Case of Cantor Stuart David Michael Friedman
(AKA: Stuart Friedman, Stuart Michael Friedman, Stuard David Friedman, David Friedman)
Baltimore, MD
Beth Israel Synagogue - Halifax, Canada
Cleveland, Ohio
Detroit, MI
Hometown - Philadelphia, PA
Boston, MA
Los Angeles, CA
In September, 1996 Stuart Friedman was arrested performing sexual and sadomasochistic acts. He was convicted and sentanced to federal prison. He currentlyl resides in the orthodox community of Baltimore.
CALL TO ACTION: Demand that Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer Make Public A Safety Plan
To Keep Cantor Stuart Friedman Away From Children
Contact:
Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer - Shearith Yisrael (Glen Ave. Shul)
Phone: 410-466-3060 Fax: 410-367-9183
Cantor Stuart Friedman regularly prays at the Glenn Avenue Shul. As of today Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer has not warned parents in the community that a convicted sex offender is a regular at his synagogue nor has a safety plan been made public.
The Awareness Center is asking everyone to contact Rabbi Hopfer and demand that he make the following information public. We are also asking that the following be apart of the safety plan.
Parents within the Eruv of Baltimore be notified that Cantor Stuart Friedman resides in the community. The notification must include his photograph as a way to keep unsuspecting children safe.
A special minyan be created in which no children under the age of 21 are present, so that Stuart Friedman can daven without being tempted.
Stuart Friedman be escorted when he is in shul or any other public location in which children can be present. Mr. Friedman especially needs to be escorted when using the bathroom or in hallways.
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
August, 1994. Cantor Stuart Friedman was hired by Beth Israel Synagogue in Halifax, NS, Canada. His previous positions include synagogues in Cleveland, OH, and Detroit, MD. Mr. Friedman, holder of a music degree from an American university
July 18, 1996. Cantor Stuart Friedman chatted on line from his home computer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, with an undercover FBI agent who was located in Long Beach, CA.
September, 1996. Cantor Friedman was arrested after he sent 29 pornographic photos of children over the Internet to an unidentified source in the United States. The photographs included children performing sexual and sadomasochistic acts.
Authorities said Cantor Friedman, was originally arrested after a lengthy Canada-U.S. investigation into a child porn ring on the Internet. The Canadian police seized up to 300 still photos involving nudity and sex acts involving children as young as eight. They also confiscated dozens of computer disks and videotapes containing child porn, as well as magazines with titles such as First Hand and Boys.
January 6, 1997. Cantor Stuart David Friedman pled guilty to possessing child pornography in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was fined $2,000 and a $200 victim surcharge and was then allowed to leave the country immediately for the United States.
August 13, 1998 Cantor Stuart Friedman was arrested by the FBI in Baltimore, MD and flown to Los Angles, CA. He faced a maximum sentence of a $380,000 fine and 15 years in prison. His attorney, Marcia Brewer, succeeded in reducing the level of punishment to 15 months in prison and three years' probation. She also persuaded the judge to remove the requirement that Friedman must disclose his child-pornography conviction to parents of anyone younger than 18 with whom he has contact. Instead, Friedman is ordered to just notify his employer. Judge Moreno said he took into account the pictures were not of boys younger than 12 and did not depict sadism. Yet sources do not say if any of the boys over 12 depicted sadism.
May 9, 2000. Cantor Stuart Friedman was released from federal prison and relocated to the orthodox community of Baltimore, residing at 3809 Clarks Lane.
2004. Cantor Stuart Friedman was noncompliant with the Maryland Sex Offender Registry for over a year, yet is now compliant.
2008. Stuart Friedman currently prays Shearith Yisrael (commonly known as the Glen Ave. Shul), which is directed by Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer. He is listed as living in an apartment owned by one of the daughters of alleged sex offender, Rabbi Moshe Eisemann. His apartment also is next door to the childhood home of convicted sex offender, Shmuel Zev Juravel.
Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation
or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet
their own personal needs.
1997
Jewish cantor caught with child porn (01/07/1997)
1998
Ex-Halifax cantor chatted with FBI (03/11/1998)
1999
Cantor Gets Prison For Child Porn (03/02/1999)
2000
N.S. gets voice in child-pornography legal fight; Crown attorney to appear before Supreme Court (01/18/2000)
2001
2002
2003
2004
Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services - MD Resident Sex Offender Registry (02/08/2004)
2005
2006
2007
2008 National Sex Offender Registry (04/27/2007)
Also see:
Jewish cantor caught with child porn
Canadian Press Newswire - January 7, 1997
(Please Note: the journalist used an alternative spelling of the name Stuart)
A Jewish cleric who led prayers and song at his synagogue and gave Hebrew lessons to children pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing child pornography.
Stewart Friedman, a U.S. citizen who has lived in Halifax for two years, covered his face with the collar of his trenchcoat as he was led into court.
He was fined $2,000 for possessing child porn and allowed to leave the country immediately for the United States. Authorities said Friedman, a cantor at Beth Israel Synagogue, was arrested after a lengthy Canada-U.S. investigation into a child porn ring on the Internet.
Police raided Friedman's south-end apartment Monday and found him seated at his computer terminal.
They seized up to 300 still photos involving nudity and sex acts involving children as young as eight.
They also confiscated dozens of computer disks and videotapes containing child porn, as well as magazines with titles such as First Hand and Boys. They also seized two computer terminals - one equipped with a camera for scanning photos and sending them over the Internet.
''They were extremely sickening,'' Const. Gary Martin, a Halifax police spokesman, said of the material. ''That's why a legal society can't tolerate that.''
Police also seized a book in Friedman's apartment detailing how parents can street-proof their children.
Friedman, who isn't married, arrived in Halifax in August 1994 to be Beth Israel's cantor, a Jewish cleric who leads worshippers in song and prayer. He also gave religious instruction to children in the synagogue.
The Crown and police said they were satisfied Friedman wasn't physically involved with children in the synagogue or in the material seized.
''There is absolutely no evidence that he in any way put his personal feelings over his professional responsibility or in any way did anything to any child,'' said Joel Pink, Friedman's lawyer.
Friedman, bearded and wearing a yarmulke, stared at the floor for most of his court appearance. He did not speak.
After paying his fine, he was whisked out a side door in the courthouse and into a waiting car.
Pink told reporters Friedman left Canada voluntarily and wasn't ordered out. He was to board a flight to Boston early Tuesday night.
Friedman's home town wasn't revealed, but it's known he last lived in Philadelphia.
Beth Israel officials couldn't be reached for comment.
A charge of possessing child porn carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, but both the Crown and defence asked for only a $2,000 fine.
Crown lawyer Frank Hoskins rejected a suggestion that Friedman received a light sentence because of his standing in the community.
''I don't think he got off easy at all,'' he said. ''I think it was a fair, fit and proper punishment.
''It was one that struck a just proportion between the circumstances surrounding the possession and the circumstance surrounding the offender.''
The court was told Friedman became a suspect in September after he sent 29 graphic photos by Internet to an unidentified source in the United States.
Despite that, Hoskins said police didn't have reasonable grounds to believe Friedman was distributing child porn.
Sgt. Bill Cowper, an Internet crime expert with Halifax police, said an investigation into the child porn ring was continuing involving police in both Canada and the U.S.
He said more charges were likely.
Cantor fined for child porn - Arrest
shock synagogue; Teacher flies back to U.S.
by Eva Hoare and Amy Pugsley Fraser
The Halifax Herald - Wednesday, January 8 1997
A Hebrew school teacher and cantor at a Halifax synagogue, who downloaded hundreds of pornographic photographs of children from the Internet, was fined $2,200 in court Tuesday.
The fine was paid and Stuart David Friedman, a well-liked and respected member of the Beth Israel Synagogue, promptly left the country for his native United States.
It's the first charge of its kind in Nova Scotia and justice officials hinted that Mr. Friedman's activities - downloading a personal fantasy collection of boys performing sexual and sadomasochistic acts - could be connected to an international child pornography ring.
Mr. Friedman, 42, of South Park Street, Halifax, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography from the Internet. When Canada Customs and police officers arrested him during a raid on his apartment Monday, the cantor was surfing the Net.
Although his private cache contained photographs and videos - as well as gay and bondage magazines - the bulk of his collection was 223 computer-generated photos of child pornography stored on diskettes, on two computer hard drives, and on computer printouts.
"It's extremely disgusting", said Const. Gary Martin of the Halifax Regional Police Service, whose officers also conducted a search of Chebucto Freenet offices, Mr. Friedman's Internet provider. "Ninety per cent of this material was obtained either directly or indirectly through the Internet. Some ... was directly downloaded from the Internet and some ... was obtained from different groups that are within the Internet", Const. Martin said.
"The pictures are very explicit. It covers just about every avenue of pornography that's out there."
