Shlomy Mandel (above) is a BUTCHER of children
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Rabbi Yehuda Kolko is indicted; (January, 24, 2007)
| KINGS Criminal Court |
| Docket 2006KN084956 |
| Defendant KOLKO, JOEL |
Appearance Information:
| Appearance Part & Date | Judge | Calendar Section | Court Reporter | Release Status | Arraignment Type | Hearing Type | Docket Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP1F, January 24, 2007 | GARNETT,W | Pending | EBANKS, | No Type | INDICTED - Temporary Order of Protection Issued | ||
| AP1F, December 13, 2006 | GARNETT,W | Pending | JOHNSON, | Bail Continued | No Type | CASE CONTINUED (ADJOURNED) - Temporary Order of Protection Issued | |
| APAR1, December 8, 2006 | ALLMAN,R | Pending | DIAMOND, | Bond $10,000 Cash $5,000 (Cash) | Pre-Arraignment Deposition Given | CASE CONTINUED (ADJOURNED) - Temporary Order of Protection Issued |
Docket Information:
| Standards and Goals Age | Defendant Status |
|---|---|
Docket Sentence Information:
| Docket Sentence | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Data Available | ||||
Defense Attorney Information:
| Name | Type | Court Date | Court Part | Firm Name | Phone Number | Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TULMAN,SCOTT | Private (Retained) | December 8, 2006 | APAR1 | 212 - 867 - 3600 | 319 LEXINGTON AVE, NEW YORK, NY 10017 |
Assistant District Attorney Information:
| Name | Assignment Date |
|---|---|
| NA, | January 24, 2007 |
| KINGS Criminal Court Docket 2006KN084956 Defendant KOLKO, JOEL | |||||||
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KINGS Criminal Court
Docket: 2006KN084956
Defendant: KOLKO, JOEL
Born 1946
| Arrest/Incident Date/Time | Arrest Date: December 7, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Case Related Numbers | Criminal Justice Tracking Number: 58608619Y |
| Arresting Officer Info | Agency: NYPD |
=======================================================
The world is sustained by three things:
By justice, by truth, and by peace.
—Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel
Commentary [1:18]
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel was the grandson of his namesake, author of the previous mishnah, and father of Judah HaNasi, who compiled this book and the whole Mishnah. The traditional way to reconcile this saying and that of Shimon the Righteous (1:2) is to say that the first one speaks of the purposes for which God created the world, whereas this one speaks of the principles which sustain it, and prevent it from collapsing.The three values can be seen to promote the welfare of mankind on two levels: the interpersonal and the social.
Justice. On the social level, a fair government (as Maimonides points out) and courts that actually administer justice promote peace and harmony in society. On a personal level, a major mistake of 20th century psychology has been to neglect the importance of justice in the sense of fairness in relationships. It is the glue that sustains good relationships.
Truth. In the Biblical context, ‘truth’ refers not simply to the accuracy of statements, but also to the moral dimension of truth-telling: honesty, keeping promises and avoiding deceit. On the interpersonal level, truth is essential for trust and effective cooperation, and lies destroy relationships from within. For example, experts who have studied the damage that infidelity does to marriages say that the lying does as much or more damage as the sexual betrayal. On the level of a whole society the ability of citizens to know the actual social consequences of governmental policies, and for the citizen's views to feed back and change policy greatly help to promote peace and prosperity, as philosopher Karl Popper pointed out. Democratic governments, which allow a free press, debate, and voting to change leaders, all increase the power of truth to change society for the better.
Peace. Strife and war are obviously destructive of society. We have just seen also that justice and truth are important to sustaining peace. However, sometimes these values come into conflict with sustaining peace, and there are very interesting discussions of these conflicts in the Talmud.
Justice vs Peace. When parties are in dispute, peace between them may be served by a settlement that both sides can agree on, rather than strict justice, which even though correct, leaves one party feeling injured and angry. In Sanhedrin 6b the Rabbis debate when mediation and compromise is appropriate, and when a legal judgment is called for. Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Josse the Galilean argues that mediation should be forbidden, because justice should always rule. In a memorable phrase he said, “Let justice pierce through the mountain”—meaning strict justice whatever the obstacle or cost. Rabbi Judah ben Korba takes the opposite side. Refering to the same proof text as Rabban Shimon ben Gamiliel here, he argues that where people turn to law courts there is no peace, and where there is peace people don’t turn to law courts. “What is that kind of justice in which peace abides? We must say: mediation.” The report of the debate identifies the ‘pierce the mountain’ view with Moses, and the priority on peace with his brother Aaron. The decision is that offering mediation as an alternative to court is always meritorious. But there is unresolved disagreement over at what point to stop offering mediation.
Truth and Peace. Sometimes the truth can offend and set people against each other. The Talmud identifies particularly two areas in which truth can be compromised. One of these is the shading of the truth for the sake of good manners. The question is asked, “How does one dance [and sing] before the bride? The school of Shammai says: the bride as she is. The school of Hillel says: ‘Beautiful and graceful bride.’” The school of Hillel maintained against the arguments of the school of Shammai that this is proper even if the bride is lame or blind, and inspite of the Torah passage that says “Keep far from false words” (Ex. 23:7). Thus the sages concluded “One should always try to get along well with people.”(Ket. 17a). A second area is for the sake of peace in the Home. When God tells Sarah that she will bear a child with Abraham, she laughs, saying “And my lord is old.” But God then reports Sarah’s words to Abraham as “Now that I am old”(Gen. 18:12-13), which will not offend Abraham. Thus the sages conclude that the truth can also be shaded for the sake of family peace.
By justice, by truth, and by peace.
—Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel
Discussion Guide [1:18].
