FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 23, 2023
Brooklyn Man who Fled Justice to Israel Sentenced to Prison
For Sexually Abusing Three Female Relatives
Indicted in Absentia in 2010 and Extradited in 2021
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 67-year-old Brooklyn man who fled to Israel in 2010 to escape charges that he repeatedly sexually assaulted young relatives has been sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to course of sexual conduct against a child.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “With today’s sentence, this defendant is being held responsible for his despicable acts, while sparing his victims from testifying against a relative. I hope that the resolution of this long-standing case brings them some solace and helps them cope with the trauma and hurt the defendant has caused. I would like to thank the NYPD, the Israeli National Police, the Justice Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance in bringing this fugitive to justice and ensuring accountability and closure in this case.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Gershon Kranczer, 67, of Midwood, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser to nine years in prison and 10 years’ post release supervision, following his guilty plea in August 2023 to second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child. The defendant will also have to register as a sex offender upon his release. The plea was offered by the Court.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on multiple occasions from August 1996 to February 2003, in Midwood, Brooklyn, the defendant sexually assaulted a child from the time she was six years old to 13 years old. He sexually abused a second child between March 2001 and September 2002 when she was approximately 11 years old. A third victim came forward following his arrest in 2021 and reported that the defendant sexually abused her on multiple occasions between the ages of 5 to 15 starting in June 1998.
The defendant fled to Israel to escape prosecution the same day the abuse was first reported, in November 2010. He was returned to New York on November 3, 2021 by the United States Marshals Service.
The investigation was conducted by now-retired New York City Police Detective Steve Litwin, formerly assigned to the Brooklyn Special Victims Squad and to the Cold Case Squad.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Connie Solimeo, formerly of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, and Kevin O’Donnell, Deputy Bureau Chief, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Bureau Chief.
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