Canada Customs' intelligence division started working the case last September and then brought in regional police, said Ed Osborne, customs' regional intelligence officer.
Now officers - who'll spend hundreds of hours poring over the materials - want to know if any Nova Scotian children were depicted in the "gruesome" photos and material seized. But they do not expect that will be the case.
Parents of children who attended the Hebrew school, shocked by the arrest, planned to meet Tuesday night.
"As aware as people are that these things can and do happen, it's still a shock", said Cathy Fox, president of the Beth Israel Synagogue. Her three children - two sons and a daughter - were taught by Mr. Friedman at the synagogue's Hebrew school. "It's a very difficult time."
The cantor - who leads the congregation in song - taught her 13- year-old son songs and chants that were part of his bar mitzvah ceremony last October, Mrs. Fox said.
Some members will feel betrayed as a result of the charges. "I think the elderly members of our congregation will be very hurt by this." Some are appalled while others expressed sympathy.
"I'm very saddened", said Robert Wolman, president of the synagogue's board of governors.
Mr. Wolman said he and other board members heard about the case Monday night and Mr. Friedman was immediately dismissed.
Wearing an olive-colored trenchcoat and a black yarmulke (skull cap) over his greying hair, a pale and visibly nervous Mr. Friedman was ushered into provincial court by two sheriff's deputies. Refusing even to look up at the judge, he stared resolutely at the floor while wringing his hands.
"This is the first (such) charge through our office", Crown attorney Frank Hoskins told Judge Hughes Randall.
"But it sends a message out to the public that if you're in possession of these images from your Internet and they're child pornography, you can be charged with a criminal offence and get a criminal record and a substantial fine", Mr. Hoskins said later.
Canada Customs received information about a child pornography ring in Canada and the United States operating via the Internet, surface mail, and electronic (e-mail), the Crown attorney said.
Officers said Mr. Friedman's apartment was "ill-kept and unclean", and that they also found letters with explicit sexual content. A second search conducted at Chebucto Freenet yielded his e-mail records.
Mr. Hoskins and defence lawyer Joel Pink said Mr. Friedman, who co-operated with police, was only using the material for his own sexual fantasies.
"His intent was possession, not distribution or selling", said the Crown.
The former cantor - who is not married - has provided information that willhelp police bring more "like-minded individuals" to justice, Mr. Hoskins said.
Outside court, police Sgt. Bill Cowper, the department's Internet specialist, said this is just the beginning.
"We're pursuing every angle at this time. He's not the only person. ... The investigation does involve law enforcement officials in Canada and in the United States."
Police said Mr. Friedman is being investigated over the alleged distribution of photos to other Internet users.
Police won't say which American agencies are involved and the U.S. Customs Service, reached late Tuesday, declined comment.
Mr. Hoskins asked that Mr. Friedman surrender his computers, valued at $1,200 and $1,500 apiece, to the court in addition to the $2,200 fine ($2,000 plus a $200 victim surcharge). Two sets of handcuffs were also confiscated.
After the court appearance, Mr. Friedman took the 4:45 p.m. flight to Boston to be with his family.
Officials won't comment on the amount of the fine - the offence carries a maximum of five years in prison - saying that's up to the judge. But they did say there was a plea bargain.
Mr. Friedman, holder of a music degree from an American university, arrived in Halifax in August 1994 and has worked at Beth Israel ever since.
His last posting as a cantor was in the Detroit area.
The man, whose job was to lead prayers, teach Hebrew school, and help prepare boys for bar mitzvah, has no prior criminal record, Mr. Pink said.
"My eldest son has a great deal of respect for the cantor", said Mrs. Fox, who wanted to break the news to her children before they heard it through the media.
"We have to do this in a very nonalarmist fashion ... I'm still thinking about how we will handle this."
Mr. Wolman said the board of governors would review of the matter as soon as possible and plans to tighten the screening process for future cantors.
Police also said they found a stash of adult pornography - 31 nude or partially-nude self-portraits - but the charges stem from the child-related material.
(With staff reporters Bruce Erskine and Barry Dorey)
Disgraced cleric leaves town: American admits
kiddie-porn guilt, pays $2,000 fine, flies to Boston
By Susanne Hiller
The Daily News (Halifax, NS) - January 8, 1997. pg. 4
[Cantor Stuart Friedman] -- who led prayers and song at Beth Israel Synagogue and gave Hebrew lessons to children -- looked around the courtroom anxiously yesterday. Friedman, who wore a yarmulke and a trench coat, refused to speak to reporters.
Friedman came to Halifax from Cleveland, Ohio, 16 months ago with "a spotless reputation," synagogue president Robert Wolman said yesterday. The child-porn charges surprised members of the Oxford Street synagogue, he said.
[Joel Pink] told court Friedman, who has no previous criminal record, admitted he "fantasized" about the photos. Pink said there was no evidence the porn was intended for anything but his client's own use.
------
A respected Jewish cleric who participated in an alleged international child pornography ring left Nova Scotia hours after pleading guilty yesterday under a deal with local police and prosecutors.
Cantor Stuart Friedman, 42, appeared in Halifax provincial court yesterday afternoon on charges of possessing child pornography in his 1333 South Park St. home.
Friedman, an American citizen who has lived in Halifax for about two years, was arrested Monday.
Police said they found photographs, videos, computer graphic files on disks, hard drives and printed on paper, and magazines depicting children in sex acts.
Police also seized a book in Friedman's apartment detailing how parents can street-proof their children.
Friedman -- who led prayers and song at Beth Israel Synagogue and gave Hebrew lessons to children -- looked around the courtroom anxiously yesterday. Friedman, who wore a yarmulke and a trench coat, refused to speak to reporters.
He was to board a 4:45 p.m. flight to Boston yesterday. He left court though a side door and jumped into a waiting car.
Friedman came to Halifax from Cleveland, Ohio, 16 months ago with "a spotless reputation," synagogue president Robert Wolman said yesterday. The child-porn charges surprised members of the Oxford Street synagogue, he said.
"It was very much of a shock. I mean, you could have knocked me over with a feather. It would have been the last thing in the world that I would have thought," he said.
Wolman said the synagogue will investigate the matter.
Friedman was fined $2,000 for possessing child porn -- the first such case in Nova Scotia.
Defence lawyer Joel Pink told The Daily News his client pleaded guilty "in lieu" of the police pursuing distribution charges.
That does not mean he would have been charged with distribution - - which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years -- if he hadn't agreed to the deal, he said.
"No decision had been made ... about what charges were to be laid," he said. "The agreement came as a result of discussing certain things with the Crown and the level of co-operation of my client."
Pink said he and Friedman "spent the whole night co-operating with police" after his arrest.
"He has given them all the information he knows about this alleged ring," he said. "Based on the information he gave them, agencies in the United States will be contacted by local police."
Friedman also agreed to leave Canada immediately, he said.
"Part of the agreement was a request he leave Canada," Pink said. "He agreed. There is no reason for him to stay."
Crown attorney Frank Hoskins told court Halifax regional police arrested Friedman after gaining information about an alleged porn ring operating in Canada and the United States.
Pink told court Friedman, who has no previous criminal record, admitted he "fantasized" about the photos. Pink said there was no evidence the porn was intended for anything but his client's own use.
"At no time did he download videos in front of children or anyone else," said Pink.
A charge of possessing kiddie porn carries a maximum five-year sentence; lawyers jointly asked for a $2,000 fine.
"I don't think he got off easy at all," said Hoskins. "I think it was a fair, fit and proper punishment. It's the first case like this and it sends a message out to the court that those involved in child pornography will be suitably fined and punished. "
Halifax regional police Sgt. Bill Cowper, an Internet crime expert, said there were no precedents for the court to follow.
"It's a new problem," he said. "But this is certainly an awakening to what is out there. I think parents should use this as a wake-up call to what their children and pre-adolescents could be talking to or seeing on the Internet. It's like putting them in a community of strangers."
Stuart Friedman heads into Halifax provincial court
yesterday, where he pleaded...
Daily News. Halifax, NS - Jan 8, 1997. pg. 1
Stuart Friedman heads into Halifax provincial court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. After being fined $2,000, the cantor at Beth Israel Synagogue left the country.
Child abusers tap into safety guides, parents
warned
Hamilton Spectator (Ontario, Canada) - January 9, 1997 Thursday Final Edition
CANADA & WORLD; Pg. B2
HALIFAX A street-proofing guide found among a collection of child pornography should be a chilling wake-up call to parents.
"It tells me the average parent better get a book themselves and educate themselves and their children," said Eric Sommerfeldt, part of a national organization that provides information to protect children from abusers.
"It doesn't surprise me that it was there. If the bad guys are learning the techniques, doesn't it make make sense that parents should be aware?" Mr. Sommerfeldt, executive director of ChildFind Alberta, said yesterday. Halifax police raided the apartment of a Jewish cleric Monday and found him seated at his computer terminal downloading child pornography from the Internet. Among the cache of kiddie porn that included dozens of videos, magazines and photographs involving boys as young as eight, was information on how parents should street-proof their children.
