Thursday, September 04, 2008

The Satmar rabbi molester and his very brave victim



http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a13347/News/New_York.html#

A Charge Of Double Betrayal In Williamsburg

Joel Engelman thought he had a deal. The Satmar rabbi who he says molested him would stay away from children. He now charges he was violated twice.


Joel Engelman, yeshiva boy turned rock drummer, on the streets of Williamsburg. “When I think about how another kid might be suffering what I went through, I can’t walk away.” Michael Datikash

by Hella Winston
Special To The Jewish Week

Joel Engelman was 8 years old the first time he was summoned to the principal’s office at his Satmar school in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Not knowing what he might have done to provoke the call, Joel was nervous, as his principal, Rabbi Avrohom Reichman, had a reputation for being strict.


Much to his surprise, however, when he arrived, the principal put him on his lap and began “to change character,” talking to him like a “loving granddaddy,” Engelman told The Jewish Week. But what the principal at the United Talmudical Academy did to the boy that day — and several times a week over the next two months — was far from grandfatherly, Engelman charges in a suit he filed last week.

It alleges that in 1993, Rabbi Reichman, now 57, regularly molested him, and that the Satmar school, United Talmudical Academy, later committed fraud by agreeing to dismiss Rabbi Reichman — and then reneging on this once the criminal statute of limitations had passed.
Engelman’s sexual abuse allegations are the latest in a string of such charges made by former male yeshiva students in ultra-Orthodox schools in Brooklyn.

Last April, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, a first grade teacher at Yeshiva Torah Temima in Flatbush, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child after being charged with several counts of sexual abuse. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes defended the last-minute downward plea bargain, citing the young age of the plaintiffs who would have had to testify at a trial.

Several civil suits pending against Rabbi Kolko and the school seek a total some $50 million in damages.

The suit filed by Engelman, however, is the first to emerge that involves the Satmar community, one of the largest chasidic sects in the city. Repeated calls to Rabbi Reichman and to UTA for comment were not returned

“He would swivel the chair from right to left and ask me, ‘How are you? How was your day?’ Engelman said, recalling his meetings with Rabbi Reichman as a child. “And then he would start touching me, starting at my shoulders and working his way down gradually, until his hands passed over my genitals.”

According to Engelman, now 23 and far removed from the insular Satmar community, the rabbi would rub and fondle him for about 15 minutes, all the while asking him how he was doing and what he was thinking. Engelman remembers trying to escape, to no avail. When the rabbi was finally finished he would utter the word — “Dismissed” — and then elicit a promise from Joel not tell his parents what had happened.

And Engelman kept that promise — for about 10 years, after enduring bouts of anxiety, drug use and suicidal thoughts he says were brought on by the abuse. “I realized that this was controlling my everyday life,” Engelman said. “I have a lot of trouble trusting people. I cannot trust anyone.”

When he finally mustered the courage to confront Reichman, in April, the statute of limitations on a criminal prosecution was drawing near. A letter from Engelman and his family to Reichman stipulated that if Reichman were to resign from his position in the yeshiva and also in a Satmar-run summer camp, where he taught, Engelman would take no legal action.

He thought he had a deal that month, hammered out with Satmar officials acting on UTA’s behalf. But in court papers filed last week, and first reported on The Jewish Week Web site last Wednesday, Engelman is alleging not only sexual assault and abuse but also “breach of promises and oral contract” in a $5 million civil suit against Rabbi Reichman, UTA and the Satmar Bungalow Colony — a Satmar children’s summer camp in White Lake, N.Y. Rabbi Reichman was videotaped by Engelman in July teaching at the summer camp, though apparently he had not been teaching at the school since Passover. Engelman said he has since learned that Rabbi Reichman is the camp’s principal.

“The defendants fraudulently induced Joel Engelman to enter into this exchange of mutual promises, and oral contract,” the suit alleges.

It also claims that various Satmar officials investigated Engelman’s allegations and found that “there were multiple, credible complaints of sexual abuse made against Reichman.”

“I really didn’t want to get this in the courts,” Engelman told The Jewish Week. “Had [the school] done things differently [and fired Reichman], I probably wouldn’t have sued. This is the last thing I wanted.

“They could have admitted the guy had a problem,” Engelman continued. “They could have said, ‘We’re very sorry this happened to you.’ They could have dealt with this honorably, but they didn’t.”

Rabbi David Niederman, the only community official who would agree to speak with The Jewish Week, expressed skepticism that school officials had ever agreed to the deal Engelman proposed.

He viewed Rabbi Reichman’s return to the summer camp after his initial suspension from the school as an indication that UTA officials did not ultimately find sufficient evidence to back up Engelman’s allegations.

“It’s only normal when charges like this are brought to suspend the teacher in question and conduct your investigation,” said Rabbi Niederman, a confidant of the Satmar sect’s grand rebbe and head of the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg, a community-wide advocacy organization. “That’s a totally normal reaction. Then, when you have gathered your information, you act on what you have found.”

Rabbi Niederman himself had initial contact with the case but says he quickly turned the matter over to “people who have the time and expertise to deal with this.” At his request, Rabbis Meshulem Jakobowitz and Zalman Leitner — part of an informal committee that “deals with sensitive social and religious issues in the community” —got involved, mediating between the school and Engelman. Reached by The Jewish Week, Rabbi Jakobowitz declined to comment. Neither Niederman, Jakobowitz or Leitner are defendants in the suit.