Can you give some examples where goverments around the world have attempted to supress truth? What have been the results?
How would you distinguish those distortions of the truth which will properly promote harmony within the family from those which are damaging to relationships?
Is there a rule or guideline for distinguishing the two?
In relationships, communication usually has broken down by the time the parties go to court. Contemporary thinkers such as Roger Fisher, have recently made important contributions to the art of conflict resulution through negotiation and third-party mediation.
What attitudes do you think lead to break down in negotiations, or helps negotiations succeed?
Do you think our legal system does enough to encourage a mediated settlement, rather than a court decision?
Have you ever acted as a mediator or witnessed mediation?
In your experience in a family, when do you think discussions about the fair resolution of a dispute have the best chance of succeeding?
=========================================
(Taken from a previous post on this Blog)
http://www.noahide.com/newsletter/news69.htm
Read Below how SHLOMO MANDEL doesn't give a damn about saving Jewish Lives. He only cares about his KOVOD.
The Responsibility of Every Single Jew to Participate in the Campaign to
"Stop Funding the Terrorist PLO!"
It is our duty to inform every Jew of the following Torah principles:
- Every Jew, regardless of age or position, has an obligation under Jewish law to save the life of a fellow Jew whose life is in danger (the obligation of
). - This obligation "pushes aside the entire Torah" (
), meaning that it overrides, if necessary, the observance of virtually any other part of Jewish law — even Shabbos, Yom Kippur, or the like (
). - When the time comes to save a life (or lives), a Jew is absolutely forbidden to ask permission to do so, even from a Rav or any other authority; Jewish law states that by asking for authorization, a Jew would be wasting precious time and effort that is needed for the saving of lives, and would be giving others the false impression that saving lives might be optional, or that someone may have the authority to override this obligation.
- The Table of Jewish Law (
) states that any rabbi who is asked by a member of his community for permission to save lives is considered shamed and disgraced (
), since he previously failed to teach clearly that they must not ask his permission in such a case. - Indeed, Jewish law requires the rabbi to precede his entire congregation in rushing forward to save lives, so as to provide a proper example to others (
). - A Jew who fulfills his duty to save a life is considered as if he has saved the entire world.
- One who fails to carry out his responsibility is considered by Torah as if he actually participated in the murder of his fellow Jews.
- One who sees his fellow Jews not carrying out their responsibility of saving lives must speak out and pressure those Jews to do their duty; if another person, despite knowing his responsibility, still refuses to act, "we shame him publicly, publicize his (ongoing) sin, reproach him to his face, and despise and curse him, until he will return to what is proper" (
), if this is the only way to make him take proper action. - One who discourages his fellow Jews from saving lives, or who even fails to speak out to force them to take action, is considered one who causes the masses to sin; he loses his place in the World to Come (
), and is hindered — or even blocked altogether, if his terrible sin persists — from doing teshuvah (repentance and return) for his heinous act of betrayal (
). - Various authorities, including the Lubavitcher Rebbe, have unequivocally applied the principle of saving lives to the current situation in Israel, in which Jews are being forced to surrender in stages to our enemies — especially to the Marxist, terrorist Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and various affiliated groups (
); these terrorists continue to make clear their objective of utterly destroying the nation of Israel and murdering all its citizens (
). - The organization "Jews And Hasidic Gentiles — United to Save America" (JAHG-USA) has spearheaded a campaign to terminate U.S. government funding for the PLO and its various front organizations, financing which amounts to hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year, and which may well be the primary funding source for the terrorists, without which their operations would cease and uncountable Jewish lives would be saved.
- Therefore, we the undersigned endorse the materials produced by JAHG-USA for this PLO-defunding campaign, including the petition "An Urgent Call to Stop Funding the Terrorist PLO!", the flier "Is America Ready for Judgment Day?", and the book A Brilliant Disguise: How Israel's Enemies Have Concealed their True Identity and Fatal Weakness; these materials should be used by every single Jew in America in an emergency campaign to save Jewish lives — which is obligatory for all Jews.
- The efforts to neutralize Israel's enemies should not be limited to the above, but should also include any other productive efforts leading to the destruction of the PLO and its allies and sponsors.
THE HALL OF SHAME…
Have Some Jewish Leaders Betrayed the Torah?
This week's example:
Rabbi Shlomo Mandel, Dean, Yeshiva & Mesivta of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
A JAHG-USA volunteer showed Rabbi Mandel our PLO-defunding Proclamation last September 29th. He excused himself from signing by saying he doesn't sign such things (presumably meaning proclamations?) — but then bluntly admitted he would sign the Proclamation if other prominent rabbis in Brooklyn would do so.
In other words, the rabbi implicitly acknowledged there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Proclamation itself, insofar as he would theoretically be willing to sign it. He thus also agreed, in effect, that he would be an appropriate leader to endorse the Proclamation. So what was his problem? He didn't want to stand out alone on the issue; he would only participate if everyone, absolutely everyone else, were also doing so. By no means did he want to risk being the slightest bit controversial with anyone.
Since Rabbi Mandel's refusal, we have received the endorsements of several leading rabbis in Flatbush, one of the Brooklyn areas from which he wanted to see others sign; in fact, JAHG-USA's campaign was endorsed by virtually all the directors of the Vaad HaRabonim, the official rabbinical council for Flatbush.
Rabbi Mandel is the head of a major (non-Hasidic) yeshiva in Brooklyn, and he has much potential influence, for better or for worse. It is truly astonishing that, these days, leaders are more afraid to speak out on what they know is right (as Rabbi Mandel essentially acknowledged regarding our Proclamation) than are people of "lower" status. But soon people like Rabbi Mandel may find themselves utterly isolated from the Jewish community for having waited until almost everyone else has endorsed the PLO-defunding campaign.