Halifax police say they are satisfied Stuart Friedman, 42, a U.S. citizen who led songs and prayer at Beth Israel Synagogue, was not physically involved with children in the synagogue or in the material seized.
Friedman pleaded guilty and was allowed to leave Canada on Tuesday night after paying a $2,000 fine.
Mr. Sommerfeldt's organization has a video among its street-proofing materials that includes an interview with a child killer detailing how pedophiles gain the trust of their victims.
"He bragged about how he could get any child, how he could get around any street-proofing methods."
ChildFind tried showing the video to groups of parents, but found many could not stomach listening to the man, who was hanged in Washington state in 1993.
"The wolf was teaching the sheep what to do to keep out of trouble," said Mr. Sommerfeldt. "But they didn't want to listen."
A police officer who specializes in cyber-porn says parents should tape a list of basic cautions to the family computer, such as don't talk to strangers. And never contact anyone they've met on the Internet without a parent.
"Parents have to wake up and pay attention to what your kids are doing on the computer -- especially on the Internet," said Bob Matthews, head of the anti-pornography unit with the Ontario Provincial Police.
"And get the computer out of the bedroom ... to a more central place where you can see what the child is doing and reading."
Mr. Matthews concedes there is no guarantee that any number of parental warnings will ensure safety, since children may just forget.
"But it's important parents do everything they can to street-proof their child and always make sure they feel comfortable telling you anything."
In recent months, the OPP unit completed two major investigations involving the Internet distribution of child pornography. In one, police charged a Defence Department employee who was accused of using a government computer hooked to the Internet at work.
Police also seized 20,000 computer files from a Kirkland Lake man, including photos and video clips of children who appeared drugged and in pain.
Crime: U.S. officials investigating Jewish cleric
for kiddie porn
The Canadian Press. The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ont.- Jan 9, 1997. pg. D.7
U.S. Customs officers in Baltimore are now involved in the investigation of a child pornography scandal for which a Jewish cleric was convicted in Halifax this week.
But U.S. officials wouldn't say Wednesday if they planned to arrest Stuart Friedman, who pleaded guilty Tuesday in Halifax to possessing reams of kiddie porn, some of which he had downloaded from the Internet.
Friedman, 42, cantor at the Beth Israel Synagogue in Halifax until his arrest Monday, flew to his hometown of Baltimore on Tuesday after he paid a $2,000 fine and a $200 victim surcharge.
U.S. Customs officers in Baltimore are now involved in the investigation of a child pornography scandal for which a Jewish cleric was convicted in Halifax this week.
But U.S. officials wouldn't say Wednesday if they planned to arrest Stuart Friedman, who pleaded guilty Tuesday in Halifax to possessing reams of kiddie porn, some of which he had downloaded from the Internet.
``We are aware of Mr. Friedman,'' said Vincent Redosta, in charge of a special investigations unit at the U.S. Customs office in Baltimore.
``We are in contact with our Boston office and are looking into (it).''
Friedman, 42, cantor at the Beth Israel Synagogue in Halifax until his arrest Monday, flew to his hometown of Baltimore on Tuesday after he paid a $2,000 fine and a $200 victim surcharge.
It's believed U.S. authorities, including the FBI, are investigating whether Friedman was involved in distributing the kind of pornography that cluttered his Halifax apartment.
Both prosection and defence say evidence seized in the apartment -- hundreds of photos, videotapes and books depicting children performing sexual acts -- was for Friedman's personal use. He also had a streetproofing guide for children.
Friedman, who taught children at the city's orthodox Jewish temple, swore he didn't victimize any children in the congregation he left behind, the synagogue president said Wednesday.
``He swore he never touched anybody and told me he had offered to take a polygraph,'' said Bob Wolman. ``I believe him. I want to believe him.''
Canada Customs officials, who started the Friedman investigation, and Halifax police, who worked with customs, concede his arrest is just the start. U.S. police are hot on the trail of a potential international kiddie-porn ring.
Marilyn Young, a senior customs intelligence officer in Ottawa, said one arrest often leads to others.
``The initial contact is made through the Internet, then they send things through the mail. One arrest can lead to another because of those contacts.''
Friedman did provide police with information after undercover officers in California apparently keyed in on him while surfing the Internet.
Disgraced cleric must visit police: Sex offender
has to register in Massachusetts
By Chris Lambie
Daily News. Halifax, NS - January 9, 1997. pg. 4
[Cantor Stuart Friedman] -- who led prayers and song at Beth Israel Synagogue and gave Hebrew lessons to children -- came to Halifax from Cleveland, Ohio, 16 months ago.
They also found snapshots of Friedman with children, said Const. Gary Martin. "But they were not of any sexual nature whatsoever," said Martin.
Investigators arrested Friedman after his apartment was raided because they were worried the cantor might bolt. But that meant they only had 24 hours to lay charges, said Martin.
Boston police say a Jewish cleric involved in an alleged international child pornography ring will not roam their city unsupervised.
Cantor Stuart Friedman -- who pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in Halifax provincial court Tuesday -- boarded a plane for Boston immediately after paying a $2,000 fine.
A new Massachusetts law orders convicted sex offenders to alert police when they enter the state, Boston police officer Jim Browning said yesterday.
"If they move in within the city limits they have to register," said Browning. "They have 48 hours to go to the local police department to be fingerprinted and photographed."
`Name would pop up'
If Friedman doesn't register, he could face "jail, or a fine, or both."
Browning said hearing Friedman was flying into Boston was unsettling.
"It would worry me who my next-door neighbor is if I didn't know him," he said. "You want to know everybody in your community that you can possibly know.... That's why we have this (sex offender) registry now."
Friedman -- who led prayers and song at Beth Israel Synagogue and gave Hebrew lessons to children -- came to Halifax from Cleveland, Ohio, 16 months ago.
The 42-year-old hadn't been investigated for, or charged with, any sex crimes in that city, said Cleveland police Sgt. Muriel Craig, from the department's sex crimes unit.
If Friedman returns to Ohio, he would have to get his name placed on that state's sex offender registry, said Craig.
"There would be an entry made in the computer so that if someone were to be checking on (him) for a position that involved children, then (his) name would pop up on the computer."
When they raided Friedman's South Park Street apartment Monday, Halifax regional police found photos, videos, computer graphic files on disks and hard drives, and magazines depicting children in sex acts.
They also found snapshots of Friedman with children, said Const. Gary Martin. "But they were not of any sexual nature whatsoever," said Martin.
Beth Israel president Robert Wolman went over some of Friedman's collection with investigators yesterday. He was glad not to recognize any of the children in the photos.
"I'm sure it will alleviate any fears," said Wolman. "I'm satisfied."
Now that Friedman has a criminal record, it will be hard for him to get a job near children, he said.
"He'll carry this baggage with him for the rest of his life," said Wolman. "At least other people can be forewarned."
Part of Friedman's deal with Canadian authorities was that he leave the country immediately. But investigators will continue to wade through the reams of child pornography he left behind, said Martin. "The book's not closed because we have not had the opportunity to go over 100 per cent of that material."
Investigators arrested Friedman after his apartment was raided because they were worried the cantor might bolt. But that meant they only had 24 hours to lay charges, said Martin.
"How long do you think you're going to stay around after I've seized a bunch of child pornography out of your apartment?" he said.
"We could have taken a chance, I suppose, and said `Well, we're going to continue the investigation.' "
But the only charge police were sure of was possession, said Martin.
`Real loser'
The search warrant for Friedman's apartment has been sealed for a year "to protect some information that we have in relation to the investigation and possible ongoing investigations that another agency (in the U.S.) may be involved in."
Friedman could have been collecting the child porn for a long time, said Martin.
"If no one's ever caught him or no one's ever said anything, you'd never know," he said. "It's the real loser, usually, that's caught the first time."
While Martin is relieved to find no local children were part of Friedman's kiddie-porn stash, it's cold comfort.
"These photos and images of thousands and thousands of different children had to be made somewhere in the world and children had to be exploited," he said.
"No one can even try to tell me that they're being done of their own free will. They are being forced, or coerced, by people of authority to commit these sexual acts. They're being victimized."
Cyber-porn has chilling message for
parents
By Judy Monchuck
The Toronto Star, January 10, 1997, Friday, METRO EDITION
SECTION: LIFE; Pg. B2
HALIFAX - A street-proofing guide found among a collection of child pornography should be a chilling wake-up call to parents.
"It tells me the average parent better get a book themselves and educate themselves and their children," says Eric Sommerfeldt, executive director of ChildFind Alberta, a national organization that provides information to protect children from abusers.
"It doesn't surprise me that it was there. If the bad guys are learning the techniques, doesn't it make make sense that parents should be aware?"
