Rabbi Accused Of Sexual Assault Has Paid Virtually None Of $21.7 Million Settlement To Alleged Victim: Lawsuit

Rabbi Daniel Greer
A Connecticut rabbi found liable in a federal civil court case connected to the sexual assault of a yeshiva student has paid virtually none of the $21.7 million in damages awarded to the victim, according to a new lawsuit filed by the victim, the New Haven Register reported.
In May 2017, a jury in Hartford found Rabbi Daniel Greer, the founder of the Yeshiva of New Haven, liable over a former student’s accusation that Greer sexually assaulted him for three years while he was at the yeshiva. Greer, 78, was a politically connected and well-known rabbi in Connecticut. The Forward reported in 2017 that public officials including a U.S. Senator, New Haven’s former mayor and police chief, and the police commissioner of New York City had attended fundraising dinners for the yeshiva. In 2012, Connecticut’s governor was a guest at Greer’s kitchen table.
During the lawsuit, Greer pleaded the Fifth Amendment — invoking his right not to self-incriminate — when asked if he had forced the student “to have sex with you when he was a child?”
Greer lost the lawsuit shortly after that testimony.
Two months later, Greer turned himself in to Connecticut police and was charged with sexual assault of a minor.
But two years after the verdict in the civil case, Greer, and the institutions he leads, have hardly paid any of the damages awarded to the student, his lawyers are alleging.
“The judgment remains almost completely unsatisfied, and the outstanding amount of the judgment has increased on account of accruing post-judgment interest,” their complaint reads. The complaint seeks remunerations from corporations that the student’s lawyers say are controlled by Greer, including several real estate companies whose primary income comes from renting apartments in the New Haven area. They say that Greer has used the companies to shield him, his wife and the yeshiva from having their assets collected as part of the suit.
Since turning himself into police, Greer has pled not guilty to the charges, and posted a $100,000 to leave police custody. He lives in New Haven.
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
Editor’s note: The original version of this article included the name of the student involved in the lawsuit. It was removed on Nov. 18, 2020, at the request of Sean Miller, an advocate for the student.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.