Rabbi Niederman disclaimed direct knowledge of what happened afterward. Engelman disputes this, claiming that one of the rabbis he worked with on the abuse issue told him of regular calls he received from Rabbi Niederman, a senior community leader, requesting updates.

Efforts to reach the rabbi in question, whom neither Engelman nor Rabbi Niederman would publicly name, were unsuccessful.

Today, Joel Engelman is a thoughtful and intense 23-year-old who works as a graphic designer. He is tall and slim, with long hair and a narrow beard, and he favors jeans and heavy metal T-shirts (he plays drums in a heavy-metal band on the side). His life in Greenpoint — he no longer keeps kosher or the Sabbath — is about as far removed from the cloistered life of Satmar Williamsburg as is possible.

In nearly three hours of interviews over several days last week, Engelman spoke candidly about his life, weaving a tale of long-held secrets and sexual abuse not just at the hands of the rabbi but by older teenage boys and adults as well. It’s a tale of shattered faith and, ultimately, flight from the Satmar womb in which he was raised.

“I felt that the world was upside down,” Engelman says now, looking back over what he sees as the “hypocrisy” of Rabbi Reichman and other rabbis. “We had the holiest of guys telling us not to look at ‘non-kosher’ things, but look what [Reichman] did in private.”

What the rabbi allegedly did became a private hell for Engelman. Within several months of the onset of the abuse, Engelman began to change. He started having panic and anxiety attacks, and nightmares. He would often roll around on the kitchen floor crying and became unable to sleep at night.

His schoolwork also began to suffer, as he could no longer concentrate in class. “I was spaced out,” Engelman remembered. “I didn’t concentrate and I didn’t care to concentrate. I didn’t want to think about [the abuse] but I was constantly thinking about it.”

His parents took him to a doctor who prescribed medication for the anxiety, but never spoke to the boy, so the story of the abuse never came out.

But it turns out that the alleged abuse at Rabbi Reichman’s hands was not the first time Engelman had been subject to such acts. A month or so earlier, he says he was repeatedly sexually abused by a 13-year-old boy, a neighbor who attended the same school. The teen, Engelman said, had threatened to kill him if he ever told his parents.

Engelman’s older sister, inquiring why he was always late getting home from school, figured out from his vague responses what was going on and told their parents. “Why didn’t you tell us?” they asked me,” Engelman said. Their concern came across to 8-year-old Joel as blame, not an atypical interpretation for a young child, according to psychologists. And he was scared to reveal to them that this had happened again — with Rabbi Reichman, no less — fearing that they would see it as his fault.

Engelman’s parents would eventually complain to Rabbi Reichman, telling him about Joel’s abuse at the hands of his 13-year-old schoolmate. Engelman was told that the boy was beaten up (he never knew by whom); the older boy never touched Engelman again. But soon after his parents reported the abuse to Reichman, the rabbi called Joel into his office for what would become the first fondling session, he alleges, the strict principal becoming a sweet grandfather to an innocent 8-year-old. To this day, Engelman wonders whether Rabbi Reichman took his prior abuse as a cue that he was perhaps primed for more abuse, a vulnerable target.

By the time he was 13, Engelman says he couldn’t trust anyone. But he was hoping to get a fresh start at yet another yeshiva. (His parents had removed him from UTA several months after Reichman’s alleged abuse began for unrelated reasons). As it turned out, it was “hell on earth,” the teen studying 15 to 16 hours a day. At this point, he wanted out, often wishing that someone would kidnap him. He was even resigned to having to live on the street if he had to. When he witnessed another boy, a friend of his, being “groomed” for abuse by an older man’s obvious flirtations, his own past history of abuse came rushing back. “I saw abuse all around me,” Engelman said of those days.

At 14, Engelman started to hang out with Puerto Ricans on the fringes of his neighborhood.

He snuck around, changed his clothes, hiding all of this from his family. He says he dropped acid. He felt trapped. He still kept kosher and Shabbos, but he wanted out.

Finally, at 18, Engelman was able to leave his old neighborhood, moving to Bensonhurst. He joined a heavy metal band, playing the drums (he was always interested in music; his parents bought him his first drum set). Yet he was still tethered to his old life, continuing to keep kosher and Shabbos, the sole Jewish guy in the band.

That year, living at a safe remove from Williamsburg, he finally broke the long secret and told his parents about the abuse he suffered at Rabbi Reichman’s hands. “They were shocked,” Engelman recalled. But they believed there was little recourse available, he said.

It turns out that a key to helping Engelman finally confront Rabbi Reichman was recently finding out that he may not have been the only victim. One former student of Reichman’s came forward to Engelman’s brother, who told Joel. Eventually, through various community activists, Engelman began making presentations to school administrators and boards of directors about sexual abuse in the community — identifying himself as a victim and drawing on his own experiences.

At one of the presentations at a Satmar school, Rabbi Reichman’s name was mentioned. A board member offhandedly said he recalled a complaint about the rabbi from five years ago but that nothing was done.

This second report of another victim was the spark to action Engelman needed, realizing that other kids were likely suffering what he had gone through.

Engelman consulted with his family about confronting Rabbi Reichman, and they decided to write a letter, which the elder Engelman would deliver to Rabbi Reichman. It was just before Passover of this year.

The letter, written in Yiddish (an English translation is part of the civil complaint), is plainspoken and laden with emotion. It begins: “We wish to let you know that since our son, Yoel Nechemia is a victim of you, you MOLESTED him as a child — you corrupted his soul, you were the cause of many years of anguish and suffering from him as a result — and because we know of other children who were victimized (molested) by you at least from 1993 until now — therefore you are a danger to children.”

