MASSACHUSETTS
Boston.com

By Jordan Lebeau
Boston.com Staff | 05.12.15

A former Sharon rabbi is accused of siphoning temple money and requesting loans from congregates in order to pay off an extortionist, according to a Boston Globe report.

Rabbi Barry Starr, formerly of Temple Israel, was recently indicted on charges of embezzlement by a fiduciary and larceny over $250, according to the report. Authorities said Starr, who left the temple last year and now lives out of state, paid 30-year-old Nicholas Zemeitus $480,000 since 2011 in exchange for his silence on the subject of the rabbi’s alleged relationship with a younger male. No evidence of any such relationship has been uncovered, the Globe reports.

“This has been a beloved and respected rabbi for 28 years and to learn of this news, it’s heartbreaking,” Arnie Freedman, Temple Israel’s president, told the newspaper Tuesday.