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Sexual abuse cases in Brooklyn's Haredi community

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In Brooklyn, New York, which is home to the largest Haredi community outside Israel, some sexual abuse allegations have been leveled against spiritual leaders in that community. In addition, the community has come under scrutiny for allegedly covering up the offenses and encouraging reprisals or shunning against victims and those members of the community who speak out against cases of abuse.

Notable cases

Yona Weinberg

In 2009, Yona Weinberg, a bar mitzvah tutor and licensed social worker from Flatbush was convicted of molesting two boys under the age of 14. At his trial, where he was sentenced to 13 months in prison, the courtroom was packed with Weinberg's supporters who maintained his innocence. In response, presiding Justice Gordon L. Reichbach criticized the "communal attitude that seeks to blame, indeed punish, victims" and said that "While the crimes the defendant stands convicted of are bad enough, what is even more troubling to the court is a communal attitude that seems to impose greater opprobrium on the victims than the perpetrator." The victims had been kicked out of their schools and summer camps after coming forward with the allegations against Weinberg.[1]

Moshe Keller

In 2012, Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi Moshe Keller was sentenced to three years' probation for molesting a then 15-year-old boy in 2009.[1]

Emanuel Yegutkin

On December 3, 2012, Emanuel Yegutkin, the former principal of Elite High School, a yeshiva high school for Russian-American Jews, was found guilty of sexually abusing three underage brothers over the course of more than a decade.[2] The victims were not enrolled in Yegutkin's yeshiva.[2] Yegutkin was charged with a variety of sexual crimes, and was found guilty of all 75 counts.[2]

Nechemya Weberman

Also see Child sexual abuse in New York City religious institutions#Nechemya Weberman, Satmar Hasidic leader

On December 10, 2012, Nechemya Weberman, unlicensed therapist, [3] a youth counselor and prominent member of the Satmar community, was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl he was supposed to be counseling, in all 59 felony and misdemeanor counts.[4] The abuse began when the victim was 12 years old, and continued over a period of several years.[5] During the therapy sessions that were arranged to help the girl become more religious, he engaged in various sexual acts with the girl and acted out pornographic scenes.[3]

During the trial, Satmar Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum described Weberman’s accuser as a “zona,” or “whore”.[6] Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes criticized Teitelbaum, expressing his disappointment with Teitelbaum's remarks and calling them slanderous.[7]

Weberman was sentenced to 103 years in prison on January 22, 2013.[3]

Community attitudes toward law enforcement

According to Samuel Heilman, a professor of Jewish studies at Queens College, one reason why cases such as Weberman's are rarely reported to law enforcement is because "they think that anyone who turns over anyone to the outside authorities is committing a transgression to the community at large."[8] Agudath Israel of America, an ultra-Orthodox organization, has stated that observant Jews should not report allegations to law enforcement without first consulting with a rabbi.[1] Heilman has said that "They are more afraid of the outside world than the deviants within their own community," since "The deviants threaten individuals here or there, but the outside world threatens everyone and the entire structure of their world."[1]

Response from law enforcement

Brooklyn's district attorney, Charles Hynes, has responded to the abuse cases by starting a program in 2009 called Kol Tzedek (Voice of Justice), which is geared toward Orthodox Jews and encourages them to cooperate with law enforcement. Hynes said that before Kol Tzedek was formed, "As soon as we would give the name of a defendant … (rabbis and others) would engage this community in a relentless search for the victims...And they're very, very good at identifying the victims. And then the victims would be intimidated and threatened, and the case would fall apart." Hynes has described the intimidation that occurs in these cases as worse than anything else he has ever seen in his career, including mob cases and police corruption cases.[9] Since 2009, roughly 100 out of 5389 cases of sexual abuse in the district have come from the ultra-Orthodox community. Some victims' rights activists have still criticized Hynes, accusing him of pandering to rabbis and those in power for political reasons and not prosecuting cases aggressively enough.[10] In 2012, Hynes met with a panel of community leaders to discuss the issue further.[11]

Response from the community

Some activists have encouraged victims to come forward. Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg created a hotline that features "his impassioned lectures in Yiddish, Hebrew and English imploring victims to call 911 and accusing rabbis of silencing cases." He is now shunned by communal authorities.[12] In 2008, fliers were posted around Williamsburg depicting a coiled snake around Rosenberg's head with the words "Nuchem Snake Rosenberg: Leave Tainted One!". Rosenberg has also been banned from Satmar synagogues by the Satmar authorities, while a group of 32 prominent Ultra-Orthodox rabbis and religious judges formally ostracized him.[1]

Community activist Tzvi Gluck has taken a stand against abuse in his community. Gluck said that in 2011, a 30-year old man molested a 14-year-old boy in a ritual bath: this case never made it to the police. A rabbi made the boy apologize to the molester for seducing him.[1]

In July 2011, in Crown Heights, the Chabad-Lubavitch group declared the traditional ban on mesirah did not apply to cases of child sexual abuse, allowing cases to be reported with much less stigma than before.[1] Rabbi Yosef Blau has taken a similar stance, saying that "If one is aware of someone abusing children, one must go to secular authorities" [11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Ultra-Orthodox Shun Their Own for Reporting Child Sexual Abuse".
  2. ^ a b c http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/nyregion/ex-principal-in-brooklyn-convicted-of-abusing-boys.html
  3. ^ a b c "Hasidic Therapist Sentenced to 103 Years in Sexual Abuse Case". New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  4. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/nyregion/hasidic-man-found-guilty-of-sexual-abuse.html
  5. ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/satmar-sect-considers-sending-rebel-teens-article-1.1216642
  6. ^ http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/n-y-ultra-orthodox-jewish-counselor-convicted-of-sex-abuse-in-he-said-she-said-trial-1.484111
  7. ^ Talkline with Zev Brenner, Dec. 4, 2012 podcast available at the bottom of this article, starting with the 7m 50s mark.
  8. ^ http://www.startribune.com/printarticle/?id=158357895
  9. ^ "Brooklyn DA: Intimidation in Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Sex Abuse Cases Worse Than Mob Cases".
  10. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/nyregion/for-ultra-orthodox-in-child-sex-abuse-cases-prosecutor-has-different-rules.html?pagewanted=all
  11. ^ a b "Panel Assembles To Discuss Sex Abuse Cases In Brooklyn".
  12. ^ "Hasidic child sex abuse allegations".
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