During the sentencing of Baruch Lebovits last week, an interesting point was raised by his defense attorney Arthur Aidala. Mr Aidala pointed out that Lebovits, who was found guilty of eight counts of sex abuse against a 16-year-old boy earlier this year, was being referred to in the press as a “rabbi” when in actual fact he was nothing of the sort. Lebovits was, in fact, a travel agent.

In the strictly Orthodox community it is not unusual for men to seek a rabbinic degree as well as pursuing another career. But Mr Aidala pointed out that Lebovits didn’t have a rabbinic degree. He was, according to Aidala, just a good man who was generally known as “rabbi” because of his charitable deeds.

Aidala came across as an effective, if smarmy, attorney. At one point he had the gall to refer to Lebovits, who was found to have performed oral sex on the teenage boy, as a “saint”. But although Lebovits deserves little pity for his sentence of between 10 and 32 years, surely he deserve to at least have the facts of his case reported accurately.

Which is why I was surprised and disappointed when I scanned the headlines over the following 24 hours, and came across numerous references to “Rabbi Lebovits.” Here are just a few:

• Rabbi Baruch Lebovits is sentenced to 10 2/3 to 32 years in prison for molesting teen (New York Daily News)
• NY rabbi jailed for sexual abuse of teen (New York Post)
• Brooklyn Rabbi Sentenced to Prison for Sexual Assault of Teenager (Fox)
• Rabbi Sentenced 32 Years For Sexually Abusing Teen (WPIX11)
• Rabbi gets maximum sentence in molestation case (JTA)

Now, perhaps all these reporters and sub editors heard something I didn’t hear. Perhaps Lebovits’ defense attorney was lying. But, surely, if that was the case, someone would have mentioned it somewhere in their copy. No one did. More likely, editors wanted a juicy top line. Perhaps vindicating their decision, the New York Times ran its Lebovits story under the rather dull, if 100% accurate, headline Man Is Sentenced in Sex Abuse Case. At least it was true.

At a time when sexual abuse in the Orthodox community is a huge topic, when the number of arrests and convictions is growing by the month, such inflammatory and inaccurate reporting can only do more harm than good. One of the major obstacles standing in the way of victims coming forward is the perception within the Orthodox community that secular society is against them. By casting Lebovits as a “rabbi,” even when it was plainly spelled out that he is not a rabbi, those reports only strengthened this view.

That WPIX report, by the way, if you discard the inaccurate headline, was actually very good.

Test

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