Authorities say a second accuser came forward after hearing about his March arrest in a separate case.
MIAMI, FL — A North Miami Beach rabbi and counselor was arrested for the second time in less than a month after Miami-Dade investigators said a second young woman accused him of lewd conduct that happened when she was 14, broadening a case that had already put him under court restrictions.
Shaya Lunger, who also goes by Yona Lunger, was taken into custody Monday and appeared in bond court Tuesday on two new felony counts, according to local reports and law enforcement records. The new case matters because it adds a second accuser to an investigation that began with allegations from a 15-year-old girl in northeast Miami-Dade. Detectives have said Lunger was seen as a trusted community figure with access to minors, and they have publicly urged other possible victims to come forward as the inquiry continues.
The new arrest came after investigators said a now-19-year-old woman living in Israel contacted Miami-Dade detectives when she learned of Lunger’s March arrest. According to an arrest warrant described in local coverage, she told investigators that Lunger touched her breasts over her clothing for about a minute in May 2021, when she was visiting family in South Florida and was 14 years old. The woman said the encounter followed a series of interactions that began at a family home being used as a short-term rental. Investigators said Lunger had offered to help restock items for the property, then took the teen to a Publix, held her hand and made comments that detectives later described as inappropriate. He was arrested Monday in North Miami Beach and brought before a judge the next day, when bond was set at $10,000.
The second case builds on an earlier accusation that surfaced in March. In that investigation, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said Special Victims Bureau detectives learned on March 24 of an incident that authorities said happened at about 5:45 p.m. on March 18 in northeast Miami-Dade. The sheriff’s office said the alleged victim was 15 years old. According to the first arrest report, Lunger entered the girl’s bedroom, closed the door and told her to “put away her sexy things,” referring to her chest. Detectives said he then hugged and kissed her multiple times and, after kissing her near the lips, asked her to kiss him back. The same report said he had spoken on multiple occasions about wanting the girl to turn 18. Lunger was arrested March 25 in that case. When detectives questioned him then, Local 10 reported, he denied the allegations and said “it is all a lie.”
The sheriff’s office took the unusual step after the first arrest of publicly warning that Lunger was considered a trusted member of the community and had access to minors. That wording shaped the public response because it suggested investigators feared the first report might not be the only one. NBC6 reported that records identified Lunger as a community activist tied to a local nonprofit. CBS Miami described him as an ordained rabbi and counselor from North Miami Beach. The man’s name has circulated widely in South Florida Jewish community circles, adding to the attention around the case. Even so, the public record remains incomplete. Authorities have not said whether the two accusers knew each other, whether the alleged conduct happened in similar settings, or whether investigators are reviewing additional contacts between Lunger and other minors over a longer period. Those unanswered questions are now central to the next stage of the case.
Florida lewd and lascivious charges involving minors can carry severe penalties, but the exact path of this case will depend on charging documents, witness interviews, defense arguments and any evidence prosecutors decide to file in court. In the first case, Lunger was booked on a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 16 and later released on bond with an order to stay away from the girl, according to local reporting. In the second case, Local 10 reported that the new counts include lewd and lascivious conduct involving a minor under 16 and a minor between 12 and 16. The difference in wording points to prosecutors sorting through allegations that span more than one event or legal theory. As of Tuesday, reports indicated Lunger had bonded out of jail after the second arrest as well. No plea in the new case was immediately reported, and court records publicly described in news accounts did not show a trial date.
The setting of the allegations has also drawn notice because both accounts place Lunger in close, informal contact with girls in homes and everyday spaces rather than in a formal office or public venue. In the first case, detectives said the alleged conduct happened inside a bedroom in northeast Miami-Dade. In the second, investigators said the contact began around a family rental property, continued on a trip to a grocery store and then moved into a vehicle ride back to the house. That kind of detail can matter for investigators trying to build a timeline and test witness memories. It can also shape how prosecutors explain access and trust. Miami-Dade detectives have not publicly described physical evidence tied to either case, and no surveillance images, messages or recordings were detailed in the reporting made public Tuesday. For now, the cases rest largely on witness accounts, arrest reports and follow-up investigation by the Special Victims Bureau.
Outside the jail, CBS Miami reported, Lunger ran from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center to a waiting car and did not answer questions from reporters. That brief scene underscored the silence around a case that has grown quickly since the first arrest on March 25. The sheriff’s office has said little beyond confirming the first case, identifying Lunger by name and nickname, and asking anyone else who may have been harmed to contact investigators. News outlets have filled in much of the picture through arrest reports and warrant details. The second accuser’s account, according to Local 10, only reached detectives after publicity from the first case. That sequence may become important later, both for prosecutors arguing that publicity helped uncover another victim and for defense lawyers who could scrutinize how later statements were shaped. For now, the public picture is one of a widening inquiry centered on a man once described by investigators themselves as someone trusted around children.
As of Wednesday, Lunger was out of jail after his second arrest, facing allegations from two accusers who were 14 and 15 at the time of the alleged conduct. The next milestone is likely a formal court appearance in Miami-Dade as prosecutors decide how to move forward on the new felony counts.
Author note: Last updated April 22, 2026.