The New York District Attorney today [March 5] issued this press release:

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau today announced the arrest of a 49-year-old man for creating multiple aliases to engage in a campaign of impersonation and harassment relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls and scholars of opposing viewpoints.  The defendant, RAPHAEL HAIM GOLB, was arrested on charges of identity theft, criminal impersonation and aggravated harassment. The crimes in the Criminal Court Complaint occurred during the period of July to December of 2008.

As if that weren’t shocking enough

The investigation leading to today’s arrest revealed that GOLB engaged in a systematic scheme on the Internet, using dozens of Internet aliases, in order to influence and affect debate on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in order to harass Dead Sea Scrolls scholars who disagree with his viewpoint. GOLB used computers at New York University (NYU) in an attempt to mask his true identity when conducting this Internet scheme. He gained access to NYU computers by virtue of being a graduate of the university, and having made donations to its library fund.

Read the intervening paragraphs- and then note that

RAPHAEL GOLB, through his Internet aliases, promoted the theories of his father and criticized the theories of others. Frequently, he criticized the manner in which the Dead Sea Scrolls have been exhibited, for not giving sufficient attention to the theories of his father.

Shocking stuff.  Read the entire press release.  I hope this serves as a warning to those out there who love to denigrate the work of others while hiding behind what they wrongly imagine to be anonymity.  There’s – at the end of the day, and after a long investigation – no such thing as anonymity after all.  [Originally publised 5 Mar, 16:21].

UPDATE:  Newsday has published a report, including a reaction to the arrest by Lawrence Schiffman.

Schiffman issued a statement after Golb’s arrest: “I am very gratified by the district attorney’s actions in this matter, and I appreciate all the efforts to see justice done.  “Reasoned intellectual discourse relies on integrity. When an individual, in seeking to advance a particular view, engages in impersonation and falsehood, he or she undermines the precepts of higher inquiry.”

Not surprisingly the report is also being picked up by other news outlets now at a fairly fast clip.  Including, but not limited to, The Monterey Herald, the Houston Chronicle, and other Associated Press partners.

UPDATE II: The Jerusalem Post now has an interesting take on the topic.

UPDATE III: Be sure not to miss the BBC go at it.

UPDATE IV:  Norman Golb is defending his son, in the New York Times.  That’s to be expected.  What isn’t to be expected are these sentences- Professor Golb said that opposing scholars had tried to quash his views over the years through tactics like barring him from Dead Sea Scrolls exhibitions. He said he saw the criminal charges as another attack on his work. “Don’t you see how there was kind of a setup?” he said. “This was to hit me harder.” It’s all a big conspiracy, Norman???? It seems the conspiracy was perpetrated by the person hawking your views under dozens of false identities.

UPDATE V:  Must reading is the essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

UPDATE VI:  There are more reactions this morning as well to the arrest.  Notable among them is that of this Norwegian site dedicated to Qumran and DSS issues.

UPDATE VII:  The Chicago Tribune has taken note of the report and what Norman Golb says in response to their queries is worth noting.  “This has everything to do with the politics of the scrolls,” said Norman Golb, who declined to elaborate.  Politics?   I seriously doubt that the DA in New York cares about the wrangling that’s been going on in Scrolls research.  Identity theft is the issue, not politics.  There’s been no campaign to silence Golb.  On the contrary, the campaign seems to have been in the opposite direction.

UPDATE VIII:  The latest report of interest (and there are a few details in this one that haven’t been mentioned in others) contains this intriguing conclusion:  A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said the investigation is ongoing but would not comment on whether Norman Golb is under investigation. Surely not!