It goes on to say that the family will take no further legal action if Rabbi Reichman agrees to resign his position as teacher at UTA and the upstate summer camp. The letter, signed by the Engelman family, ends: “The One Above should give you the right thoughts to have mercy on your family and take correct action.”

On the day his father delivered the letter, Engelman waited for two hours outside the rabbi’s Williamsburg home. He wanted to confront him face to face. “He was scared [expletive],” Engelman remembered. “Here I was, this heavy metal guy, dressed up in leather. He tried to get on my good side, saying ‘Oh, you lived on U Street.” I told him: ‘I will do everything and more than [what was written in] the letter if you come back to the school after Passover.”

Engelman said the rabbi told him that this wasn’t the right place to talk about this. He remembers the exchange vividly, the rabbi never denying what had allegedly happened. “You know exactly what you did.”

“What did I do?”

“You put me on your lap.”

“So what?”

“I am here to tell you that I am on top of this and it’s up to you.”

The next morning, Engelman recalled, a representative of UTA showed up at Engelman’s father’s workplace, saying, “We have a zero tolerance policy for abuse and we are going to take care of this. If he is found guilty, which we will investigate, he will be out the same day.”

Throughout a week of negotiations, Engelman said, the school made repeated promises to remove Rabbi Reichman from his teaching duties, and he was in fact removed from UTA after Passover. When Engelman got wind, however, that in July the rabbi was teaching at the Satmar Bungalow Colony, he put up fliers at the camp warning parents that the rabbi — “someone who is a great danger to your children, a danger to their body and soul — was in their midst. He then traveled to White Lake with a videographer and filmed the rabbi teaching a class.

Engelman’s case rests on what experts say is a risky legal strategy.

His attorney, Elliot Pasik, argues that United Talmudical Academy and the Satmar officials who helped negotiate the supposed deal with his client, perpetrated a fraud. He claims in court papers that the “defendants’ motivation was the expiration of the criminal statue of limitations for sex crimes on the 23rd birthday of Joel Engelman on June 24, 2008.”

“Satmar officials admitted to my client that Avrohom Reichman had committed child sexual abuse,” Pasik said. “They even administered a polygraph by a reputable company, and Reichman failed. The same Satmar officials admitted there were other credible complaints of child sexual abuse against Reichman.”

Pasik continued: “[Satmar] took advantage of Joel. They promised him that [Reichman] would not be working with children. Joel wasn’t looking for money — just keep him away from kids and he would forgo criminal prosecution. Once the school year was over, they put him in the Bungalow Colony. They broke their promise. An oral promise is enforceable.”

But Rabbi Niederman, noting that UTA had seen fit to ultimately return Rabbi Reichman to a job working with children, said he doubted some aspects of Engelman’s account. “If someone is addicted [to molesting children], why aren’t there more kids who have come forward in all these years?” he asked. “To say they were afraid — the kids or the parents — in this day and age doesn’t make sense. Parents are much more vigilant now about these kinds of issues.”

He voiced confidence in UTA’s integrity in investigating the matter. “If UTA wanted to cover up things, why would they take back this melamed [teacher] if they knew there was another case out there?” he asked.

Indeed, Engelman’s case may prove a hard one to make.

“The reliance argument [when a case is based on relying on a promise] makes perfect common sense but hasn’t worked all the way up,” said Marci Hamilton, a professor at Cardozo Law School. “States like Pennsylvania and New York have been resistant to it. The view is that if the statute of limitations [SOL] is being misapplied it is up to the state legislature to change it.

“This case just shows that the SOL is too short. When a 23-year-old can’t get into court, the SOL is too short. The majority [of abuse victims] come forward in their 40s. This reinforces that another state legislature that needs to act. When children are young [and within the SOL] they are often not psychologically ready to come forward. It can be very frustrating.”

The Satmar yeshiva boy turned drummer and graphic artist is sitting in a diner on East 57th Street, drinking a cup of coffee and reflecting on his long ordeal. In one sense, Joel Engelman’s break with his native community is complete. And yet, he cannot walk away. “I often wonder why I am putting myself through this,” he muses, acknowledging how difficult it has been to dredge up old memories and confront his abuser.

“I don’t live that life anymore and it would be easy just to forget about all of it and move on. But then I think about how another kid might be suffering what I went through, and I realize I can’t.”

And so the lawsuit has brought all of the bad feelings back in a rush. He says he is coping, though. And he hopes coming forward with his story will result in changes in the way the Orthodox community deals with the kind of sexual abuse he says he faced. Mostly, he wants to prevent what happened to him from happening to another child.

“He’s still out there,” Engelman said of Rabbi Reichman. [Without legal action], what is going to stop [UTA] from taking him back, from another school taking him?”

Breaking the general silence in the ultra-Orthodox community on the issue of sexual abuse is seen by experts as a key step.

“Our community has to address some of the hypocrisy of strictly not tolerating even minor adult sexual activities that are outside the realm of halacha, while remaining silent when otherwise frum people are sexually abusing children,” said Dr. Asher Lipner, a psychologist who treats victims of sexual abuse within the frum community. “Psychologically, it is devastatingly painful for its victims to come to terms with, and there is the need for society to teach out to its victims and to comfort them.”

“In order to change [this situation],” Lipner continued, “concerned parents need to lobby their yeshivas to develop safety protocols, to teach the children about safety and to agree to oversight by some kind of outside watchdog. Otherwise, I’m afraid that this will not be the last that we hear of school cover-ups for child molesters.”