PORN ON INTERNET
Halifax police who raided an apartment found the occupant seated at his computer terminal downloading child pornography from the Internet. Among the cache of kiddie porn that included dozens of videos, magazines and photographs involving boys as young as 8, was information on how parents should street-proof their children.
Halifax police say they are satisfied Stuart Friedman, 42, a U.S. citizen who led songs and prayer at a synagogue, was not physically involved with children in the synagogue or in the material seized.
Friedman was allowed to leave Canada this week after paying a $2,000 fine.
Sommerfeldt's organization has a video among its street-proofing materials that includes an interview with a child killer detailing how pedophiles gain the trust of their victims. "He bragged about how he could get any child, how he could get around any street-proofing methods."
ChildFind tried showing the video to groups of parents, but found many could not stomach listening to the man, who was executed in Washington state in 1993.
PEDOPHILES GAIN TRUST
"The wolf was teaching the sheep what to do to keep out of trouble," says Sommerfeldt. "But they didn't want to listen."
A police officer who specializes in cyber-porn says parents should consider taping a list of basic cautions to the family computer, such as don't talk to strangers. And never contact anyone they've met on the Internet without a parent.
"Parents have to wake up and pay attention to what your kids are doing on the computer - especially on the Internet," says Bob Matthews, head of the anti- pornography unit with the Ontario Provincial Police. "And get the computer out of the bedroom . . . to a more central place where you can see what the child is doing and reading."Internet; Canada; child; pornography
Friedman's real punishment is the
stigma
By David Swick
Daily News. Halifax, NS - January 10, 1997. pg. 2
"There are new sentencing guidelines in the Criminal Code that just came into effect in '95," says Dalhousie University Law School criminal law professor Carol Aylward. "Pursuant to those new rules, there is sort of a directive to use incarceration as a last resort.
Jail is the sentence of last resort, Aylward said, not only because prison is extremely expensive for taxpayers, but because "it's not necessarily the best deterrent. There's no guarantee that by incarcerating someone you are sending a message on general deterrents -- so other people don't commit the same crime -- or having a direct impact on the accused person.
In some cases -- johns who visit prostitutes, for example -- Aylward said the best deterrent is shameful publicity. Damage to a person's reputation is also taken into consideration during sentencing. [Stuart Friedman] woke up Monday morning a respected cleric; by Tuesday supper, his life was a wreck.
JAIL. DISMEMBERMENT. Community service. A suspended sentence. A fine. House detention. Death. A society can punish crime in any number of ways.
Was Stuart Friedman's punishment just? The Beth Israel Synagogue cantor Tuesday pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, and was fined $2,000.
The sentence raises questions. Most immediately: what punishments were available in this case?
The selection was poor. Because Friedman, an American, was also ordered out of the country, he could not be sentenced to house detention, a suspended sentence, or to perform community service.
The question gets deeper. When we as a society punish someone, what do we want -- rehabilitation or revenge? Passions cry out for revenge, but the justice system takes a calmer, more practical view.
Death and dismemberment are popular sentences in other parts of the world, but do not have a role in Canadian justice. So it was either jail or a fine. That was a choice the court found simple.
"There are new sentencing guidelines in the Criminal Code that just came into effect in '95," says Dalhousie University Law School criminal law professor Carol Aylward. "Pursuant to those new rules, there is sort of a directive to use incarceration as a last resort.
"That's not to mean incarceration never happens. It's still at the discretion of the judge, and depends on the offence. But it's like using community service as an alternative to incarceration where possible. The courts are encouraged to do that ....
"Wherever it's appropriate to impose some other sentence, the Code mandates it. In some cases that will be the case. In others, the crime will be so horrendous as to not lend itself to that."
Jail is the sentence of last resort, Aylward said, not only because prison is extremely expensive for taxpayers, but because "it's not necessarily the best deterrent. There's no guarantee that by incarcerating someone you are sending a message on general deterrents -- so other people don't commit the same crime -- or having a direct impact on the accused person.
"So where it can be shown that another form of sentencing will result in deterrence, it's appropriate to do that."
In some cases -- johns who visit prostitutes, for example -- Aylward said the best deterrent is shameful publicity. Damage to a person's reputation is also taken into consideration during sentencing. Stuart Friedman woke up Monday morning a respected cleric; by Tuesday supper, his life was a wreck.
But what of the system of fining as punishment? A fine hits the poor harder than the wealthy: many people couldn't simply write a cheque for $2,000.
"(Fines) do raise issues of class," Aylward said. "Yet some of the new rules around fines allow for the payment of the fine over time. So in some sense the class issue has been dealt with."
Hmm. It's hard to see how having more time to pay makes the system much fairer, but Aylward also said a judge will sometimes set a fine in accordance with a person's ability to pay. "But there are usually standards in sentencing. So the fine (is the same) no matter what the circumstances of the accused."
In Friedman's case, there was no standard -- he was the first person in Nova Scotia charged with possessing child pornography. The Crown and defence agreed $2,000 was fair, and the judge concurred.
Child pornography is as evil as can be, and at first glance Stuart Friedman's sentence seems light. But justice is as imperfect as the law is blunt.
"Fines have been around a long time," Aylward said. "Whether it's appropriate to this particular case, lots of people will have views on that .... But the conviction remains the same. The stigma of having been convicted of a crime."
Fine for child porn not enough, callers
say
Stephen Bornais. Daily News. Halifax, NS - Jan 11, 1997. pg. 6
Thirty-nine of 45 callers and e-mailers said they disagreed with the Crown for recommending a now-disgraced Jewish cantor be fined $2,000 and sent home to the United States after being caught with child porn, some of which he had downloaded from the Internet.
One caller was worried the "situation speaks of darker things," while an angry Ralph Gosley, of Truro, said Stuart Friedman got caught just in time.
Another male caller said the sentence is a "disgrace and a humilation to the whole community." That was restrained next to the comment of a female caller who wanted Friedman castrated.
Fining a man for his collection of child pornography does not act as much of a deterrent, say respondents to The Daily News Hotline.
Thirty-nine of 45 callers and e-mailers said they disagreed with the Crown for recommending a now-disgraced Jewish cantor be fined $2,000 and sent home to the United States after being caught with child porn, some of which he had downloaded from the Internet.
The Hotline asked if the sentence fit the crime.
One caller was worried the "situation speaks of darker things," while an angry Ralph Gosley, of Truro, said Stuart Friedman got caught just in time.
"If I had my way I'd send him directly to hell, where he belongs," Gosley said.
Another male caller said the sentence is a "disgrace and a humilation to the whole community." That was restrained next to the comment of a female caller who wanted Friedman castrated.
Greg Belair of Halifax said the fine puzzles him.
"It doesn't make sense to me that in the case of a person caught selling even a small amount of marijuana, it seems to be guaranteed jail time," he said.
E-mailer regular Stephen Charchuk said the sentence was a slap on the wrist.
"These are sick individuals who need professional help, not to be sent on their way to commit it again somewhere else," he wrote.
But another e-mailer, Jane Schlosberg, said while the punishment fit the crime, news coverage has been excessive and has provided a severe punishment.
"Mr. Friedman is to be pitied for his pathetic obsession, but I hope people will remember that he molested no one, he hurt no individual," she said.
The Daily News Hotline allows readers to speak out on current issues. It does not purport to be a scientific sample of public opinion. Questions appear Wednesday and Sunday. Results appear Saturday and Wednesday.
We all play a part: Child-porn charges shouldn't surprise
us
By Michael Cobden MICHAEL COBDEN Special to The Daily News.
Daily News. Halifax, NS: Jan 12, 1997. pg. 13
We seem to be almost licking our chops at the case of Stuart Friedman, the cantor of the Halifax orthodox Jewish congregation who pleaded guilty this week to possessing child pornography. I wonder why we're so taken with this case. And I wonder if we know how hypocritical we're being in our reaction.
Exploiting children for our sexual gratification is horrifying. It's more horrifying still when violence is involved (as it surely was in the making of some of the pornography in this case). But I wonder if our reaction to what Cantor Friedman did, which was to take some kind of distorted pleasure from sexual stories and pictures of young boys, doesn't also have something to do with our deep and distorted feelings about sex, and especially homosexuality, and about religion, and especially Jews.
Do we care that when we buy Nike shoes we are exploiting children who are forced by poverty in countries like Bangladesh to work for a pittance, for the profit of corporations and for our vanity? And do we care that we are exploiting children in countries like ours who will do anything -- even pose for the kinds of pictures that surfaced in the Friedman case -- so that they buy things like Nike fashions?
We seem to be almost licking our chops at the case of Stuart Friedman, the cantor of the Halifax orthodox Jewish congregation who pleaded guilty this week to possessing child pornography. I wonder why we're so taken with this case. And I wonder if we know how hypocritical we're being in our reaction.
