Former Cheshire rabbi ...

By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal
February 27, 2015

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/news/latestnews/6966490-129/former-cheshire-rabbi-agrees-to-extradition-faces-trial-over-charges.html

Eric Silver, left, a former rabbi at the Temple Beth David in Cheshire, Connecticut, stands with his attorney, Charles Thompson, Jr., at Meriden Superior Court, on the morning of Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. Silver agreed to be extradited to Virginia to face trial for three charges of "indecent liberties" with a child stemming from three alleged incidents between 1968 and 1970. | Dave Zajac / Record-Journal

Eric Silver l Courtesy of CT Department of Corrections and WAVY-TV

Eric Silver, left, a former Cheshire rabbi, stands with his attorney, Charles Thompson, Jr., at Meriden Superior Court, Friday morning, February 27, 2015. Silver agreed to be extradited to Virginia to face trial for three charges of indecent liberties with a child. | Dave Zajac / Record-Journal

Former Cheshire rabbi agrees to extradition, faces trial over charges of ‘indecent liberties’ with a minor

MERIDEN — Authorities from Virginia will likely take former Cheshire rabbi Eric Silver into custody within the next two weeks. Appearing in Superior Court Friday morning, Silver agreed to face trial in Virginia, where he is charged with three counts of indecent liberties with a child.

On Monday, Cheshire police arrested Silver, 72, of 42 Willow Brook Drive, at his home. The charges stem from alleged incidents between January 1968 and June 1970.

Silver was represented by Meriden attorney Charles Thompson, Jr. in court Friday. He showed no emotion as he faced Superior Court Judge Jack W. Fischer, responding “yes your honor” when Fischer asked if he agreed to waive extradition.

Since his arrest Monday, Silver has been held at the New Haven Correctional Center without bail. Thompson requested that Silver be allowed to remain in the prison’s infirmary due to a recent back operation, and that he be allowed to use hearing aids and a breathing machine.

Silver is the subject of three direct indictments issued Jan. 21 in Norfolk, Va., according to Amanda Howie, spokeswoman for the Office of the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney. The reported victim was under the age of 14 at the time of the incident, Howie said. Further information on the case won’t be available until next week.

Silver served as rabbi at Temple Beth David on Main Street in Cheshire for two decades until his retirement in 2010. He is married with three children.

Temple Beth David board members met this week to talk about the arrest, Temple president Don Altschuler said Friday.

“Leadership at Temple Beth David is shocked and saddened to learn of the arrest of Eric Silver, our former rabbi,” he said. “Our thoughts are for everyone involved. We want everyone to know that the arrest is not related to Eric Silver’s time in Cheshire as our rabbi.”

According to Altschuler, about 220 families attend the synagogue.

The indecent liberties charge falls under Virginia’s sexual offense statute and covers conduct with children under the age of 15 that may not involve contact or sexual acts, according to the statute. In Virginia, there is no statute of limitations for the felony charge.

In terms of prosecuting crimes against children, “each state has their own rules,” said Peter Massey, a faculty member in the Henry C. Lee Institute of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven. For crimes of a sexual nature, there’s usually a longer statute of limitations because children can repress memories until they are older, he said.

In most childhood sexual abuse cases in Connecticut, the state can prosecute the offender up to 30 years after the victim reaches age 18 or up to five years after the victim reports the crime. There is no statute of limitations for Class A felonies, and in some cases if the offender’s identity is established through DNA.

Silver is active in the Cheshire community. He left an 1,800-family congregation in Long Island two decades ago to lead the Temple Beth David congregation. He wanted to serve a smaller, more intimate congregation, according to a January 2010 Record-Journal story about his retirement.

Silver’s interfaith work has sent him to Rome to meet with Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and brought a Muslim congregation from the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford to Temple Beth David in 2008.

Silver wore his Purple Heart ribbon on his lapel while working at synagogues in Canada and across the U.S. for 40 years. In January of 2004, Silver was one of 170 rabbis to have a private audience with Pope John Paul II, thanking him for his opposition to the Nazis during World War II.

Silver has also been involved in research sponsored by the Pave the Way Foundation on Pope Pius XII’s work with refugee Jews during World War II. Silver met with Benedict XVI in 2008 to present the foundation’s findings.