THE HALL OF SHAME…
Have Some Jewish Leaders Betrayed the Torah?
This week's example:
Rabbi Yisroel Pichey, Yeshiva & Mesivta of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
A couple of weeks ago, we profiled the "refusenik" Rabbi Shlomo Mandel, Dean of the orthodox (though non-Hasidic) Yeshiva & Mesivta of Brooklyn, a prominent school for Jewish boys. He refused to sign the PLO-defunding Proclamation, even while essentially admitting there was nothing wrong with the document, unless he could hide behind other prominent rabbis who would sign first.
On that same visit to the yeshiva (last September 29th), the JAHG-USA volunteer first went to Rabbi Pichey, one of the yeshiva's teachers working under Rabbi Mandel. Since his boss hadn't yet been approached and hadn't yet refused, Rabbi Pichey didn't have any basis to fear speaking out. But there seems to be a general atmosphere of cowardice, so he started making various evasive excuses not to sign (none of which rejected the content of the Proclamation itself). Upon our volunteer's persistence, Rabbi Pichey took the Proclamation over to a fellow teacher to ask what he thought (as if he doesn't have his own mind or conscience!). Then he sent our volunteer to the Dean (Rabbi Mandel, who then refused, as mentioned above); by the time the volunteer returned to ask Rabbi Pichey one last time, the rabbi had conveniently vanished and was not to be found.
"Passing the buck" is a widespread disease, as it turns out. Perhaps someone will develop a vaccine…
=================================================STOP DECEIVING THE PUBLIC - YOU COWARDLY AND DISGUSTING RABBI'S!!!
The nerve of these mafioso rabbi's that lie to your face and expect you to believe the crap they are spewing forth. No thank you! I don't trust the actions and integrity of these old midgets and killers of children, not one bit. Not at all. In fact it's all one big show with these Rabbi's. IT'S A BUSINESS AS USUAL APPROACH. Let's give a hechsher on soap and make a "shabbos doorknob" (don't ask me to explain this). Let's forbid fancy simcha's. They are all busy taking your hard earned money from your pockets while advocating laws LIKE FORBIDDING THE INTERNET SO THAT YOU THE "DUMB" PUBLIC DOESN'T HAVE A CLUE AS TO WHAT KIND OF SCUMBAGS THESE RABBI'S REALLY ARE. THAT YOU THE "NAIVE' PUBLIC SHOULD NOT KNOW THE TRUTH BECAUSE THEN THE MOSDOS WILL BE EXPOSED FOR THEIR CRIMES. The Rabbi's who forbid the internet are afraid of the truth coming out. They are very scared, as they most certainly should be with the crimes they attempted and are attempting to sweep under the rug. Therefore, they tell you that it is forbidden to use the internet unless you first consult with them for approval. This is the game the rabbi's play. They worry about how many donations they will receive from you today. They worry that their holy image will be tainted. They have NO answer to the truth they have been hiding from you all these decades. They have no legs to stand on and they are hoping and wishing that you the "Stupid" Jews will follow their Daas Chamorim and fall for their wicked intentions being disguised in the name of the Torah. Judiasim as we were taught in school is NOT the same Judiasim that G-D intended for us. Certainly, children have earned a publics interest concern and responsibility for their safety and well being.
These rabbi's are holding you hostage and have you where they want YOU. They preach a whole lot, yet do not practice what they preach. They pray and hope that you should never ever find out the many jewish neshamas that were killed by the mosdos and by these phony and evil rabonim. Many times, as we see today, the internet has the special power to EXPOSE these phoney Rabbi's and yeshiva's and alert you the "dumb citizen" of the CHILD MOLESTERS THAT ARE TEACHING YOUR CHILD IN YESHIVAH, THE COVER-UP AND THREATS AND MANIPULATION TO BE SILENT ABOUT IT, the FAKERS, CHEATERS, TAX EVADERS, FOOL A FOOD INSPECTOR FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK LUNCH MONEY PROGRAM (BOBOV AMONGST OTHER YESHIVA'S), SLY AND UN-REPENTFUL CHILD KILLERS. All of this you the "fool" that the rabbi's think that you are is what WORKS SO WELL FOR THESE RABBI'S FROM HELL, BUT IF YOU THE PUBLIC SMARTEN UP A BIT, YOU CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH THEIR DECEIT, MANIPULATION OF THE TORAH, AND THEIR BLACK HATS AND UGLY SMELLY BEARDS.
Yeshiva of Brooklyn, Yeshiva Torah Temima, Ger, Bobov, Satmar, Ner Israel of Baltimore, All these yeshiva cases that employed and are employing rabbi's that molest boys, would not have been brought to you the "stupid" publics attention were it not for the great power of the internet and bloggers; that is being used as a means to save JEWISH NESHAMAS!
The internet can be used for good and bad; just like a gun can also be used for protection or for a crime. So PLEASE; I BEG OF YOU THE "STUPID" PUBLIC AS THE RABBI'S SEEM TO ASSUME THAT YOU ARE; TO GET UP AND SHOW THESE WIMPY AND TORAH TWISTING RABBI'S THAT YOU WILL NOT FALL FOR THEIR LIES, DISTORTIONS, AND CRIMES ANYMORE.
Insist that the Rabbi's NOT ignore the pedophile rabbi's epidemic anymore. Tell them that IYOV was punished for being quiet, and so too will they. Explain TO THESE GANGSTER RABBI'S that they Stop robbing the Public of their hard earned money THEY WORKED SO HARD FOR. GO TO HELL RABBI'S; YOU ARE AN UTTER DISGRACE TO HASHEM. YOU HAVE NO VALUES, NO ETHICS, AND NO REAL TORAH THAT YOU ADHERE TO OR STUDY FROM.
