Rabbi who sent explicit images to policeman posing as teen on Grindr jailed for two days
Aryeh Cohen was arrested after sending explicit images to someone he believed was a teenage boy
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
A rabbi who sent explicit photos to police officer claiming to be a 16-year-old boy on Grindr has been jailed for two days with a three-year probation.
Aryeh Cohen, 44, from Minneapolis, was arrested in a sex trafficking sting earlier this year when he started a conversation back in February with someone, he believed to be a young teenage boy, the Star Tribune reported.
However, his conversation was actually with a law enforcement officer and allegedly told Cohen he was only a minor, but the rabbi replied: “It’s a little illegal” before describing sexual acts.
The two arranged to meet and it was there he was arrested by authorities in the car park, according to the court files.
Cohen allegedly told police, “I sort of deserve it” while being arrested.
At the time, he was working as a rabbi and youth outreach director at the Minneapolis Community Kollel.
Cohen was charged with one count of soliciting a child to engage in sexual conduct through electronic communication, and one count of engaging in electronic communication describing sexual conduct with a child.
Now, after pleading guilty in November, a Ramsey County district judge sentenced him to a two-day jail sentence followed by three years supervised probation.