Former synagogue employee had a past conviction of child sexual abuse

Former synagogue janitor admits downloading child porn
KGW-News Channel 8
Thursday, October 19, 2006
By DREW MIKKELSEN


A Portland man who worked as a janitor at the Beth Israel Synagogue pleaded guilty Thursday to claims he received child pornography on his home computer.
Police photo
Timothy Olander

"I downloaded child pornography," 48-year-old Timothy Olander told Federal Court Judge Ancer Haggerty.

Investigators said he had several thousand illegal images on his home computer, along with several hundred movies of children involved in sexual activities.

Olander worked as a janitor at the northwest Portland Synagogue for 10 years. Part of his duties included cleaning up classrooms used by children at the temple. He was never accused of sexually abusing any of the students, but investigators claim they found enlarged and laminated photos of students in Olander's possession.

Olander will likely be sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was convicted of sexually abusing a relative in Multnomah County in 1988.

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Ex-janitor pleads guilty in child pornography case
by Bryan Denson
OregonLive.com, OR
October 20, 2006


A former janitor at Portland's Congregation Beth Israel synagogue pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving child pornography over the Internet, federal authorities reported.

Sentencing for Timothy Lee Olander, 48, was set for Jan. 2. Olander had previously served five years on probation in Oregon for the 1988 sexual abuse of a child, according to a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement searched Olander's room in January. Among items seized were 33 CD-ROMs, three VHS tapes, a manila envelope containing children's underwear and a computer that revealed 1,500 pictures and 300 videos depicting child pornography, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Olander's employment at the synagogue was terminated the day of his arrest, said Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana. Congregation Beth Israel has since instituted a policy of conducting criminal background checks on all its employees, he said.