Throughout her son’s torturous ordeal, Pearl Engelman told the Jewish Week the family was solidly behind him. “We cooperated with [Joel] on this,” she said. “His main objective was to get this man away from children. ... We tried to do this in a way that would be the least humiliating and shameful to [Reichman’s] large, extended family, who are really innocent.

“Our community, the Satmar community, and the whole chasidishe community, owes Joel a debt of gratitude. He’s very young to do this; most victims are much, much older when they confront these issues. He is putting himself on the line to protect other children from this type of trauma.”

According to Engelman, Rabbi Reichman reads from the Torah in the shul, which is considered to be a great honor. “People don’t believe he could possibly be an abuser,” Engelman said. “If that guy did that, then the world is over.”

Engelman says Satmars are reluctant to try to change things within their community, for fear that change will undermine the whole communal structure. “No one voluntarily says, ‘We want a better system. Any change will bring down the whole system,” Engelman said.

But he hopes that by standing up and telling his story publicly, change may eventually happen.

“Without shaming and lawsuits [nothing is going to change],” Engelman said. “That’s what happened in the Catholic Church, in the Boy Scouts.

92 comments:

Abe Bird said...

What about your Catholic priests? Haven't they yet raped another boy in the arch?

Anonymous said...

Satmar sounds like they are playing games. This is the same old story we keep reading about with other yeshivas that are doing the same.

Anonymous said...

My hat is off to Joel Engelman. What a nice young man. I wish him all the best and hope that he sues and wins big time against his tormentors.

Anonymous said...

I ruined this kid's life forever. And they call me a Rabbi!

Anonymous said...

Here is an awesome blog started on child molester Dr. William Ayres, slated to stand trial in January 2009 for molesting 7 young boys sent to him for therapy. There are dozens of other Ayres victims whose cases are too old for the statute of limitations. Many more have yet to come forward.

This blog is very informative with the latest info on the criminal case against Dr. Ayres:

www.williamayreswatch.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

09/10/2008

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a13404/News/New_York.html

Top Doc Scared Off Panel On Rabbinic Sex Molesters
Tapped by Hikind, Twerski cites threats; pol ready to ‘name names’ of alleged abusers.

by Hella Winston
Special To The Jewish Week

A prominent Orthodox rabbi and psychologist has been intimidated into quitting as head of a just-formed task force dealing with rabbinic sex abuse of minors, organized by Assemblyman Dov Hikind this week.


Dr. Benzion Twerski told The Jewish Week Wednesday that he was quitting the task force because “I was prosecuted in the street for daring to join such a venture.”

“To protect myself, my family, and reputation, I decided to withdraw from this project,” he wrote in an e-mail as the paper was going to press with a story announcing Hikind’s formation of the task force. “From this point, I am avoiding participation in any forms of public service. Public life is not for me.”

Hikind, a Brooklyn Democrat who represents Borough Park and Flatbush, deplored Twerski’s abrupt departure from his new panel.

“He was basically forced to resign,” said Hikind. “He was literally put against the wall, and he felt he had no choice. We’ll get somebody else who’s very respected. But that’s not the point. The point is they got to him, they threatened him.”

Twerski’s dramatic departure came just as Hikind was rolling out the new panel, planned as the next step in a personal crusade against child sex abuse in the Orthodox community that he has come to view as an epidemic.

Hikind said he had amassed a dossier with the cases of “hundreds” of individuals who say they have been sexually molested by rabbis and other Orthodox community members during their childhood. And he threatened to broadcast the names of their abusers if community leaders do not respond to his call for action against them.

“Let me tell you,” he said in an interview last week, “when there’s a person who we have confirmed through a variety of people has been doing terrible things” and those who know refuse to go to the authorities, “I am prepared to name names. I am prepared to be sued by those pedophiles. If they’re innocent, let them sue me.”

Speaking after a rash of highly publicized sexual molestation cases in the Orthodox community, Hikind said, “I have been learning that a lot of people out there know who the bad guys are. Where have I been? How come no one talked to me, how come no one came to me?”

Now, Hikind says, he is more determined than ever to establish a community task force to address the issue. Though vague on the panel’s broader makeup and specific plans, Hikind ultimately seeks to develop a list of sexual molesters in Orthodox schools to keep them away from children.

Neither man would specify the nature of the threats made against Twerski to force his departure. But Hikind called them “pathetic and sad.”

“My heart goes out to him,” he said. “I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. Things are opening up, people are coming forward, but we are still so far away.”

Hikind’s new crusade follows several cases in which individuals — often adults now — have gone public with accounts of sexual abuse they experienced at the hands of respected yeshiva teachers when they were children. The alleged victims have spoken, too, of the rejection or even intimidation they experienced from their yeshivas and rabbinic leaders when they tried to report what had happened to them.

In one of the few cases in which victims went to the secular court system, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko of Yeshiva Torah Temimah in Flatbush was convicted on two counts of child endangerment last April. Another alleged abuser, Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz, now awaits extradition from Israel to Brooklyn, where he has been charged with sexual abuse of children.

More recently Joel Engelman, a former student at the Satmar chasidic sect’s United Talmudical Academy in Williamsburg, has alleged he was abused when he eight years old by Rabbi Avrohom Reichman. Engelman, now 23, has filed suit against Rabbi Reichman and UTA, which, he says, violated its promise to him to dismiss Rabbi Reichman in exchange for his not going public. UTA has yet to respond to the suit.

