), New Jersey Department of Corrections. Accessed January 17, 2008. is an American former Orthodox rabbi who was convicted of child sexual abuse.Smothers, Ronald. [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/12/nyregion/rabbi-convicted-of-sexual-abuse-is-freed-on-bail-pending-appeal.html Rabbi Convicted of Sexual Abuse Is Freed on Bail Pending Appeal] The New York Times, October 12, 2002
Career
Lanner was the principal of Hillel Yeshiva High School in Ocean Township, New Jersey and later the director of regions for the Orthodox Union's National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY).[http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/searchview.php?id=9306 "World Briefs"], The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, September 20, 2002.Rosenblatt, Gary. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022151448/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-79391392.html "Stolen Innocence: RABBI BARUCH LANNER, the charismatic magnet of NCSY, was revered in the Orthodox Union youth group, despite longtime reports of abuse of teens."], The Jewish Week, June 23, 2000. Accessed December 7, 2008. "Baruch Lanner is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant, dynamic and charismatic educators in Jewish life today. As director of regions of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, an arm of the Orthodox Union, the 50-year-old rabbi has been working with and supervising teenagers for more than three decades."
Crimes
In 2000, an investigative series published in The Jewish Week
{{cite news
| first = Ronald
| last = Smothers
| title = Rabbi Convicted of Sexual Abuse Is Freed on Bail Pending Appeal
| url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00EFD9123AF931A25753C1A9649C8B63
| work=The New York Times
| date = October 12, 2002
| accessdate = 2007-12-09
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080210061749/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00EFD9123AF931A25753C1A9649C8B63
| archive-date = February 10, 2008
| url-status = dead
| df = mdy-all
}}
alleged that Lanner had physically and sexually abused young kids for decades. Lanner resigned the day after it was published."Youth groups react to sex-abuse reports" Herwald, Margi. The Cleveland Jewish News. Cleveland, Ohio: Jun 30, 2000. Vol. 76, Iss. 14; pg. 17 The story, "Stolen Innocence," later won an award for "meritorious journalism."[http://www.beliefnet.com/author/author_145.html Beliefnet.com]
An investigation was conducted by the Orthodox Union (OU). The investigating committee, headed by then-Hillel President Richard Joel, spent over $1 million interviewing more than 140 people and issued a 330-page report detailing the abuse."Orthodox Union board to vote on report on sex molestation probe;" ELLI WOHLGELERNTER. The Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem: Dec 25, 2000. pg. 04 The report alleged that Lanner had physically, sexually and emotionally abused dozens of teenagers, including fondling girls and kneeing boys in the groin, and that the abuse had begun in 1970.Jacobs, Andrew. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E1D61038F934A15751C1A9669C8B63 "Orthodox Group Details Accusations That New Jersey Rabbi Abused Teenagers"], The New York Times, December 27, 2000. Accessed November 21, 2007. As a result of the report, the executive vice president of the OU, Rabbi Raphael Butler, resigned. He had been criticized for failing to act on earlier complaints."Top O.U. official resigns, but critics say it's not enough", Wiener, Julie. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. New York: Jan 24, 2001. pg. 8
Lanner was convicted in 2002 of sexually abusing two teenage girls who attended the religious school where he had been principal, and sentenced to seven years in prison. An appeals court dismissed one of the child endangerment charges in 2005."Split Ruling On Lanner Appeal" Ain, Stewart. The New York Jewish Week. (Manhattan edition). New York, N.Y.: Feb 18, 2005. Vol. 217, Iss. 39; pg. 1 He was released on parole on January 10, 2008, and was given parole for four years.Rosenblatt, Gary. [http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a1616/News/New_York.html "Lanner to be released from jail next week."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106104600/http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a1616/News/New_York.html |date=January 6, 2008 }}, The Jewish Week, January 9, 2008. Accessed January 8, 2008
Aftermath
A second report commissioned in 2001 by the OU found that the abuse had been overlooked for decades, despite multiple complaints, and that "profound errors of judgment" had been made, including failures of management.[http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=6318 "A Scandal’s Echo"] Julie Gruenbaum Fax, Religion Editor and Julie Wiener, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Jewish Journal, January 5, 2001. The case has been described as "well-publicized" and a "watershed in the way the Orthodox community addresses sexual abuse".[http://www.jewishtimes.com/scripts/edition.pl?now=5/25/1999&SubSectionID=31&ID=4615 "Rabbi Expelled Over Sex Abuse Claims"]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Chanan Tigay, Special to the Baltimore Jewish Times, New York City, April 1, 2005.
In 2003, the members of the Beth Din that had investigated Lanner in 1989, Rabbis Mordechai Willig, Yosef Blau, and Aaron Levine, apologized to the victims for not acting to stop the abuse. Blau was singled out by Willig for counseling victims over the years."Lanner Bet Din Rabbi Apologizes: Rabbi Willig says he had `blind spots' over the years, asks for forgiveness." Rosenblatt, Gary. The New York Jewish Week. (Manhattan edition). New York, N.Y.: Feb 28, 2003. Vol. 215, Iss. 39; pg. 8{{cite web|url=http://media.www.yucommentator.com/media/storage/paper652/news/2003/03/06/News/Rabbi.Willig.Apology.Stirs.Campus-589918.shtml |title=Rabbi Willig Apology Stirs Campus |accessdate=2007-11-25 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516195242/http://media.www.yucommentator.com/media/storage/paper652/news/2003/03/06/News/Rabbi.Willig.Apology.Stirs.Campus-589918.shtml |archivedate=2008-05-16 }}, Avi Robinson, The Commentator (Yeshiva College student newspaper), March 6, 2003
Move to Israel
In June 2022, Lanner flew to Israel under the guise of tourism and requested Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. The Israeli government awarded Lanner temporary legal residency.{{Cite news |last=Kaplan Sommer |first=Allison |last2=Maltz |first2=Judy |date=July 7, 2022 |title=Israel Grants Residency Status to Rabbi Convicted of Child Sex Abuse |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-07-07/ty-article/.premium/israel-grants-residency-status-to-rabbi-convicted-of-child-sex-abuse/00000181-d80b-d9a3-a3e1-fdbb8dc00000 |access-date=July 18, 2022}}
On July 19, 2022, Minister Ayelet Shaked announced that Israel would not be offering citizenship to Lanner in light of his convictions in the US. He remains in Israel under a temporary visa.{{Cite news |last=Kaplan Sommer |first=Allison |last2=Maltz |first2=Judy |date=July 19, 2022 |title=Convicted Sex Abuser Rabbi Baruch Lanner Denied Israeli Citizenship |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-07-19/ty-article/.premium/convicted-sex-abuser-rabbi-baruch-lanner-denied-israeli-citizenship/00000182-1649-dee2-a786-bf5b5fa80000 |access-date=July 19, 2022}}
References
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Category:20th-century American criminals
Category:21st-century American criminals
Category:American Modern Orthodox rabbis
Category:American people convicted of child sexual abuse
Category:Criminals from New Jersey
Category:Child sexual abuse scandals in Judaism
Category:Members of the clergy convicted of rape
Category:People from Elizabeth, New Jersey
Category:Rabbis convicted of crimes
Category:Religious figures convicted of child sexual abuse
Category:American members of the clergy convicted of crimes
Category:20th-century American rabbis