================================================
PROCEED WITH CAUTION. YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ SOME CRAP FROM OUR "GEDOLIM"
Lakewood Internet Asifa - Update (FROM 2005)
Thousands of people attended the gathering, one of the biggest ever held in Lakewood.
The Rabbis spoke about the great threat posed by the internet to children and the importance of maintaining their purity and innocence by erecting barriers to its use. They cited actual incidents where children were exposed to the most vile and destructive material without the knowledge of their parents and at times despite their parents’ efforts to protect them.
As a result a list of rules will be circulated by the schools to their parent bodies. These will include the following:
1. Internet access in the home is only permissible if required for a person’s job.
2. Internet access in the home is prohibited if it is only for the purpose of casual use (shopping, airline tickets etc.)
3. Anyone who requires access to perform their jobs will be required to have a Rabbi certify the validity of this need. The Rabbi’s certification will be filed with the children’s schools.
4. Computers without internet access will be required to have software installed which will prevent such access in order to prevent children from connecting them to the internet by the use of external modems, WIFI etc.
5. Children of families that do not comply with the rules will be barred from school in order to protect the other children in the class.
It was stressed that the optimal situation for adults as well as children is to totally avoid the need to access the internet whether at work or at home.
=========================================
MONDAY JANUARY 22, 2007 Last modified: Sunday, January 21, 2007 11:56 PM EST
Lesson for students at molester's parish
BY AMY DeMELIA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
NORTH ATTLEBORO - St. Mary-Sacred Heart School is introducing a sex awareness program to safeguard students in the wake of the priest sex abuse scandal, and another to help parents protect their children from predators on the Internet.
"Because of the sex abuse challenge in the Catholic Church, each school in the Catholic diocese has been required to offer a prevention program," said the Rev. David Costa, director of the school. "Our diocese has chosen the Child Lures prevention program."
The program has special relevance for the school because St. Mary's Church was the first parish of Father James Porter, a notorious child molester convicted of molesting dozens of students in the 1960s.
Porter's case in the early 1990s brought the issue of priest sex abuse into the national spotlight.
Beginning this month, students will learn about the tricks a predator might use to lure them away and how to react if approached by a stranger. The program is taught at all grade levels each year with the lessons becoming more intensive as the child ages.
The Child Lures program has six cornerstone lessons that teach students everything from recognizing and following instincts to fostering self-esteem. Students also learn who to tell, and where to go if they are approached by a stranger.
The program also focuses on lures that a predator might use, which are taught on an age-appropriate basis.
"We take a non-alarmist approach. We try to be as non-scary and positive as possible," Costa said. "So far, it's been a success."
As a result, kindergarten students learn that strangers could attempt to lure them away with a pet or by asking for help. Fifth-grade students learn about drug and alcohol lures, which ties in with the school's Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, and eighth-graders learn about pornography lures.
"As designed, we were supposed to do the entire program in every grade, every year," said Denise Peixoto, principal of St. Mary-Sacred Heart School.
"We knew some of our families would be uncomfortable talking about some of the lures with young children, so we split it up into age-appropriate groups."
The school's work with the program has been recognized by the diocese and shared with other Catholic schools in the area.
"We tend to do things here with the needs of our students in mind so when the program was introduced, we made it our own. As a staff we decided what would work for our schools, and now we're being used as a model for other schools," Peixoto said.
Internet safety program
Child safety has long been a concern at the school, which also is putting on a program on Internet safety for its parents this month.
North Attleboro police Detective John Reilly will host a presentation for parents on Tuesday that will talk about the importance of keeping an eye on children when they access the Internet.
After the presentation, parents will be able to sign up for workshops hosted by Lorilyn and Rich Hall, both employees of Microsoft, who have offered to use their computer training to help teach parents tips on how to keep an eye on children's Internet use.
"Some kids have free rein when they are home because parents don't know how to look at their history or lock out certain sites," Peixoto said. "We didn't want to have a presentation and leave parents with the fear without knowing how to address the issue.
"So, one of the families in the St. Mary's parish offered to host a series of computer workshops. We think we're going to have a lot of interest from our parents."
Peixoto said the program was organized before two recent incidents in which four men were arrested in two separate cases in North Attleboro and Pawtucket for allegedly sexually assaulting teenagers they met through MySpace.com.
AMY DeMELIA can be reached at 508-236-0334 or at ademelia@thesunchronicle.com.
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11 comments:
I was tortured in YOB too. Yaakov Mandel pulled my pants down once in front of everybody. He would beat me daily. He would also pinch and pull my cheeks until I cried. I know he is no longer working there because he got thrown out by his older brother Shlomo mandel.
Shlomo is a putz who physically and mentally abused students all the time. I remember him slapping a teenage boy across the face because he said the boy was a chutzpanyak.
I hope both brothers go to jail real soon. They don't deserve to be in our society.
The 5th grade Rabbi Yehuda Nussbaum was known for putting his hands down boys pants. Yes, I had this molester as my Rabbi and I can never get his sexual and physical abuse of myself and my friends out of my mind until this very day. He hit me so hard with his ruler that I would go home with pain complaining to my parents. My classmates and I would dread getting called up to read from the chumash because we all knew what was coming.
I hope YOB is forever shut down. I thank you for your courageous work and may hashem help you in everything that you do.
