A janitor for a Park Slope synagogue faces up to four years in prison for allegedly raping a female acquaintance during a booze-fueled night at the house of worship last month, according to a law-enforcement source.
Cops cuffed the 27-year-old employee on Aug. 27 after the victim told police that she and the worker were drinking inside the Garfield Place temple of Congregation Beth Elohim in the early hours on Aug. 4, when the man forced himself on her sometime after 2 am, ignoring her repeated demands that he stop.
Prosecutors slapped the defendant, who is currently out on $7,500 bail, with charges including a top count of third-degree rape, the source said.
The woman was not a member of the progressive Reform congregation, according to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report, which said the synagogue’s leaders informed its members that the janitor was booted from his job on the temple’s maintenance staff in an e-mail they sent to congregants last week.
“We are angry and saddened by what happened. We are committed to the safety and security of everyone in our buildings, and this employee’s act was a violation of that commitment,” the e-mail read.
Neither Congregation Beth Elohim Rabbi Rachel Timoner nor a lawyer for the defendant could immediately be reached for comment.