Exploiting children for our sexual gratification is horrifying. It's more horrifying still when violence is involved (as it surely was in the making of some of the pornography in this case). But I wonder if our reaction to what Cantor Friedman did, which was to take some kind of distorted pleasure from sexual stories and pictures of young boys, doesn't also have something to do with our deep and distorted feelings about sex, and especially homosexuality, and about religion, and especially Jews.
We don't know for sure -- these things often don't come out for years -- but it seems that Fried-man did not make sexual contact with any boys. In any case, we shouldn't be as surprised as we seem to be that a religious leader should engage in activities that we find repugnant. Surely not after all we've heard of the way Roman Catholic brothers and priests, and others, have abused children in their care.
For whatever reason -- though of course it has nothing to do with reason -- Friedman was drawn to young boys. But that's not the point, which is that we shouldn't expect any amount of God-fearing orthodoxy -- or for that matter intelligence, education or social status -- to protect a person from sexual longings, conventional or perverted.
Friedman has not lived a cloistered life. As we now know, he lived in contact -- of a kind -- with countless other Internet users around the world.
And he lives in a society that is obsessed with sex. He, like you and me -- and like our children -- is subject to unceasing pressure from advertising and other cultural forces to see everything in the light of sexual activity. He's as likely to be affected by it as we are.
We are all complicit in innumberable ways in encouraging the depiction of children as sexual, and sexually provocative and promiscuous, beings.
Everyone who reads fashion magazines, watches fashion television, buys clothing that has been modelled by teenage girls -- and women made to look like teenage girls -- is complicit in the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. (Or do we believe that the sexual exploitation of girls, so much more common than of boys, is somehow less odious?)
We all play a part in giving our society a tone that encourages people to take sexual advantage of others who are vulnerable because of their youth, innocence, loneliness, hunger or lack of self- esteem.
So, Stuart Friedman is one of us.
And revolted as I am by the thought of him indulging himself in the way he did, I can't escape feeling some sympathy for this pathetic man, both when I picture him sitting there alone looking at that filth on his computer and when I think of the lurching pain he must have felt when he got caught and will continue to feel whenever he thinks about this his whole life.
Yes, he was complicit in the sexual abuse of children. Yes, the people who make pornographic pictures of children expoit them hideously. But so do all of us who allow children, in their millions, to suffer, and to die of starvation and disease.
In every way that we neglect children in our community, and in our world, we are also culpable.
Why do young boys and girls take to prostitution? Do we imagine they are compelled by some gene? Or do we admit that it's because they're unloved and lonely?
How is it that pedophiles succeed in persuading children and young teenagers to engage in sexual activity with them? Do we imagine pedophiles have magnetic personalities? Or do we admit to ourselves that some children prefer any kind of love, any kind of embrace, to the unloved and empty lives they lead?
We don't take them to our beds, true. We just ignore them or pretend they don't exist.
And do we care that when we buy Nike shoes we are exploiting children who are forced by poverty in countries like Bangladesh to work for a pittance, for the profit of corporations and for our vanity? And do we care that we are exploiting children in countries like ours who will do anything -- even pose for the kinds of pictures that surfaced in the Friedman case -- so that they buy things like Nike fashions?
Do we care that millions of children in our country are underfed, inadequately clothed, and ill educated?
Let us get Stuart Friedman's crime into perspective.
Michael Cobden teaches at the University of King's College.
Cantor with child porn did good too, says
rabbi
Standard. St. Catharines, Ont.: Jan 13, 1997. pg. A.3
Rabbi Saul Aranov of Beth Israel synagogue said his sermon to worshippers dealt primarily with children.
Saturday was the first sabbath since police and Canada Customs inspectors found a large collection of child pornography, including magazines, videos and downloaded Internet images, in a raid on [Stuart Friedman]'s apartment last Monday.
Aranov said he never had better teaching arrangements than with Friedman and they both had an excellent rapport with students.
HALIFAX (CP) -- A rabbi told his congregation Saturday to remember the good things done by a former cantor convicted last week of possessing child pornography.
Stuart Friedman, a 42-year-old American who lived in Halifax for two years, left the country last week after police seized a library of child porn in his home.
Rabbi Saul Aranov of Beth Israel synagogue said his sermon to worshippers dealt primarily with children.
"Even though they find out things about people, (they) shouldn't lose their faith because the good that people taught them, it remains," he said in an interview Sunday.
Saturday was the first sabbath since police and Canada Customs inspectors found a large collection of child pornography, including magazines, videos and downloaded Internet images, in a raid on Friedman's apartment last Monday.
Friedman pleaded guilty the next day and was fined $2,000.
He immediately caught a plane to his family home in Baltimore.
As cantor of the orthodox synagogue, Friedman led the congregation in prayer.
He also taught children in Hebrew school and helped boys prepare for their bar mitzvah.
Aranov said there was a sense of relief in the congregation after his sermon Saturday.
"It taught them that even if a human being is imperfect, we were all created by the Divine in the image of the Divine and the struggle of life is always there for everybody," he said.
Aranov said he never had better teaching arrangements than with Friedman and they both had an excellent rapport with students.
"It's something that shocks you and then you have to realize that people, the way they live their own private lives, things happen," he said.
"The man was not a married man. He was already 42 years old. In our faith, you have to be married to maintain a normal existence."
Child porn cases raise privacy questions: Law murky
on Internet monitoringby police
Daily News. Halifax, NS: Jan 13, 1997. pg. 14
OTTAWA (CP) -- Police are sailing into the unchartered waters of privacy rights and computers after charging several people with downloading child porn- ography off the Internet.
Officers with the Ontario Provincial Police pornography crime unit refuse to reveal the techniques they use to build cases against people caught with huge stockpiles of child porn.
Defence lawyers and legal experts say constitutional issues surrounding the state's right to monitor a person's private computer will surface as the cases come to court.
"How are police getting access to what you are doing at your computer in your home?" asks defence lawyer Marie Henein.
"It's a little frightening that you could be sitting at your computer at home, just as you could be on your phone talking to somebody, and the police can be assessing what you're doing. Our courts have gone a very long way to control the type of monitoring the police can do on phones."
Last week, a Halifax cleric pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. Cantor Stuart Friedman, of the Beth Israel Synagogue, used the Internet to download some of the material. He paid a $2,000 fine and left for Boston.
20,000 files
Henein and prominent lawyer Eddie Greenspan represent Trevor Davis of Kirkland Lake, Ont. Davis was charged with distributing child pornography on the Internet after police seized 20,000 computer files containing photos and video clips.
Other arrests by the pornography crime unit include:
A former Defence Department physicist in Ottawa charged with using his office computer to download thousands of pornographic pictures of children.
A student from Newmarket, Ont., charged after police seized computerized photos of children as young as two involved in bondage and violence.
David Butt, a Crown prosecutor who advises the unit, said the Internet brings new questions to old issues.
"The questions that arise are how does criminal law and the Charter (of Rights and Freedoms) fairly apply to a new medium of communication?" Butt said.
Alan Young, a criminal lawyer and law professor at the University of Toronto's Osgoode Hall, said Canadians have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their communications.
That's one reason police need a court order to place a wiretap on a telephone.
At issue in the seizure cases will be whether police need a court order or search warrant before they eavesdrop on a person dabbling in cyberspace.
"One would safely assume the debate will revolve around the investigative techniques employed by police to uncover this material," Young said.
`How we track'
Det. Staff Sgt. Bob Matthews, manager of the pornography unit, is loath to say how his officers track and capture accused child pornographers.
"We should not have to reveal publicly exactly how we track these guys," said Matthews.
"That doesn't do anyone any good."
Butt said the defence can ask police to reveal their investigation methods.
If they refuse, a judge will decide if the information is relevant to the defence.
Henein said few people have sympathy for anyone charged with child pornography, but the cases raise other important questions.
"The context stirs up emotions but we have to be cautious and look at the broader implications of what the state is doing with people's private lives," she said.
"It's a very serious intrusion that has to be looked at."
Young said a successful prosecution will establish guidelines for other cases.
"An unsuccessful prosecution could send a message to child pornographers that the Internet is creating some degree of immunity from prosecutions," he said.
Halifax cantor guilty of possessing child
pornography
Canadian Jewish News - January 16, 1997
SECTION: v.37(37) January 16, 1997 pg 3; ISSN: 0008-3941 CBCA-ACC-NO: 3779460
HALIFAX -- After months of intensive investigation by Canada Customs and Halifax police officials, it took but a few minutes for cantor and Hebrew school teacher Stuart Friedman of Halifax's Beth Israel Synagogue to plead guilty to charges of possessing child pornography and be returned to his native United States.
Friedman, 42, was a teacher. choir director and leader of services at Beth Israel Synagogue since August 1994. Well respected in his synagogue duties. the cantor's private interests were unknown to synagogue officials. I'm speechless," said president Robert Wolman. "Our whole congregation is in shock."