RABBI YEHUDAH NUSSBAUM IS LOCKING UP THE SHUL CALLED "NACHALAS M'RAM" WHICH IS DIAGONALLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM WHERE HE LIVES ON
1854 47th St
Brooklyn, NY
(BETWEEN 18TH AND 19TH AVENUES).
CALL NUSSBAUM AT HOME AND LET HIM KNOW THAT HE IS NOT WELCOMED IN OUR CIRCLES.
(718) 851-2622
THIS CHILD PREDATOR SHOULD NOT BE DAVENING NEXT TO YOUR SON.
IT WOULD BE A GRAVE SIN TO PLACE YOUR PRECIOUS SON AT THE MERCY OF THIS EVIL CHILD MOLESTER.
Shlomo mandel is a slimy bucket of a phony. He is such a huge faker, everyone knows it.
Ask the fraud why he would allow his very own son and all the other boys at YOB to be mentally, sexually and physically abused by Nussbaum all these years.
Mandel was informed by several credible victims parents, of the allegations against Nussbaum, but this shmuck refused to fire Nussbaum or even investigate the accusations.
Call Shlomo Mandel and tell him why he's guilty of "loy saamod al dam re'acha".
NUSSBAUM is STILL "tutoring" at YOB.
You take a guess where Nussbaum's dirty hands are when your son is being "tutored" there.
Shlomo Mandel
1612 E 7th St
Brooklyn, NY 11230-7001
Tel.: (718) 375-1040
Tel.: (718) 375-2652
Tel.: (718) 376-6616
Besides having the same first name, what do pedophiles Rabbi Yehuda Nussbaum and Rabbi Yehuda Kolko both have in common?
The both live right next to a public school. How very convenient, they can't ever keep their eyes and hands off of children.
These sick old bastards need to be punished.
Rabbi Peachy of YOB is another piece of trash. He tried covering up the sexual abuse by Nussbaum, even while Nussbaum was abusing his very own son that was in 5th grade that year.
These black hat BUTCHERS OF CHILDREN/Shtrimelech/up-hats/gartels/kapote/beards, mikvah drenched sickos from hell who should have nothing to do with kids in the first place, will have a lot of answering to do and I PROPMISE IT WILL BE EXTREMELY UGLY, UNPLEASANT AND EMBARRASSING. STAY TUNED!
Israeli president faces indictment
By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press WriterTue Jan 23, 4:29 PM ET
Israeli President Moshe Katsav faced indictment Tuesday on charges of rape and abuse of power in the most serious accusation against a top Israeli official in the country's history.
The allegation that Katsav used his position as Israel's ceremonial head of state — a job supposed to serve as the nation's moral compass — to force himself on his female employees has left the nation reeling.
"It is a sad day for the state of Israel," said lawmaker Benny Elon, who called on Katsav to resign to spare Israel further trauma. But Katsav gave no indication he was preparing to step down, despite a wave of demands that he quit.
Attorney General Meni Mazuz's announcement that he intended to indict Katsav on a raft of charges was only the latest corruption scandal roiling the government, with accusations reaching as high as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Katsav has insisted he is innocent and his lawyers said Tuesday they hoped to persuade Mazuz to change his mind before a formal indictment, a step that would make Katsav Israel's first sitting president to be charged with a crime. But many Israelis say the enormity of the scandal has already badly tainted the office of the presidency.
"He should be the symbol of Israel, the uniting person and an ideal model for all the politicians ... So this is a bad sign for Israeli politics," said Gabriel Sheffer, a political science professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
The presidency was once filled by Zionist legends and revered statesmen. Albert Einstein declined an invitation to serve as the nation's first president, with the job eventually going to the scientist Chaim Weizmann, a Zionist leader who was instrumental in creation of the Jewish state. The presidency has also gone to a biophysicist, a historian and other men of letters.
But the office, whose main responsibilities include receiving foreign diplomats and representing Israel at formal ceremonies, has dropped in esteem in recent years.
Katsav's predecessor, the outspoken war hero turned peacemaker Ezer Weizman, resigned in 2000 after the attorney general ruled he had improperly accepted more than $300,000 in gifts from a French millionaire. Weizman was never indicted.
Katsav, 61, has a far less lofty resume than his predecessors. He had been a low-level Cabinet minister and a Likud Party stalwart when the parliament chose him to be president in 2000 in a shocking upset over Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, after a revered rabbi said a "vision" showed him that Katsav was favored by the heavens, swinging votes among believers.
But Katsav's relatively quiet presidency was rocked last summer when one of his employees accused him of forcing her to have sex in his office. A flood of other women quickly came forward with similar accusations, describing a politician who had abused his power throughout his career.
In the face of the growing scandal, Katsav disappeared from public life, hunkering down in the president's compound in Jerusalem. He even briefly removed himself from office in September instead of presiding over the inauguration of a new chief justice for the Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, Mazuz said he had collected enough evidence to indict Katsav on charges of rape, harassment, abusing his power for sex, obstructing justice and illegally accepting gifts, stemming from his time as president and Cabinet minister.
Legal authorities said the charges could carry a sentence of more than 20 years in jail, though in most cases the defendant, if found guilty, would receive a five-to-10-year sentence. A final decision on the indictment would only be made after Katsav is given the opportunity to present his case.
Katsav's lawyers said they believed Mazuz would drop the indictment after hearing his side of the story.
"The president believes that everyone will see that he is the victim of false charges," said his lawyer David Libai. Some of the complainants were motivated by "revenge" after they were fired from their jobs, he said.
The president enjoys immunity while in office and could be tried only after his resignation, his impeachment by three-quarters of the parliament or the conclusion of his term, which ends this summer. Katsav had previously said he would step down if indicted. His lawyers declined to address the issue, and he was expected to hold a news conference Wednesday.