Hikind, who began broadcasting radio shows addressing the issue bluntly about a month ago said, “For a couple of weeks now, so many people have been coming forward. It’s made me absolutely sick, to have to listen to this, to be so shocked, to see so much pain, so much suffering. ... I actually feel that [this] may be the most important thing I’ve done in 26 years. Because you’re talking about saving lives.”

At times during his interview, Hikind sounded vague when pressed on just what his task force would do and how it proposed to go about doing it. The panel will present its findings to “leading rabbis” in various Orthodox communities, he said. And the rabbis, he predicted, “will be absolutely flabbergasted” by what they hear.

His ultimate goal, said Hikind, is to establish a communal registry that would list the names of teachers removed from schools due to abusive behavior.

“We need to develop a system, a roster, a protocol needs to be developed,” he said. “If you have a pedophile who is teaching in a yeshiva, that person needs to be on a list, and before any other yeshiva hires a person, you need to be able to go to a roster and see if that rebbe was teaching somewhere else and got thrown out.”

But at another point, apparently recognizing that many schools are often reluctant to dismiss such teachers in the first place, Hikind appeared to envision a more ambitious, quasi-judicial function for his panel.

“It’s sort of hard to investigate yourself,” Hikind admitted. “There’s got to be a system where trusted people, respected leaders, who are not directly a part of that particular organization examine everything. Look, I wasn’t there when these boys were abused, nor was anyone else. So we have to make judgments. We do that all the time.”

Some advocates for the abused children, while praising Hikind for highlighting an issue about which they claim Orthodox Jews are in denial, voiced reservations about his plan.

The father of one child allegedly abused by Rabbi Kolko, who spoke on condition of anonymity, derided the notion of the community policing itself, citing his own unsuccessful efforts to marshal rabbinic action in his son’s case.

“I commend Dov for what he is doing,” said the father of the 10-year-old boy, who was allegedly molested in first grade, “but all these rabbis will make a farce of it. It touches their business. All these schools are somehow connected together.”

Another long-time community activist, who spoke to The Jewish Week on condition of anonymity due to the controversial nature of the issue, said, “Dov’s actions of these past few months are moving to anyone who cares about this issue. Yet we are very concerned that he has set back the cause by offering community members an alternative to the secular authorities.

Reporting the abusers to the rabbis is “akin to asking the fox to watch the henhouse,” this source said. “We spent close to three decades reporting abusers to their yeshiva employers, local rabbis and ‘gedolim’ only to watch time and time again as the information we provided was used to protect the abusers and vilify the victims.

“There is a functioning system in place that we will never have the resources or expertise to replicate, “ he continued, referring to the secular authorities. “Indeed, to suggest that we are doing so is to do a grave injustice. If people believe we have an alternative to the police, which we do not and never will have, they will rely upon this belief and nothing will change. We tried this and came to the painful conclusion that it can not work.”

Hikind himself took a nuanced position on the issue of going to outside authorities.

“Look, I would like to see people report to the police,” he said. “But there are some realities in our communities. ... People in our community, as you know, don’t want to go public. They want to keep it quiet, which is terrible. It’s sinful. I use the word sinful because for someone not to come forward in a situation of abuse of their child is not only to be guilty for not pressing issues for their own child, but they are guilty for every other child that is abused after their child. And they have to live with that. I keep on repeating that to everyone.”


But given the reality, “At least let’s get these people off the street,” he said. “With regard to institutions, where we find teachers, one of the things we are going to work on, if we establish that a teacher is a pedophile, that name needs to go on a list. Before anyone hires anyone, they must look at that list.”

Others active on this issue believe that legislative reforms are also crucial. As an assemblyman, Hikind said he is supportive on this front. He voiced strong backing, for example, for an extension of the statute of limitations for prosecuting child sexual molestation, and for the alleged victims of such abuse to file civil suits.

Under current law, the state cannot pursue criminal prosecutions of an alleged molester once the alleged victim turns 23. A victim himself must bring a civil suit against his molester or against the school he alleges failed to protect him by between one and six years after his 18th birthday, depending on the nature of the allegation.

But child victims of sexual abuse often do not understand or come to terms with their experiences — or sometimes, even recall them — until years, or even decades after they take place. Members of the Orthodox community have the additional burden of overcoming their peer group’s hostility to turning to secular authorities on such a sensitive matter. By then, the statute of limitations often bars their entry to the courtroom.

There are currently several bills in the state Legislature to address this problem, though none have passed in the Senate yet. A bill to extend the statute of limitations and open a one-year window for victims to seek damages regardless of their age recently passed in the Assembly but has repeatedly stalled in the Senate.

“The statute of limitations needs to be extended,” said Hikind. “I’m totally for that . . . I will do everything in the world to make that happen because now I realize how critical that is.”
Elliot Pasik, an attorney in private practice and a co-founder of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, a newly organized grassroots group, has also been pressing for legislation that would require mandatory background checks and fingerprinting of teachers in non-public schools. In addition, his group is working for the passage of a law that would require teachers in non-public schools to report cases of abuse when they see evidence of it or it is reported to them. Public school officials are already required to do so.

New York — unlike 25 other states — does not now classify clergy as mandated reporters, which means that they are not required to report evidence of sex abuse or violence to state child welfare authorities.

Legislation requiring fingerprinting and background checks for prospective non-public school faculty was defeated in the Assembly last year but reintroduced this year by Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. The legislation does not, however, have the support of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Lower East Side).

Agudath Israel, an umbrella group of ultra-traditional Orthodox organizations, is opposed to both the mandated reporting and finger printing, and background check legislation.
Pasik, who currently represents Engelman in his lawsuit against Rabbi Reichman and United Talmudical Academy, said, “New York State has the weakest laws in the country.

