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June 3, 2005/Iyar 25 5765, Volume 57, No. 40
Prescott rabbi missing
Warrant issued in wake of sex-abuse allegations
DEBORAH SUSSMAN SUSSER
Associate Editor
A warrant for the arrest of Rabbi David Lipman of Prescott has been issued in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse.
Lipman was placed on administrative leave May 20 by Temple B'rith Shalom, where he had served as rabbi, and terminated effective May 27, according to a temple spokesman. He was reported missing by his family on May 24 and remained missing as of press time.
Lieutenant Pete Hodap of the Prescott Police Department said that the police have contacted immigration authorities "to make sure that (Lipman) hasn't left the country."
"We're trying to put a flag on his passport," Hodap said, "to hopefully keep him from leaving the country, if that's what his thoughts are. ... And we will keep an eye on his bank account, and hopefully he turns up."
According to a May 25 article in Yavapai County's The Daily Courier, two teenage girls, one 16 and one 14, reported to the police that Lipman had been touching them inappropriately. Detective Robert Peoples of the Prescott Police Department said that his agency receive a call May 13 from a Child Protective Services employee who reported possible sexual abuse of the girls. The call prompted a criminal investigation against Lipman, who "admitted to inappropriate touching," Peoples said.
Speaking on behalf of the temple, Mark Drutz, a lawyer who has been a member of the 150-family congregation since 1981, told Jewish News that the situation is "devastating, but the congregation is strong, and it will survive and move forward."
Lipman, 55, was hired by the temple in the spring of 2002 and moved to Prescott from a position at Temple Sinai, in Rhode Island. The second full-time rabbi to serve Prescott's only Jewish house of worship, he succeeded Rabbi William Berkowitz, who led the congregation for seven years.
Lipman is the son of Rabbi Eugene Lipman, who was president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) from 1987-1989. He and his wife, Robyn Tevah, have five children.
The Prescott Police Department has requested that anyone with information regarding Lipman's whereabouts call the PPD at (928) 778-1444 or Detective Peoples at (928) 771-5802.
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