Former Cheshire Rabbi Acquitted of Child Abuse Charges in Virginia

Former Cheshire rabbi Eric Silver, 73, was found not guilty on charges that he sexually molested his daughter in the 1960s and 70s, a Norfolk Circuit judge ruled on Friday, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

Silver was arrested at his Willow Brook Drive home in February 2015 on three counts of indecent liberties with a child.

It was revealed during the two-day bench trial that the allegations came from Silver’s now 52-year-old daughter, who was urged by her step-father to report the alleged abuse to Norfolk police in September 2014, according to the Meriden Record-Journal.

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The Virginian-Pilot reports Silver’s daughter accused him of sexually abusing her over a 12-year period while he was a Navy chaplain in Norfolk, Virginia and began when she was 4 years old.

She testified in the trial last Thursday.

Silver testified on Friday and denied ever molesting his daughter and pointed out that she chose to live with him when she was 12 years old after he divorced her mother, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

Silver served as rabbi of Temple Beth David in Cheshire for 20 years before retiring in 2010.

Silver’s attorney told The Virginian-Pilot that he can now “return back to his community and hopefully erase the stigma that comes with this kind of charge.”

Read more at The Virginian-Pilot here.