Brooklyn man extradited from Israel and sentenced for heinous child abuse

October 25, 2023 Rob Abruzzese

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the sentencing of Gershon Kranczer, who was extradited from Israel to face justice for the sexual abuse of three young relatives.
Photo: Rob Abruzzese/Brooklyn Eagle

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In a case that has spanned over a decade, justice has finally been served as a 67-year-old Brooklyn man, who fled to Israel to evade prosecution, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the horrific sexual abuse of three young female relatives.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the sentence on Monday, marking the end of a long and strenuous legal battle that began when the accused, Gershon Kranczer of Midwood, Brooklyn, was indicted in absentia in 2010.

Following a guilty plea to a count of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child in August 2023, Kranczer was extradited back to the United States in November 2021, paving the way for today’s sentencing by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser.

“With today’s sentence, this defendant is being held responsible for his despicable acts, while sparing his victims from testifying against a relative,” Gonzalez said. “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,” he said.

The investigations revealed a gruesome narrative where Kranczer sexually abused a child on multiple occasions from the time she was 6 until she turned 13, spanning from August 1996 to February 2003.

A second child was abused between March 2001 and September 2002, while a third victim disclosed her ordeal following Kranczer’s arrest in 2021, recounting abuse that started in June 1998 when she was merely 5 years old.

The day the abuse was reported in November 2010, Kranczer fled to Israel, evading justice for over a decade until his extradition to New York in 2021. The case underscores the painstaking diligence and international cooperation required to bring such fugitives to justice.

Aside from his prison sentence, Kranczer faces 10 years of post-release supervision and will be mandated to register as a sex offender upon his release, ensuring a measure of continued accountability for his appalling actions.