Friedman, relieved of his duties at the synagogue. was fined $2.000 and flew to his native Baltimore within hours after his conviction.
We bought him an airline ticket to Baltimore, told him we'd pack his things and send them to him, and put him on the plane," said one synagogue board member.
Police raided Friedman's apartment in south end Halifax, Jan. 6, after securing a search warrant. They discovered, and took as evidence. two computers, dozens of computer discs containing pornographic material, a few sets of handcuffs. books, more than 300 explicit photos and over 50 pornographic video tapes and scores of magazines.
It was disgusting," said Const. Gary Martin, public affairs officer of the Halifax Regional Municipality Police Department. "The discs showed explicit pictures of young boys in sexual acts, covering every form of pornography. Ninety percent of it was obtained indirectly or directly from the Internet."
He said there were photos of children and a concern was that he may have been taking local photos. "We're trying to find out it locals are in these pictures."
After the plea and sentencing, defence lawyer Joel Pink emphatically told reporters no local children were in the pictures. He and Wolman had examined the photos prior to Friedman's court appearance. Friedman taught Hebrew school and conducted bar mitzvah classes at the synagogue.
Crown attorney Frank Hoskins said Friedman was cooperative with police when they entered his apartment. "He had only used the photographs for his own sexual fantasies. His intent was possession, not distribution or selling."
Friedman, not married, helped police further their investigation by providing information to bring more like-minded individuals forward.
Outside court, a police officer told reporters the investigation is international in scope and far from over.
We're pursuing every angle. He's not the only person involved. The investigation involves law enforcement officials in Canada and the United States."
In addition to the fine, Friedman forfeited his computers, valued at a total of $2,700. He said privately later that he realizes he has an illness and will seek help.
When reporters suggested the fine might be lenient for such a crime, police officer Martin said, "This individual has lost more in his standing in his own community than just $2,000.
Synagogue officials were scheduled to meet with parents of bar mitzvah boys from the past two years in their own investigation of the cantor's activities. But it was strongly felt he did not act improperly with his students.
LETTERS: Casting the first
stone
Daily News. Halifax, NS: Jan 17, 1997. pg. 18
To the editor: To insist that the full force of the law be brought to bear on cantor Stuart Friedman and that he be banished from the community for possessing child pornography does nothing to solve crimes of vice; it exacerbates the problem by driving it further underground.
We must cure the cause and stop bandaging the effects. Psychological treatment is needed for the offenders, improved child care programs to protect the innocent, and social guidance for our youth to channel sexual expression.
Cantor Friedman no doubt lives in a dual world, tormented in his private existence by demons of his own that led him to his unsavory obsession, while leading an exemplary public life dedicated to bringing the word of God to the Jewish community of which he was a prominent and respected member.
Perhaps he was a victim of such abuse as a child and needs compassion, not enmity and harshness.
Did not one of the world's most famous Jews preach to love the man no matter what the act and, when facing the public ready to stone the prostitute, say, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (John 8:7)?
Zakary Thomas Englishtown, N.S.
Friedman didn't cross line: But society has by
condemning a man for what he was thinking
By Stephen Kimber
Daily News. Halifax, NS: Jan 17, 1997. pg. 20
What did Stuart Friedman really do? Not what did the former cantor at Halifax's Beth Israel synagogue think. Not even what did he fantasize in the deepest, darkest corners of his imagination. But what did he actually do?
What was the true nature of the heinous crime that led to his recent public humiliation, his dramatic guilty plea on charges of possession of child pornography, his slap-on-the-wrist $2,000 fine and his hasty exit from this country back home to the U.S., where he is now marked by American police forces -- probably for life -- as a dangerous pedophile?
Based on what we know from what the police have revealed about the circumstances of his arrest, Friedman fantasized about having sex with young boys and collected pornography to satisfy those desires.
Based on what members of the congregation at Beth Israel have said publicly about their recollections of Friedman's two years as cantor there, he did not -- again so far as we know -- ever act on any of those fantasies.
In real life -- which is, after all, where we live our real lives -- the fact is that Stuart Friedman did not betray the trust of those parents who placed their children in his care. Unlike Graham James, the junior-hockey coach who recently pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting boys in his charge, Friedman appears to have been a model of rectitude in his daily dealings with children.
He was, by all accounts, a good cantor, a teacher who helped prepare the boys in his charge for their bar mitzvahs, their rite of passage into Jewish manhood.
If he had not indulged his sexual obsessions by downloading pictures from the Internet -- which is how police discovered him -- it is possible those private fantasies would have remained just that, and he would have continued to lead a productive, useful life as a respected member of his community.
The point I'm trying to make is simply that there is an important difference fantasy and reality, and that most people -- Friedman apparently included -- can make that distinction, and accept that there are boundaries you do not cross.
Friedman's sexual fantasies may be abhorrent to most of us, but if he doesn't act on them, are they really any of our -- or the judicial system's -- business?
Some may argue that merely possessing the kind of material police found in Friedman's apartment is tantamount to tripping past that last step on the slippery slope to acting out those fantasies with real children.
But the research on that is far from conclusive, and there are those who argue persuasively that so-called pornography may act as a safety valve for those with deviant sexual tastes, allowing them to indulge their fantasies without having to act on them.
Others argue that even if Friedman didn't exploit children directly, he did so indirectly by buying the wares of the vultures who traffic in youngsters for sexual purposes.
That's true to a point, and a more difficult argument to counter. But the fact is that people who buy certain expensive brands of running shoes may also be guilty of aiding and abetting child slave labor in Third World countries.
But we don't normally charge people who buy running shoes with crimes against children.
The problem is that it's too easy to get caught up in our understandable disgust with the notions that run through Stuart Friedman's head and assume that whatever punishment the criminal justice system decides to mete out to him is merited.
But where do we draw the line? "You can't go to jail for what you're thinking," is a line from a long-ago popular song. The question, in light of the Friedman case, is whether it is true anymore.
Defending the indefensible: Chance he didn't
molest no solace in porn case
By Ernest Cadegan.
Daily News. Halifax, NS: Jan 23, 1997. pg. 16
STEPHEN KIMBER'S column of Jan. 17, Friedman Didn't Cross Line, might more aptly have been titled, In Praise of Perverts and Perversion.
After reading the first paragraph, I thought perhaps Kimber was just trying to tweak our noses. As I continued, however, a series of "Oh my's" passed involuntarily from my lips and I realized he was quite serious.
In a curious piece of moralizing, he really did try to make a case for child pornography and, in so doing, painted cantor Stuart Friedman as a victim of distorted societal reasoning and unfair law.
You'll remember the recent spectacular disclosure that the cantor has a sexual preference for male children and satisfied his pedophilic urges with videos, magazines and pictures downloaded from the Internet.
Kimber's defence of Friedman contained the following points.
We ought not punish someone for what they may be thinking.
Child pornography is no more exploitative than child slave labor in Third World countries.
To suggest that Friedman was nabbed in a sting operation by the thought police misrepresents reality. He was arrested because he possessed obscene and, therefore, illegal material.
Over the years, our obscenity laws have become progressively narrowed. To be judged obscene today, the material has to be truly odious.
According to Anthony Keller of The Globe and Mail, "the Supreme Court has additionally said that for something to be obscene it must have the potential to cause harm." This constricted the definition of obscenity from what we think is offensive (the community- standard test) to what Canadians find harmful.
The real issue here is not freedom of thought but whether or not any harm was done when Friedman pursued his fantasies by using illicit material. An overwhelming majority of our global village has determined that the sexual exploitation of children is terribly harmful and warrants strong deterrence in law.
Kimber admits this is the weakest part of his argument, but proceeds to offer an insipid counter.
Groping for an analogy to make his case, he draws a comparison between child pornography and what he calls child slave labor in Third World countries.
First of all, what he considers to be child slave labor is an entirely debatable issue and certainly does not attract the nearly universal derision attached to the sexual exploitation of children.
But, even if he is right on this, and he's not, it would be more logical to condemn child labor than to use it as an argumentative convenience to make a case for the indefensible.
I'd suggest a more simple analogy based on what Kimber refers to as "where we live our real lives."
I believe he has children. We know he would never have allowed them as youngsters to be sexually exploited so that deviants like Friedman could indulge their sexual fantasies.
Surely, if it is wrong for his children, it is equally wrong for other children, regardless of their vulnerabilities. It would be hypocritical to think otherwise.
I take no solace in the revelation that Friedman appears to have been a paragon of virtue within his community. I'm rather more concerned with the access he had to young boys, his sexual preference, as he prepared them for their bar mitzvahs.
This would seem to fit some of the patterns for sexual predators as reported by Andrea MacDonald in The Daily News. There is some evidence they seem to seek out situations where targets are available to them and, coincidentally, as many as 85 per cent of them are known to their victims.
