Rabbi Accused of Abusing Long Island Student: Police

Police arrested a rabbi accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy at a Hebrew school on Long Island over a six-month period nearly four years ago.

Nassau County police say 56-year-old Gary Lieberman assaulted the 10-year-old boy several times between November 2009 and May 2010 at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County in West Hempstead, where he was a teacher.

Lieberman was arraigned on Friday on two counts of first-degree sexual abuse. He pleaded not guilty. 

Lieberman allegedly assaulted the boy while he was alone in a second-floor learning resource room and in a school bathroom. Lieberman also allegedly told the boy that because he was a rabbi, no one would believe him if he told anyone about the abuses.

Lieberman stopped working at the school in August 2010, but has worked at other private religious schools since then, police say. The Hebrew Academy learned about the abuse this year, and Nassau County police arrested the man on Thursday.

If found guilty, Lieberman faces as many as 14 years in prison. He is due back in court on Oct. 22.  

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