Lawmakers from across the political spectrum — including those from his old party — called on him to resign.
"The fact that he is going to be indicted is neither good for our reputation abroad nor for the morale of this country, and I hope that the sooner the president himself draws the conclusion, the sooner he decides to leave office, the better off we all will be," said Colette Avital of the Labor Party, mentioned as a possible successor.
Kineret Barashi, an attorney for one of the Katsav's accusers, praised the indictment, saying it proved no one was above the law in the Israeli justice system.
The Katsav scandal erupted amid a spate of other political scandals that have darkened the Israeli government's reputation.
Police opened a criminal investigation earlier this month into Olmert's involvement in the sale of a government-controlled bank in 2005. Several other high-level politicians have been implicated in separate scandals.
Ore. sex abuse lawsuit filed against Mormons, Boy Scouts
January 23, 2007
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two brothers filed a $6.5 million lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America on Monday, alleging they were sexually abused as children in the 1980s by a Mormon “home teacher” who was also a Boy Scout leader.
The lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court alleges the church and the Boy Scouts were responsible because the man, identified as Timur Dykes, was an authorized representative of the groups.
It also claims the church failed to report an allegation of abuse against a third brother that could have led authorities to other victims — a claim the church denied.
Dykes was later convicted of child sexual abuse “on several different occasions,” according to the lawsuit filed by Portland attorney Kelly Clark, who has also represented victims of alleged abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
Clark provided a list indicating Dykes had been convicted in 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991 and 1994.
Dykes declined to confirm those convictions. But he said he had served time in prison from 1993 to 2002.
Dykes declined to offer details or other comments, but said “somebody has made a mistake” in reference to the lawsuit.
According to court records, Dykes was convicted in 1994 in Multnomah County on multiple counts of sodomy and sexual abuse. He is serving probation until 2013, said Robb Freda-Cowie, spokesman for the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice.
Dykes, also known as Timur Van Dykes, is listed on the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice Web site as a “predatory sex offender” who “gains access to victims through positions of trust (Boy Scouts, church membership, befriending single mothers); targets vulnerable boys and families; has used intimidation and threats to maintain victim compliance.”
Clark called it a “classic pattern” of abuse and suggested that church officials attempted to cover it up.
The church, however, denied the allegations in the lawsuit.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints condemns child abuse and does not tolerate such actions by anyone affiliated with our faith,” said Steve English, an attorney for the church in Portland.
English also said Dykes was excommunicated from the Church over twenty years ago and noted his prison record.
Don Cornell, spokesman for the Cascade Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said the organization had no comment on the lawsuit.
But Cornell confirmed that Dykes was registered as a volunteer leader for about a year and half from 1983-84.
Cornell emphasized the Scouts have toughened their screening significantly over the years, including educating children how to recognize and report abuse.
“The protection is just light years ahead of the place it was in the 80s,” he said.
The lawsuit alleged that Dykes used a method called “grooming” that conditioned the victims “to comply with Dykes’ direction, and to respect Dykes as a person of authority in spiritual, moral and ethical matters.”
Clark said the boys’ stepmother alleges that church officials told her not to report sex abuse allegations involving a third and older brother to police. The lawsuit claims that police would have discovered other victims, including the younger brothers, if it had been reported.
“It was foreseeable at the time to LDS defendants — and they knew or should have known — that pedophiles or pedophilic predators most often engage in serial abuse of minors under their care,” and that “there are most likely numerous additional victims that have either not been discovered or who remain silent about the abuse,” the lawsuit said.
The younger brothers, who were not identified, were born in 1972 and 1973. The lawsuit claims the abuse occurred in the mid-1980s.
Each brother seeks $3 million in general damages and $250,000 in economic damages.
The complaint also said a request for punitive damages would be filed.
Rabbi faces more charges of sex abuse
By Thomas Tracy
01/11/2007
Wagons filled with discontent and outrage are circling Flatbush’s Yeshiva Torah Temimah as more and more students, both past and present, allege that the school did nothing to stop wayward sexual abuse by a prominent rabbi, even after they had been repeatedly told about the teacher and the spiritual leader’s sinful actions.
Despite the clouds of discontent that hang over the school at 555 Ocean Parkway, officials are tight-lipped about the allegations, the lawsuits as well as the arrest of Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, who was charged last month with abusing a nine-year-old boy from the school.
On January 4, lawyers for Yeshiva Torah Temimah were handed their fourth lawsuit in one year – this one on behalf of an unidentified child and his parents who claim that the school covered up allegations that Kolko sexually abused him during the 2004-2005 school year.
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The student and his family are seeking $10 million in reparations for the alleged abuse.
Neither the school nor attorneys representing the school returned calls for comment about the latest lawsuit.
Troubles for Torah Temimah began in May of last year when two former students of the school, who are now well into their 40s and 50s, came forward, claiming that they had been sexually abused by Kolko when they had attended the school.
Both men, who were identified only as John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 in court papers, alleged that they were sexually abused by Kolko, but when they reported the abuse to the school, they alleged that administrators did nothing, claiming, in effect, that the students “were not actually abused.”
Their parents were allegedly warned that if they continued with their complaints or had the authorities investigate the complaints, “other children in their families would be expelled from the yeshiva and prevented from attending other yeshivas in the New York area,” according to the suit filed by Jeffrey Herman of the Miami-based law firm Herman and Mermelstein.
“[Yeshiva Torah Temimah] received multiple, credible reports that Rabbi Kolko was sexually abusing other young boys who he came into contact with,” Herman stated in his suit. “But instead of accepting responsibility or at a minimum conducting a good faith investigation, [administrators] willfully engaged in a campaign of intimidation, concealment and misrepresentations designed to prevent victims from filing civil lawsuits.”