Maybe, just maybe, Friedman did not molest any of the young boys given over to his care, but there is no doubt in my mind that he surely fantasized about them or possibly satisfied himself with seemingly innocuous touching that tingled his warped senses.
If he didn't do anything, the evidence is strong that it could only have been a matter of time before he did.
Our community is better off without him and, having been publicly marked for the potential menace he is, others will be protected from him.
Good riddance.
Halifax deals with disturbing news (Stuart Friedman
case)
Canadian Jewish News February 6, 1997
SECTION: v.37(40) February 6, 1997 pg 10; ISSN: 0008-3941. CBCA-ACC-NO: 3788491
January 1997 will, for a long time, be remembered as that month when the Halifax Jewish community made headline news. Unfortunately, it was bad news.
Stuart Friedman, the cantor at Halifax's Orthodox Beth Israel Synagogue, was convicted and sent back to the United States for possessing and distributing child-pornography.
The conviction sent waves of disbelief throughout the Jewish community. Besides having to deal with the problems this event posed to Jewish communities as a whole, the Halifax Jewish community had to face the media frenzy that comes with such a situation. This was, after all, one of the biggest stories to hit Halifax in a long time.
This scandal was the lead story on television news for four days.
It was also front page news in the papers for a number of days. And commentaries on this crisis continued to be in the papers all through January.
One of the things that disturbed me was the way in which the news media referred to the synagogue. It was identified as a Jewish church.
I was watching the local ATV news when the story broke. The anchor introduced the story and said that Friedman was a cleric at the Beth Israel Jewish Church. This made me cringe. How could someone call the synagogue a church?
I immediately telephoned the newsroom. The news editor to whom I spoke asked me how I would describe a synagogue. I told him that people probably know what a synagogue is, but if they didn't know, then it could be described as a Jewish place of worship.
Within an hour, the news station had received more than 30 calls correcting their misnomer. When a friend of mine called the news editor, he sighed before thanking her for calling then added that she was one of many who had called in,
My question is, why did people have to call in? Shouldn't a well-known news station know that a synagogue is not a Jewish church? The mere wording of Jewish church is a paradox. The papers and radio stations also made this error.
I am left feeling confused. Did this misnomer occur to facilitate an understanding of what a synagogue is or did the researchers think it wasn't a significant distinction?
I was also asked many questions by my friends on how I felt about this whole issue. Was I shocked? Did I know the cantor? Did I agree with the sentence he was given?
Yes, I was shocked. Yes, I knew the cantor. Yes, I agree with his sentence.
Friedman came across as a pleasant man. He was very quiet and kept to himself. I had met him a few times, but had never really had an in depth conversation with him. His crime really came as a shock to me.
My first reaction was "Oh no, how could this happen?" Then, I thought of the effects this incident would have on the Halifax Jewish community and on the global Jewish community as a whole.
The Jewish communities worldwide are, despite inter-religious controversies, very tight-knit. Any time something unsavory happens in one community, all communities feel the impact.
Because Jews are often seen in a negative light, because we are often accused and slandered by outsiders, we have learned through history to stick together, to work as a community to dispel common misconceptions about who we are.
So, when a crime of this magnitude occurs in our community, the outside world loses no time in casting aspersions on the entire Jewish community. On the Jewish communities worldwide. Picking us apart.
There was a mad rush within the media to get the scoop. Members of the Jewish community were hounded down to comment on Friedman's obsession with child pornography. The community became the focus for media attention.
And this is why I agree with Friedman's sentence. Friedman was fined $2,000, he had to give his two computers to the police and he had to leave the country immediately. Friedman's leaving the local community is the best thing that came out of this case. Rather than have him stay in this community and encourage more press coverage, the culprit was gone.
I felt torn between two worlds. I wanted the Halifax Jewish community to have its privacy. But, I'm also a journalist. I know that if I were assigned to cover such a story, I too would have been one of people those asking the questions.
The Halifax Jewish community began picking up the pieces. The community, as a community, is still dealing with the fallout of this disturbing incident. The Halifax community is still in the process of self-examination and of healing.
Cantor arrested on porn
charges
Daily Telegraph
The Record (Waterloo Region) - News, Tuesday, August 4, 1998, p. C12
LOS ANGELES - A former cantor at a Halifax, Nova Scotia, synagogue was arrested over the weekend on charges of distributing child pornography, U.S. officials said Monday..
Stuart Friedman, 43, was accused in a federal indictment of sending an undercover FBI agent in Long Beach computer disks that showed young boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Authorities said Friedman contacted the agent through the Internet in 1996.
Halifax police searched his home in January 1997 and arrested him on charges of possessing child pornography.
Although he was employed at the synagogue at the time, Canadian authorities said there was no evidence that Friedman was sexually involved with any children there.
Convicted on the Canadian charges, Friedman paid a $2,000 fine and was deported to the United States.
Excessive secrecy in arrest of
doctor
Daily News. Halifax, NS: May 14, 1997. pg. 19
METRO RESIDENTS would be wrong to imagine there is a cold- blooded killer stalking the halls of the QEII Health Sciences Centre. But they could not be blamed for thinking so, thanks to a justice system that likes to keep a tight lid on matters of public in
The truth of the matter -- details that would lead to a conclusion that we are dealing with a "mercy-killing" at worst -- cannot be told because it is traditionally regarded as contempt of court, although a recent Supreme Court ruling calls that into question.
The search warrants carried by about 40 police officers who invaded the hospital May 6 are usually considered public documents. Anyone can inspect them, to form an opinion as to whether the police and courts were justified in their invasion of a citizen's privacy.
This time, however, the warrants have been "sealed" to protect the integrity of the investigation. (The police used the same device to hide the warrants they used to roust cantor Stuart Friedman out of town for collecting alleged child pornography. We say alleged because although Friedman pleaded guilty, the public wasn't allowed to see the evidence against him.)
So, absent the right to speak freely and access to an "open" court system, we have this: a squadron of police descend on a hospital, seize computers and boxes of records, arrest a respected doctor at her place of work, and charge her with "first-degree murder."
YOU WOULD think there would be some expanation of what prompted the charges. You would think there would have to be some accounting for the material -- which could include your medical files -- that they seized.
This case is likely to set a wide precedent in the treatment of the terminally ill and what actions should be (or already are) permitted as a matter of practice or of law.
It is a complex issue that, we must assume, requires a mass of document-ation from the hospital. In that case -- again an assumption -- maybe the job required platoons of police (the department says 37 officers entered the new Infirmary to seize material in 20 offices). The treatment of Dr. Nancy Morrison after her arrest has angered hospital colleagues; rightly so if her complaints are substantiated.
But there is no accounting now for any of these events. An explanation, in fact, is illegal. Accountability for the materials seized will have to wait until memories have faded and other, more pressing priorities take precedence.
ATV, which has applied to court to unseal the warrants, is performing a signiciant public service in raising the issue of police/Crown accountability in this case.
Ex-Halifax cantor chatted with
FBI
By Susanne Hiller
The Daily News. Daily News. Halifax, NS - March 11, 1998. pg. 3
A Jewish cleric who admitted to possessing kiddie-porn in his Halifax apartment last year may face further charges under United States law.
Cantor Stuart Friedman was arrested in January 1997 after he accidentally started chatting with an undercover Los Angeles FBI agent over the Internet, according to search warrants obtained from Halifax provincial court yesterday.
The Los Angeles FBI field office would not comment on the operation yesterday because of "pending litigation" against Friedman by the Los Angeles United States Attorney's office, said FBI spokesman John Hoos.
Although Friedman was arrested in Halifax, the FBI maintains his Internet activities fall under United States law.
The Friedman file is "under review" and no charges have yet been laid. The matter has to go before the grand jury before charges are laid. Investigators would not say yesterday whether other suspects in an alleged international child-porn ring are also being investigated.
Friedman was arrested Jan. 6, 1997, after Halifax regional police received information from FBI Special Agent David Watson of the Southern California Sexual Assault Felony and Enforcement Team about an undercover operation.
On July 18, 1996, Watson communicated with Friedman through Internet electronic mail. Friedman was originally connected to Compuserve, but switched to Chebucto Community Net, the documents say.
After several e-mail conversations, Friedman sent two diskettes to Watson containing images of young boys. Some of the images depicted child pornography, the documents say.
Investigators seized one pair of handcuffs and one pair of leg irons in the cleric's 1333 South Park St. apartment during a raid.
Two computers, VHS cassette tapes, computer discs, a "large quantity" of magazines, a photo album and Internet documentation, such as e-mail, were also seized.
Sealed for year
The search warrant for Friedman's apartment had been sealed for a year.
The Southern California Sexual Assault Felony and Enforcement Team (SAFE) is a full-time, multi-agency task force formed in 1995. Its mission is to prosecute crimes that involve child sexual abuse and exploitation. The team focuses on child pornography, child molestation and child prostitution, with an emphasis on computer crimes.
