Steve Lieberman

slieberm@lohud.com

RAMAPO A Monsey rabbi and school principal was arrested Monday by Ramapo police after an investigation led by the Rockland District Attorney's Office special unit that deals with sex crimes against children.

The exact charges against Gavriel Bodenheimer were unclear. His lawyer, David Ascher, said the charges were contained in a sealed indictment that he had not been able to see.

Bodenheimer, 71, was being processed Monday afternoon at the Rockland County jail, Ascher said. He said he has been told the arraignment and unsealing of the indictment will take place Tuesday morning.

Bodenheimer is principal of Yeshiva Bais Mikroh, a boys' yeshiva.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Art Ferraro said the office would have no comment on the matter at this time.

Bodenheimer is a respected member of the Orthodox Jewish community and has been an educator for decades.

He has been active recently in the push to change the state education aid formula to bring more aid to East Ramapo, and spoke at a spring press conference on the matter.

Bodenheimer is only the latest Rockland educator to find himself in trouble.

A Nyack High School teacher, Donaldson Hains, recently was charged with drunken driving, and a Clarkstown South music teacher, Kip Bonsignore, was charged with exposing himself while driving along Route 17 in Sullivan County.

Several educators from Ramapo have been accused of sexually abusing young men.

Moshe Taubenfeld recently pleaded not guilty to felony charges of sexually abusing a pre-teen boy for five years from 2001 to 2006. His brother Herschel Taubenfeld, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of forcible touching.