Most of the alleged “cover-ups” were conducted by Rabbi Lipa Margulies, the leader of Torah Temimah at the time, who also happened to be a neighbor to the parents of one of the plaintiffs.
The third person to bring a lawsuit against Rabbi Kolko and Torah Temimah did so in August of last year, claiming that he had been sexually abused in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
During an interview with Jewish Week, the plaintiff, identified only as John Doe #3, said that he felt he was special because Rabbi Kolko paid so much attention to him.
Then the abuse started, alleged the plaintiff, a 31-year-old former soldier who now lives in South Carolina.
“I hate that he took away my innocence,” the plaintiff told Jewish Week. “I blame so much on him.”
Since all of the alleged abuse took place over 20 years ago, Kolko managed to escape any criminal charges from his victim’s allegations.
That all changed in December 7, when a nine-year-old boy claimed that the rabbi had sexually abused him.
Kolko, 60, of the 1200 block of East 22nd Street, was charged with four counts of sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Upon his arrest, officials at Yeshiva Torah Temimah told reporters that Rabbi Kolko was no longer affiliated with the school.
In previous interviews, school officials claimed that they never looked into any of the allegations against Kolko because they were never given enough evidence to warrant an investigation.
by Eugene L. Meyer and Richard Greenberg
JTA News and Features
NEW YORK - There is no unabridged database of rabbinic sexual abusers. But there is the Awareness Center.
It's not a physical place, but a Baltimore post-office box, cell-phone number and Web site - www.theawarenesscenter.org - where online surfers can find a listing of scores of Jewish clergy and hundreds of other Jewish officials in positions of trust or authority who are alleged to be sexual predators. Some of them have been convicted of crimes; some have not even been charged or sued.
Vicki Polin, 47, is the nonprofit organization's executive director and only full-time staffer. A licensed clinical professional counselor and an art therapist, she founded the Awareness Center in 2001 after becoming fed up over what she deemed to be inaction in bringing perpetrators to justice and protecting the public.
Her biggest weapon: exposure of alleged wrongdoers.
Her efforts have won her loyal supporters and harsh critics.
"Vicki's site is very valuable," said Rabbi Yosef Blau, religious adviser at Yeshiva University and a vocal advocate for victims of rabbinic sexual abuse and other forms of sexual misconduct. "Since you can't get people arrested and there are no court cases, you have to use a standard that's reasonable and [disclosure] works in that context."
The Awareness Center's outing of alleged and confirmed abusers has inspired an army of Jewish bloggers eager to discuss the topic, with anonymous postings appearing on Web sites such as the Unorthodox Jew, the Canonist, Jewishwhistleblower.blogspot.com and Lukeford.net.
"In the Orthodox community, it is much harder to be heard, so people go online instead of going to police and the rabbi," said a woman now living in Israel who reported being abused as a child by her father, an American rabbi who is principal of an Orthodox school on the Eastern seaboard. "The blogs are safe for survivors."
The Awareness Center and the bloggers not only have brought this sensitive subject to the attention of a wide audience, they have also stirred up considerable controversy over issues of fairness, attribution and transparency.
"The blogorai, as I call it, is the new way of making irresponsible accusations," charged Rabbi Avi Shafran, spokesperson for the fervently Orthodox advocacy organization Agudath Israel. "Using a blog is a very easy and effective way of casting aspersions on people."
Blau said blogs are a mixed blessing.
"Since they are anonymous, they can say almost anything," he said. "On the other hand, until the community is more willing to deal with issues, I can understand why writers won't reveal their identity."
One blog-intensive case listed on the Awareness Center site involves Mordechai Tendler, a disgraced modern Orthodox rabbi from Rockland County, New York, who was accused of having illicit sexual relationships with several women who had come to him for counsel.
The charismatic scion of distinguished rabbinic scholars, Tendler ironically was known as a strong advocate for Jewish women who were unable to obtain a get, or religious release from marriage, from their husbands.
Tendler was expelled from the Rabbinical Council of America in March 2005 for "conduct inappropriate for an Orthodox rabbi." The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance praised the RCA "for taking these issues seriously and instituting formal procedures to deal with them." Those procedures included hiring a Texas-based private investigative firm to conduct a probe of the matter and convening an in-house ethics panel to rule on the case.
In April, Tendler was fired from the congregation he had helped establish in the mid-1980s, Kehillat New Hempstead. Undaunted, he held High Holiday services this year in a public elementary school directly across the street from his former shul.
Tendler, married and the father of eight, has consistently denied the allegations against him, but did not respond to inquiries seeking comment. His attorney, Glen Feinberg, said his client retains a large following in Rockland County. JTA asked Feinberg to encourage Tendler's supporters to contact JTA, but none did.
The scandal has spawned at least three lawsuits, including one filed by Tendler against his former congregation for alleged breach of contract. That suit has been dismissed, but the ruling is being appealed. The litigation filed against Tendler has publicized the sort of matters that once would have only been whispered about in private.
For example, a lawsuit filed in December 2005 by former congregant Adina Marmelstein states that Tendler, who portrayed himself as "a counselor and advisor with expertise in women's issues," advised Marmelstein to have sex with him so that "her life would open up and men would come to her," and she would then marry and have children.
The suit also claims that Tendler told Marmelstein that he "was as close to God as anyone could get" and that he "was the Messiah." And when the relationship ended, the suit contends, Tendler encouraged congregants to "harass, threaten and intimidate" Marmelstein in an apparent attempt to discredit her accusations.