Friedman, 43, left Nova Scotia for Boston hours after pleading guilty to charges of possessing child pornography under a deal with local police and prosecutors. Friedman, an American citizen, had lived in Halifax for about two years.
Police said they found photographs, videos, computer graphic files and magazines depicting children in sex acts.
Police seized a book in Friedman's apartment detailing how parents can street-proof their children. They also found snapshots of Friedman with children, but they were not of a sexual nature.
Friedman -- who led prayers and song at Beth Israel Synagogue and gave Hebrew lessons to children -- came to Halifax from Cleveland, Ohio, with "a spotless reputation," synagogue president Robert Wolman said after the arrest.
Friedman was fined $2,000 for possessing child porn -- the first such case in Nova Scotia. He agreed to leave Canada immediately.
City News Service August 3, 1998, Monday
LOS ANGELES A former cantor at a Halifax, Nova Scotia, synagogue was indicted in Los Angeles on federal child pornography charges, a prosecutor said today.
Stuart Friedman, 43, was arrested over the weekend at his current home in Baltimore, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Kardon. The U.S. Attorney's Office plans to ask that Friedman be brought to Los Angeles to stand trial.
According to prosecutors, in November 1996 Friedman sent two computer disks containing 13 visual images of minor boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct through the mail from Halifax to Long Beach.
Friedman was under investigation at the time for allegedly sending child pornography to an undercover FBI agent he met via the Internet, Kardon said.
In January 1997, Friedman was arrested after law enforcement officers searched his home and found dozens of videos, magazines and photographs of boys as young as 8 engaged in sexual situations.
He was convicted in Canada and fined and deported to the United States. At the time of his conviction, Friedman was still leading songs and prayers at a synagogue.
Canadian officials said there is no evidence Friedman was physically involved with children at the synagogue or other children.
NOTES: Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Kardon's number is (213) 894-0546.
Former Cantor Arrested on Child Porn
Charges
Los Angeles Times August 4, 1998, Tuesday, Home Edition
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 4; Metro Desk
A former cantor at a Halifax, Nova Scotia, synagogue has been arrested on charges of distributing child pornography, the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said Monday.
Stuart Friedman, 43, was accused in a federal indictment of sending an undercover FBI agent in Long Beach computer disks that showed young boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Authorities said Friedman contacted the agent through the Internet in 1996.
Halifax police searched his home in January 1997 and arrested him on charges of possessing child pornography. Although he was employed at the synagogue at the time, Canadian authorities said there was no evidence that Friedman was sexually involved with children there.
Convicted on the Canadian charges, Friedman paid a $ 2,000 fine and was deported to the United States, where he took up residence in Baltimore. He was arrested there on a Los Angeles federal grand jury indictment issued Friday.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum 15 years in prison.
Cantor arrested on porn
charges
The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario) - August 4, 1998 Tuesday Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. C12
LOS ANGELES -- A former cantor at a Halifax, Nova Scotia, synagogue was arrested over the weekend on charges of distributing child pornography, U.S. officials said Monday..
Stuart Friedman, 43, was accused in a federal indictment of sending an undercover FBI agent in Long Beach computer disks that showed young boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Authorities said Friedman contacted the agent through the Internet in 1996. Halifax police searched his home in January 1997 and arrested him on charges of possessing child pornography.
Although he was employed at the synagogue at the time, Canadian authorities said there was no evidence that Friedman was sexually involved with any children there.
Convicted on the Canadian charges, Friedman paid a $2,000 fine and was deported to the United States.
Ex-metro cantor faces child-porn charges in
U.S.
By Richard Dooley
The Daily News. Daily News. Halifax, NS - Aug 5, 1998. pg. 3
http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2003&res_id=xri:pqd&rft_val_fmt=ori:fmt:kev:mtx:journal&genre=article&rft_id=xri:pqd:did=000000253011941&svc_dat=xri:pqil:fmt=text&req_dat=xri:pqil:pq_clntid=58619
A Jewish cleric who was fined $2,000 and kicked out of Canada for possessing child pornography while cantor at a Halifax synagogue is facing 15 years in a United States prison on similar charges.
Stuart Friedman was arrested Friday night at his home in Baltimore after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for distributing kiddie porn.
Friedman, 43, was arrested by special agents with the U.S. Customs Service working in co-operation with the Southern California sexual assault enforcement team.
"This is a significant crime," said U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Nancy Kardon.
Friedman, an American citizen who lived in Halifax for two years, led prayers and gave Hebrew lessons to children at Beth Israel Synagogue. He came to the synagogue from Cleveland, Ohio. Robert Wolman, president of the synagogue at the time of Friedman's Halifax arrest, had said Friedman came to the local congregation with a "spotless reputation."
The U.S. charges stem from an Internet chat with an undercover FBI agent. Friedman and the agent communicated by e-mail between 1996 and 1997 with the cantor, who eventually mailed two computer diskettes to the agent. The disks contained 13 pictures of young boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's office.
On Jan. 6, 1997, Halifax regional police executed a search warrant on Friedman's residence after being alerted by the FBI. Police found photos, videos, computer files and magazines depicting children in sex acts. Police also seized a book telling parents how to street-proof children and non-sexual photos of Friedman with children.
Friedman was arrested and convicted in Halifax provincial court of possessing child pornography. He was fined $2,000 in the first such case in the province. Friedman agreed to leave Canada immediately. He went to Boston and then moved to Baltimore, where he is believed to have been working with a Jewish organization. His job did not involve working with children, said Kardon.
U.S. authorities kept track of Friedman's movements as they continued to build their case.
Halifax Regional Police were informed of Friedman's arrest over the weekend, said spokeswoman Judy Pal.
If convicted, Friedman faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in a federal prison and a $250,000 US fine. L.A. prosecutors will seek Friedman's extradition from Maryland.
"We consider all these cases significant, but when we find someone in possession of this much child pornography, it is important to prosecute them," said Kardon.
Cantor Gets Prison For Child Porn - Courts:
The Synagogue Offical Mailed Images of Children
Having Sex To An Undercover FBI Agent. He Recieves A 15-Month
Term
Times Wire Reports
Los Angeles Times - March 2, 1999, Tuesday, Home Edition
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 2; Metro Desk
A synagogue official deported from Canada after mailing child pornography to an undercover FBI agent in Southern California was sentenced in Los Angeles Monday to 15 months in federal prison.
Stuart Friedman, who served as the cantor of a synagogue in Canada, also must undergo three years of supervised release after finishing his prison term, U.S. District Judge Carlos R. Moreno said.
Friedman, 45, pleaded guilty in November to one count of distributing child pornography, which carries a maximum 15-year prison term. The judge ordered him to begin serving his sentence April 12, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.
Friedman, who is originally from Philadelphia, had been a synagogue cantor--the individual who leads a congregation in song--in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In November 1996, he mailed two computer disks containing 13 images of boys having sex to an undercover FBI agent in Long Beach.
He was convicted in 1997 at Nova Scotia Provincial Court of possessing child pornography and deported to the United States.
Friedman moved to Baltimore, where he was arrested in August on the federal charge of distributing child pornography.
LETTERS: Ban good business:[DAILY
Edition]
Daily News. Halifax, NS: Jan 27, 1997. pg. 13
Subdue the sensational
To the editor:
Congratulations to Milford Sorensen, vice-president of IGA, for withdrawing the latest issue of the tabloid Globe from their newsstands. And also to management at Superstore, Super Value and Save-Easy for also refusing to sell this latest Globe issue.
Perhaps, with the support of the above large corporations, we will be able to subdue the excesses of sensational journalism, eliminate childpornography, and halt the publication of sexually explicit articles. An example of such articles was published earlier this month in another of metro's leading newspapers.
In their Jan. 8 front-page story of the investigation and sentencing of Cantor Stuart Friedman, the Halifax Herald Ltd. newspapers went beyond all decency by irresponsibly describing the materials discovered in his home in completely unnecessary and graphic detail.
As parents and grandparents, we have a responsibility, as indeed does society, to protect our children from the evils of this world. Does this mean that we must now prohibit them from reading newspapers? Surely local publishers do not wish to be considered as members of the tabloid family and their ilk. By following the leadership of Mr. Sorensen and others, they could have done better.
Geraldine L. Brown
Bedford
No offence intended, Spryfield: Sullying neighbourhood's
name was not my aim
By David Swick
Daily News. Halifax, NS - November 26, 1998. pg. 2
News that former Haligonian Stuart Friedman has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in California raises an ugly question. Was our sentencing of the former Beth Israel Synagogue cantor far too lenient?
Friedman was convicted of possession of child porn in Halifax 22 months ago, fined $2,000, and asked to leave Canada immediately. He got on the next plane, and has been living the life he chooses ever since.
