Kamsler pleads not guilty to porn charge

By Tommy Hallissey

The former president of a local synagogue left his arraignment on charges of distributing pornography to minors with the air of a man with something to prove.

Irving H. Kamsler, 61, walked out of Nassau County Criminal Court slowly, standing tall and answering no questions.

Mr. Kamsler, who was named president of the board of Congregation Shaarei Shalom months before his fall from grace, is in the midst of a test of Biblical proportions. On March 26, he was arraigned on 15 counts, including six felonies, after he was busted for distributing pornography to minors as part of a Nassau County sting last summer.

In hushed tones, barely audible across Judge Joseph Calabrese’s courtroom, he pleaded not guilty.

He remains free on $20,000 bail on the original charges and 10 others added by the grand jury, including endangering the welfare of a child, according to Stephen Treglia, a Nassau County assistant district attorney. His trial is expected to begin in six to 12 months.

“We intend to vigorously defend the charges,” said Mr. Kamsler’s defense lawyer Philip Tomich. “We expect that he will be fully vindicated.”

If convicted, Mr. Kamsler faces one-anda-half to three years in prison for each of the six class E felonies he is charged with.

Mr. Kamsler, a Riverdalian who is a certified public accountant, tasted a little bit of heaven and a whole lot of hell over the course of last summer. On June 21, 2007, Congregation Shaarei Shalom announced he was named president of the board of the reform temple, which broke off from Riverdale Temple. But less than a month later, “IRV1040,” the Internet handle the DA says Mr. Kamsler used, sent pornographic pictures to an undercover Nassau County agent posing as a 15-year-old girl in a chat room, according to court documents.

Mr. Kamsler even allegedly went as far as to describe sexual acts, according to his felony complaint.

According to the original felony complaint and the indictment, “IRV1040” engaged in graphic discussions with girls he thought were as young as 13.

On Sept. 6, Mr. Kamsler surrendered to the Nassau authorities, who initially charged him with five felony counts of distributing pornography to minors in the first degree over the course of almost two years. He quickly stepped down as president of the synagogue, which he said would “continue to shine as a bright new star in the Riverdale Jewish community” when he took over.

After his name and photograph appeared in The Press, Mr. Kamsler rarely left his Henry Hudson Parkway apartment, neighbors said. He surfaced for his arraignment, dressed sharply in a grey suit, with an unnamed woman standing by his side.

The new charges include allegations of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child on three times in eight days in September 2005 and three times in a five-day span in November 2005.

Mr. Kamsler is due back in court for pretrial conferences on April 17.