[Parochial schools] are near-totally unsupervised by the state, which is a throwback to pre-16th century English common law when the church could give sanctuary [to fugitives]. This has to change.”

Hikind would not commit yet on such specifics. “I am sitting with my legislative person right now. We are just going to start our conversation. It’s sort of a new look for me at everything,” he said.”

But he added: “Anything that contributes to apprehending the bad guy and helping the victims, we need to do — period, end of the story. That’s my position. I have a new perspective because I’ve taken a close look, because I’ve spent almost four weeks now listening non-stop to horror stories, and then I’m told by people today who met with me, ‘Dov, it’s worse than even you think right now.’ I said, ‘what?’”

Anonymous said...

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2008/09/dr-benzion-twerski-scared-off-panel-on.html

Anonymous said...

September 10, 2008
Meatpacker Faces Charges of Violating Child Laws
By JULIA PRESTON

The Iowa attorney general on Tuesday brought an array of criminal charges for child labor violations against the owners and top managers of a meatpacking plant where nearly 400 workers were detained in a May immigration raid.

The state charges were the first to be brought against owners and senior managers at the plant, Agriprocessors, since the May 12 raid. Federal prosecutors convicted nearly 300 workers, most of them illegal immigrants from Guatemala, on document fraud charges, with the majority sentenced to five months in prison. Advocates for immigrants had criticized federal prosecutors for punishing the workers but not the managers.

In all, 9,311 criminal misdemeanor charges involving 32 under-age workers were filed against the company, Agriprocessors Inc., and its owner, Aaron Rubashkin, and his son Sholom, who was the top manager of the packing plant in Postville, Iowa.

The complaint charges that the plant employed workers under the legal age of 18, including seven who were under 16, from Sept. 9, 2007, to May 12. Some workers, including some younger than 16, worked on machinery prohibited for employees under 18, including “conveyor belts, meat grinders, circular saws, power washers and power shears,” said an affidavit filed with the complaint.

In a statement, Chaim Abrahams, a senior executive at the plant, denied the accusations and said the company would go to trial “to put to rest the insidious notion that it knowingly employed under-age workers.”

Mr. Abrahams said the minors had lied about their age, and he predicted that Iowa prosecutors would not be able to prove that managers knew their employees were not old enough to work.

Under Iowa law, employing a worker under 18 on the floor of a slaughterhouse is a criminal misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of 30 days in jail and a fine of $625. But the charges multiplied to more than 9,000 because a new one was brought for each day and each offense. If convicted, the Rubashkins could face more than $5 million in fines and significant prison sentences.

The two-page affidavit claims that Aaron and Sholom Rubashkin were “frequently present” in the slaughterhouse where under-age employees were working, and that they “possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens” and that “many of those workers were minors.”

The complaint also charges that under-age workers were not paid for all the overtime they worked and were forced to work before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m., a violation of child labor laws. Agriprocessors managers “participated in efforts to conceal children when federal and state labor department officials inspected the plant,” the complaint says.....

Full article can be read here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/us/10meat.html?_r=1&ref=us&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

Anonymous said...

“We don’t want to completely disrupt supply,” he explained. “But we are looking to transition to a new reality that will require at a minimum new management. We’d like to see the new management by Sept. 29, but we’re playing this by ear. If they hire a new person who is not able to move to Postville in time, we’re not going to destroy” the relationship.

Anonymous said...

“I don’t know whether there will be someone new coming onto the block moving forward,” said Menachem Lubinsky, the kosher food marketing expert who reported Empire’s plans in his weekly newsletter Kosher Today. “It’s in a state of flux, and in the meantime, the Rubashkins’ phone lines are ringing off the hook for product, and they are trying to deal with it.”

Anonymous said...

The charges filed against Agriprocessors, the Rubashkins and two human resources mangers at the plant would carry a maximum of 30 days in jail or a fine for each count. Each day worked by a minor counts as a single charge. The complaint says that many of the workers were under the age of 16.

“All of the named individual Defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens,” said a statement from the Iowa attorney general’s office. “It was likewise shared knowledge among the Defendants that many of those workers were minors.”

A statement from the company spokesman, Chaim Abrahams, denied that the company knew about the underage workers.

“Agriprocessors acted in good faith on the child labor issue,” he said in the statement. “We look forward to our day in court.”

“All of the minors at issue lied about their age in order to gain employment at the company. At the time of hiring, all of the minors, like all job applicants, presented and signed documents stating that they were over 18,” his statement said.

Anonymous said...

I wonder why this child molester couldn't just deny the charges like I do. You think they can ever prove I did anything to that boy who committed suicide or to those girls in Canada who accused me?

----------------------------

A RAPIST and child molester has been locked up indefinitely and branded a danger to young girls for “repugnant” sex attacks on two teenagers.

Kevin Seaman was imprisoned for public protection - a life sentence by another name - and must serve at least three-and-a-half years before he can apply for parole.

The 46-year-old forced himself onto a 17-year-old girl and raped her after she repeatedly rejected his advances, Teesside Crown Court heard.

“I struggled trying to get him off me and called him a pervert. I threatened him with the police,” the girl said in part of her statement read to the court by prosecutor Shaun Dodds.

She reported Seaman to the police after he told her “it wasn’t the end of it, that was just for starters”, the court was told yesterday.

He molested another girl, aged 14, after giving her alcohol.

Seaman, of Yarm Lane, Stockton, who previously lived in Grangetown, admitted one charge of rape and three sexual assault offences against the two girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, between 2005 and 2008.