As for Tendler, his legal filings included petitions submitted in Ohio and California seeking to force the disclosure of the identities of anonymous bloggers who had been attacking him publicly for his alleged conduct. But he withdrew both petitions.
In the California case, a judge ruled Oct. 12 that Tendler must pay the bloggers' legal fees - a decision that was praised by attorney Paul Alan Levy of Public Citizen, who represented three of the bloggers involved in the case.
"The right to criticize anonymously on the Internet is a fundamental free-speech right and an important tool for whistle-blowers and consumers who speak out about the misconduct or corruption of big companies or public figures," Levy said in a press release.
A letter from Tendler to the judge who had ruled in the California case was posted Nov. 15 on a victims' advocacy blog. In the letter, Tendler asked the judge to reconsider his decision on attorney's fees, adding: "I have been the subject of a concerted and constant Internet campaign to destroy my reputation, livelihood, and family. Disgusting allegations of sexual impropriety, all of them false, have been circulated about me and amplified in such horrific proportions as only can happen on the Internet. These allegations and threats have, in fact, destroyed my reputation as a rabbi and teacher and have caused me hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in actual and future damages."
The letter described the bloggers as being "like poisonous snakes" who "want to continue to do their damage and spread their filthy vicious lies with no accountability."
The Awareness Center, also known as the Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault, has its own confidentiality policy regarding victims of sexual misconduct and others.
"As a victim advocate, I never name the survivors," Polin said.
The Awareness Center no longer names its board members, either, "due to harassment," according to Polin, who said she herself has been threatened repeatedly with physical harm and once was spat on by a woman who was angry over an Awareness Center disclosure.
In 2003, Polin said, a supporter of an alleged abuser named on her site did background checks on her advisory board members, "found something about them or someone they cared about and threatened to make it public." Half a dozen resignations ensued, she said.
Among those who were formerly listed but resigned for other reasons is Rabbi Mark Dratch, who chairs the Rabbinical Council of America's Task Force on Rabbinic Improprieties and has founded the organization JSafe to deal with sexual abuse in the Jewish community.
Dratch said he left the Awareness Center board in "disagreement with [Polin] on the standards required for publishing on her Web site. I wasn't satisfied with the threshold of verification. There are people who've been victimized and others who've been subject to false reports also being victimized. The big problem we have in this area is verifying the allegations and moving forward."
As of early December, the Awareness Center site still listed 236 "supportive rabbis." Polin said more than 500 people receive her e-mail alerts, and the Web page averages around 35,000 visitors per month.
One of the e-mail recipients is Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union and a trained psychologist.
"I read everything with a grain of salt," he said. "On the other hand," Weinreb said, the Awareness Center and the blogs "have served the purpose of keeping this in the public spotlight and keeping the pressure on established institutions to police their constituencies."
As of late December, the Awareness Center was in danger of closing for lack of funds, according to Polin, who was seeking donations to keep the organization afloat.
Child molester thrown in brig
Lieutenant at Fort Wadsworth admits snatching, abusing 2 boys
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
By JOHN ANNESE
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
For three years, a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant who volunteered at Fort Wadsworth chapel events used his position to get close to several young children. And what might have seemed innocent play at the time was anything but that.
Now Lt. Junior Grade Jay Coker, 28, will spend 12 years in a Navy brig for possessing child pornography, kidnapping and taking "indecent liberties" with several children on Staten Island, Rhode Island and Alaska, Coast Guard officials confirmed yesterday.
A military judge sentenced Coker to 30 years in prison. Under an agreement with Coker, in exchange for his pleading guilty to the 12 charges, he is to serve no more than 12 years in prison provided he successfully completes a sex offender treatment program and fulfills other conditions. He is in custody at the Naval Consolidated Brig, Charleston, S.C., and awaiting transfer to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Coker admitted he kidnapped and tried to molest two little boys on the grounds of the Fort Wadsworth base last year.
And a source close to the Staten Island incidents said yesterday that Coker's crimes could have been worse but for alert family members.
Coker volunteered at the Fort Wadsworth chapel's vacation Bible school "and other places where he was quasi-supervising children," said Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Benson, a Coast Guard spokesman in Boston, where Coker's court-martial and sentencing were held Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 at the First Coast Guard District.
His behavior rose to the level of molestation, kidnapping and assault in 2005, according to court-martial records, and last year, he accosted several boys on Staten Island.
Those records detail two kidnapping incidents at Fort Wadsworth. In March, Coker grabbed a boy and carried him to the Children's Nursery near the Father Capodanno Memorial Chapel on the base.
On Aug. 4, he grabbed a boy at a chapel picnic, carrying him to a secluded area "with the intent of pulling down [his] pants to view his genitals."
In the second instance, the boy's mother spotted Coker carrying her son and followed him. Coker immediately released the boy, the source said.
"He didn't really mix well with adults. He would only play with the kids. He was just with them a lot," the source said, adding that Coker's were crimes of opportunity.
The court-martial records also cite a January incident in which Coker pulled down a boy's pants near the chapel. Another charge, which was later dismissed, had him tickling a boy and touching his abdomen and waistband near the chapel.
Coker also admitted to pulling down the pants of two boys in Homer, Alaska, in February 2005, and kidnapping a boy from the basement of the Homer Christian Church. Also, on Nov. 24, 2005, in Woonsoncket, R.I., he asked two boys on four separate occasions if he could look down their pants, and he reached out to pull down one boy's pants.
Last month, Coker pleaded guilty to 12 of the 18 violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice leveled against him.
Coker joined the Coast Guard in August 2003, and was stationed aboard the USS Hickory.
John Annese is a news reporter for the Advance. He may be reached at annese@siadvance.com.
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