Judge Will Release Abductor of Rabbi’s Son to Halfway House

After a new psychiatric report, a federal judge said Wednesday he will release former UC Irvine mathematics lecturer Alexander Gelman to a halfway house. Gelman abducted the 2-year-old son of his friend and rabbi last April.

The boy, Schneur Zalman Berkowitz, son of Rabbi Aron D. Berkowitz of Westminster, was recovered unharmed in Tijuana, Mexico, where Gelman had been involved in a minor traffic accident.

Gelman later told police he had taken the child because of “divine inspiration.”

After a brief trial in Los Angeles last September, U.S. District Judge Ferdinand Fernandez declared Gelman, 40, not guilty of the kidnaping charge on the ground that he was insane.

Committed in October

Fernandez committed Gelman to a mental hospital in October and ordered that he remain in custody until he recovered his sanity or was well enough to be trusted in an outpatient program.

Referring to a psychiatric report concluding that Gelman would pose no danger if sent to a halfway house with 24-hour psychiatric care, Fernandez agreed to release him to the Gateway Community Treatment Center in Echo Park once he received the necessary prison documents. The next opening at the center will occur Jan. 27, officials said.

Gelman’s attorney, Michael D. Abzug, said he hoped Gelman’s condition would improve enough so he can be released from the halfway house or transferred to non-psychiatric facilities in New York, where Gelman’s mother lives.

Gelman said he wants to return to living with his mother, Abzug said.