He told police he was an alcoholic who had fathered 14 children to various women. He was described as violent by a partner in 2006.

At first he claimed one of the complainants made advances and instigated consensual sexual activity after he “hadn’t had sex for a period of days”.

Yvonne Taylor, mitigating, said: “This is a man that hangs his head in shame, remorse and regret. The court may feel that is just a little too late. He is very sorry for the suffering he has caused to both of the complainants.”

Judge Peter Bowers told Seaman: “You have every right to be disgusted with yourself, and abuse of alcohol is really no excuse.

“Even to contemplate that sort of behaviour is repugnant, and allowing yourself to be drawn into it not just once but more than once is quite abhorrent.”

He said Seaman’s conduct was not isolated: “You are a risk to young people - young girls particularly.

“Until you have successfully undergone and accepted a sex offenders’ treatment programme, you will remain a risk to others.

“The sentence is indefinite. You won’t be released until they (the Parole Board) think it’s safe to be released, and even then it will be with conditions.”

Seaman was banned indefinitely from working with children and given a sexual offences prevention order.

The minimum jail term includes 177 days Seaman has already spent in custody.

Anonymous said...

By Lynda Waddington 9/10/08 3:46 PM

Charges of state child labor law violations at Agriprocessors have prompted a member of Iowa’s congressional delegation to propose new federal legislation that would increase penalties against offending companies.

“Yesterday’s charges against Agriprocessors emphasize the need to protect children against unsafe and illegal working conditions,” said U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley. “When employers purposefully break the law by hiring children for dangerous jobs, they put our children’s lives and safety at risk. The current, low federal penalties must be increased to deter future child labor violations.”

Tuesday morning Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller filed documents in Allamakee County against Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, charging the company and five individuals with more than 9,000 violations of state child labor laws. The U.S. Department of Labor is also conducting an ongoing investigation of Agriprocessors for similar federal violations.

The bill, introduced today by Braley, a Democrat repesenting Iowa’s 1st District, has been dubbed the Child Labor Safety Act. Under current federal law, employers who hire children for hazardous occupations face a maximum criminal fine of $10,000 and a maximum civil fine of $11,000 to $50,000. Employers who knowingly hire children for dangerous occupations are not eligible for jail time on a first offense.

Braley’s proposed legislation would increase the maximum federal penalty to $50,000 and the maximum civil penalty to $50,000 to $100,000. First offenders, under the bill, would also be eligible for up to six months in jail per employee.

It is unclear if this bill, even if passed before the federal investigation of Agriprocessors was completed, would impact the penalties associated with any alleged charges.

Anonymous said...

"We’d like to see the new management by Sept. 29"

Genack & Co. are talking idiocy again as usual. New management? Please don't play everybody for fools just because you are one.

Anonymous said...

RABBI FORCED OFF SEX PANEL
By BILL SANDERSON

September 11, 2008

Saying the cause was right but the threats it brought his family too much to bear, a prominent Brooklyn rabbi yesterday quit a new task force set up by Assemblyman Dov Hikind to combat child sex abuse among Orthodox Jews.

Benzion Twerski, a Ph.D psychologist who signed on to Hikind's effort last week, said the verbal harassment of his family amounted to threats of "excommunication" from the Orthodox community.

In a post on the Orthodox news blog Vos Iz Neias, Twerski said some people told him they'd cross the street to avoid him, and that his adult children were told their children would never marry.

"I don't have to be in a place where I choose between this and my family. My family was given to me first," Twerski told The Post.

Hikind has made a cause of halting child sex abuse among the Orthodox. The Democratic Assemblyman says he's heard "hundreds" of abuse stories from Orthodox Jews in his district and elsewhere.

Hikind said Twerski's harassment is a sign many Orthodox have no wish to confront the issue.

Anonymous said...

The catchy uncle Moishe tune can be heard on various radio stations on the day of rest. it's bad enough to deceive the public into thinking underprivileged kids need their help (Oorah) without mentioning the affiliation; but to run the ads on Shabbos of all days???

Anonymous said...

On this memorable day some yidden perished too. We are still in an economic depression seven years after the fact. This is a sad day for all mankind from all faiths. bizman hazeh we need all the yeshuas and refuahs that the haibishter can bestow upon us.

The scams, shams, molestation, treifus, and nevelus committed by yidden against yidden certainly doesn't help our cause any!

Anonymous said...

Thursday, September 11, 2008 Israel Today Staff

Jewish settlers prepare to fight for their homes

Jewish leaders from across Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") met this week to sign the "Samaria Pact," a pledge that they will work together to prevent any further evacuations of Jews from their God-given lands.

The meeting came just hours after the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met to discuss a proposal to essentially bribe Jewish settlers to move into the internationally-recognized parts of Israel.

Media reports regarding the Samaria Pact did not elaborate on what extents the settlers intend to go to in order to defend their homes, though many settler leaders have insisted they will not resort to deadly force against the Jewish soldiers and police sent to expel them.

עם ישראל חי

exposemolesters said...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1221142454010&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

WHAT AN OUTRAGE!

Only 43 child investigators for over 10,000 abuse cases

Sep. 11, 2008
Ruth Eglash , THE JERUSALEM POST

There are only 43 child investigators countrywide who are permitted to interview child victims of violent abuse or those who have witnessed horrific crimes, according to new statistics obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post Thursday.

That means some children have to wait more than four months before meeting with professionals who can assess their situation and advise on treatment or prosecution.

