After Dovid Akiva Shenkman was arrested last fall on child pornography charges, a federal judge ordered him held in custody pending trial, citing evidence that he had a “relentless and longstanding sexual interest in children.”
That involved images of “rape, torture and infants,” as well as “bestiality,” court records show.
A resident of the New York City region who previously lived in Chicago, Shenkman sought “even more messed up stuff” to “sexually gratify himself,” the records say, and he carried child porn on “two different devices across an international border” — where he was arrested while returning to the U.S. from Canada.
A prosecutor asserted in court records that in “graphic” social media chats prior to his arrest, Shenkman “claimed to have committed hands-on sexual abuse of children,” though he wasn’t charged with that.
Shenkman has since pleaded guilty to possession and transportation of child pornography. Now 40, he was sentenced last week in a Michigan courtroom to nearly eight years in prison — but not before Jewish religious figures in the Chicago area and elsewhere sent letters to the court to seek leniency, with some seeming to minimize his misconduct.
Among them: Rabbi Moshe Yosef Unger, a North Side resident who oversees an Orthodox Jewish school for children in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade in West Rogers Park called Yeshiva Ohr Boruch – The Veitzener Cheder.
“I am confident that he poses no danger to anyone — young or old — and my experience has proven that young men drawn to self-corrosive behaviors usually suffered some serious trauma which can be healed,” Unger wrote to U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman.
“He is already bearing the punishment of stigmatization and shaming.”
In the letter, Unger omitted his connection to the school, which includes nearly 400 students, instead describing himself as “spiritual leader of Congregation Shearis Yisroel” that was “attended by Akiva and his family when they moved to Chicago shortly after his parents divorced” when he was a youngster.
Although Shenkman later moved to the East Coast, they stayed in touch, Unger indicated, saying: “Over the years, I’ve observed Akiva emerging as a kind and socially competent adult. He was always a welcome guest in the synagogue, admired for his courteous and warm demeanor.”
Reached through his school’s automated switchboard more than a week ago, Unger confirmed sending the letter, and said to a reporter: “Basically what did he do? Did he touch anybody or just watch a video?”
Unger also said, “How can I be of service to him by talking to you?”
He then said he was “in the middle of a meeting, I will call you back,” but didn’t.
Another letter writer on Shenkman’s behalf was Esther Shkop, who described herself in her letter as director of the Wisdom of Torah Institute and a longtime former dean and professor at the Hebrew Theological College, with campuses on the North Side and in Skokie.
“Whatever Akiva did — howsoever reprehensible — damaged only his own soul — he did not harm others, and I am confident that he poses no danger to anyone,” Shkop wrote, indicating she’s an aunt to Shenkman.
“I know that he is deeply regretful and ashamed of his behavior. I ask your honor to give him the opportunity to rebuild his life as soon as possible. He will continue to be a valuable and contributing member to society.”
From a Skokie address, Rabbi Yitzchak Shkop also wrote to the judge, saying, “I can emphatically state that Akiva would not — and could not — hurt anyone.”
“He is deeply remorseful and will never repeat his shameful lapse into immoral ideation. . . . He is surrounded by many loving friends and relatives who have witnessed and come to adore his kind and gentle disposition.”
“We ask that he be given a chance to rebuild his life as early as possible so he can return to being the productive and generous member of the community and society at large.”
In a recent phone conversation, Rabbi Shkop confirmed sending the letter and said of Shenkman, “The guy never hurt anyone” — even though prosecutors asserted in court records that child porn is not a victimless crime because it creates a marketplace for the sex abuse of minors.
Before hanging up on a reporter, he said that, if a news story is published, “When time comes and you go off to God, you’ll have to tell why you did it . . . if you have the conscience to go and write about someone who never hurt anybody . . . go ahead and enjoy . . . it’s not in the public interest.”
He added, Shenkman is “not really a criminal but a sick person.”
A psychological report prepared by Shenkman’s defense team prior to sentencing also references broader child sexual abuse in Jewish communities — believed to be a serious problem in Chicago and beyond that is often hidden or otherwise dealt with inadequately by religious leaders and families.
While growing up, Shenkman “experienced sexual abuse by a babysitter within the context of an Orthodox Jewish upbringing. In that community, there is a concept of ‘personal modesty’ which takes the form of suppressing external appearance and action, but most importantly sexual activity and views of sexuality.”
The report says this “is very likely a contributing factor to the sexual deviance that led to these charges.”
When Shenkman was arrested Nov. 24 crossing from Canada into Detroit, federal agents searched his cell phones and found exchanges of child porn via Telegram, “an encrypted social media application where users can send each other messages, images, and videos using the Internet.”
Some other videos that’d been exchanged were no longer accessible to investigators, but the accompanying messages were. In one such instance, Shenkman had shared a video and wrote to someone, “These two, I convinced her to do and now she is hooked, I just need to get her to make more videos,” court records show.
Prosecutor Tara Hindelang, who sought 15 years in prison for Shenkman, wrote: “Shenkman’s interest in trafficking in child pornography has persisted since at least 2021.”
Court records show a day after his arrest, Shenkman spoke to a man, possibly a relative, over the phone from jail and encouraged him to visit his apartment — in what officials suspected was a coded attempt to clear out other evidence.
“My refrigerator has stuff in there that is going bad. There is food in there sitting that needs to be cleaned out,” Shenkman said in the call, which was recorded.
The man responded in Yiddish, “Akiva, when you are among the Gentiles, you have to be totally quiet. Don’t talk at all.”
Three days later, “men were seen going into Shenkman’s apartment removing items.”