Rabbi sexually assaulted NJ boy for months, prosecutor says

WOODCLIFF LAKES — A California rabbi and teacher is being held in the Bergen County Jail on charges that he sexually assaulted a young boy for months almost two decades ago, police say.

Rabbi Menachem M. Weiss, 46, of Los Angeles, and formerly of Woodcliff Lake is charged with aggravated sexual assault, according to Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo.

Police were notified in December of 2016 about the alleged sexual assaults that happened between January and June of 1999, according to Calo. The allegations were investigated by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the Woodcliff Lake Police Department.

Weiss was arrested on Thursday by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault. He is being held in the county jail pending an initial court appearance on Monday.

According to an article in the Milken Roar from 2016 Weiss is employed by the Milken Community Schools in several capacities. Weiss told the paper he has been married for more than 20 years and has nine children. He also told the paper he moved to California in 1999 to be closer to his family and to "focus solely on my true passion: Jewish education."

Weiss is also listed as the associate rabbi of the Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills. According to NorthJersey.com Weiss ran the home-based Pascack Valley Outreach Chabad Center before moving to California.

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Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com