Denver Synagogue fires executive director for…
Denver Synagogue fires executive director for sex offense conviction
By Electa Draper | The Denver Post
Denver Synagogue leaders on Monday fired executive director Michael "Moshe" Spingarn and notified congregants in a letter Tuesday that he is a convicted sex offender.
"Yesterday we learned that in 2002 in New York, Mr. Spingarn was convicted as a sex offender," said a letter signed by Rabbi Ben Greenberg and synagogue board president Michael Engleberg.
Greenberg and Engleberg wrote that they confirmed the conviction and immediately fired Spingarn.
"When we learned of the potential danger we took action without delay," said the letter, which is posted at FailedMessiah.com. "On the positive side, we have no information Mr. Spingarn did anything wrong or inappropriate with anyone during his brief tenure at the synagogue."
Spingarn began work at the synagogue, also known as the BMH-BJ Congregation, in July. He could not be reached for comment.
According to a 2002 news story from the Westchester County Journal News reposted on the Illinois-based International Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault website, Spingarn, then 53, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of disseminating indecent materials to minors and having a series of sexually explicit online conversations with someone he believed to be 14 years old during an Internet "sex sting" operation run by the Westchester County district attorney.
He is not listed under Michael or Moshe Spingarn on either the Colorado Bureau of Investigation Convicted Sex Offender Site, but the New York State Public Registry of Sex Offenders identifies Spingarn as being convicted of "attempted dissemination of indecent materials to a minor via a computer." Spingarn was sentenced to five years of probation.
Engleberg on Wednesday told The Denver Post that the synagogue performed "due diligence" before hiring Spingarn and "nothing came up."
He declined to give further details before consulting the synagogue's attorney.
This story has been updated from its orignial version to reflect information provided by law enforcement officials in New York.
Electa Draper
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