The figures, which were put together by the Social Workers Union, contradict reports from the Welfare and Social Services Ministry that there are currently 52 child investigators. These are specially trained social workers appointed by the ministry and the only ones permitted to interview children under 14 and those with disabilities thought to be victims of severe abuse and violence.

"Even though 52 child investigators can be hired, six positions have been vacated in recent months, and from next week three more will be open, but as yet no replacements have been appointed," commented union head Itzhak Perry.

"This means that from next month there will only be 43 child investigators to carry out more than 10,000 investigations into child abuse.

"As of today, more than 400 children are currently waiting to meet with an officer," he said, adding that in light of the three recent cases of pre-school children being murdered by their parents, there will likely be a sharp rise in the number of reports of violence and abuse against children.

Perry said that a year ago the union reached an agreement with the ministry to limit the number of new cases assigned to child investigators to 25 a month. Investigators can only meet with one child a day, due to the emotional intensity of the job.

"This means that the waiting list is just growing and growing," said Perry.

"Every investigation of a child that does not proceed immediately affects the validity of the case in terms of the child's memory of the crimes perpetrated against him or her," said Micah Hern, head of the Child Investigators Department in the union.

"In essence, we are continuing to not only hurt the child, but to allow a possible criminal to walk around free and continue hurting children."

Welfare and Social Services Ministry director general Nahum Itzkovitz said he wasn't sure of the exact figures regarding child investigators.

"I do know that we are planning to hire some replacements and looking to create an additional 15 positions," he said.

Regarding the lengthy wait faced by thousands of abused and distressed children, Itzkovitz said that part of the problem was the sanctions conducted by the Social Workers Union earlier this year, which he said were legitimate but have resulted in longer waiting periods.

With a reported rise in the number of children at risk from abuse and violence, Itzkovitz said that funds slated for a much-touted program addressing these issues were not touched in the draft budget for 2009.

However, he confirmed a recent announcement by the Finance Ministry that it would slash NIS 22 million from the 2008 Welfare and Social Services Ministry budget to fund benefits for Holocaust survivors.

"This cutback was one-sided; I and the minister [Isaac Herzog] protested the cut," he told the Post, adding that the funds will likely be reinstated next year and that the treasury had guaranteed the program for children at risk for at least the next five years.

Itzkovitz also said that an additional NIS 250m. had been promised next year for the Welfare and Social Services Ministry.

"Of course, we always need more," he said. "Every day we are confronted with another type of societal problem."

Herzog yesterday inaugurated two new centers in the North that will treat children and youth at risk.

The centers, which are in Shlomi and Acre and cost more than NIS 8m. to build, will not be supported by government monies but rather by several international non-profit organizations, including the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the Rashi Foundation, the British Jewish community and local authorities.

Anonymous said...

Biden on defending Israel: 'Silence breeds abuse'

Play video

(NECN: Deerfield Beach, Florida) - Senator Joe Biden held a town hall meeting in Deerfield Beach, Florida this afternoon.

The Democratic vice presidential nominee reiterated his support of Israel.

"I was the original co-sponsor for the Palestinian Anti-terrorism Act. I was one of the people who would go on television to defend Israel when the use of cluster bombs occurred...when no one else in the United States Senate spoke up," said Biden.

"Silence breeds abuse," said Biden.

Anonymous said...

Too many bad people in the Jewish world cause much pain and suffering to kids. Here is one who is the total opposite.

Bless Gary Moskowitz!
--------------------------------

http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2731&dept_id=574907&newsid=20117407

09/11/2008
Enter the rabbi: sensai helps kids fight illness
by Ben Hogwood , Assistant Editor

Gary Moskowitz is helping kids with life-threatening illnesses control their fear and have some fun with martial arts. (photo by Ben Hogwood)
Imagine being 8 years old and riding in the back of your parents car to get another dose of chemotherapy.
The treatment may be painful, it may cause hair loss and nausea and it may leave you fragile, susceptible to bruising and excessive bleeding.
You have an enemy but you can’t see it, you can’t control it and you don’t know how to fight it. You are scared.
Enter Gary Moskowitz, a rabbi and martial arts sensei who is helping children with cancer and other illnesses fight back and empower themselves.
Moskowitz is the executive director of the non-profit Martial Arts Therapy, which is bringing the program Kids Combatting Cancer to Havurat Israel Temple in Forest Hills. The program will be held on Sundays and an additional weekday, beginning in October. Moskowitz is currently looking for volunteers to help him get the program off the ground.
Through martial arts, Moskowitz teaches these children how to cope with their fear and empower them to fight their illness. He also lets them enjoy a physical activity in a safe environment, something they would rarely have the opportunity to do.
The program includes all the common aspects of martial arts — the punching, kicking and even some stick fighting — but it also includes a form of meditation called guidance therapy specifically designed for these young students. The therapy, in effect, lets the students give an identity to their aggressor, which they cannot see. The student imagines the cancer cells as ninjas attacking a specific part of their body. He or she then unleashes an imaginary army of “warriors” to fight back.
“When you visualize what the pain is, visualize beating up these ninja guys, the pain subsides,” Moskowitz said. “Even if its a placebo effect, it works.”
Another important practice a student of Moskowitz can learn is how to control fear. Whether it’s getting into a fight with other people or getting injected as part of a chemotherapy treatment, the fear needs to be controlled or it can become overwhelming, Moskowitz said, as he recounted a story of one of his students on his way to the hospital to receive treatment. At first, it took five orderlies to hold him down. After he learned some breathing techniques, he was able to sit still and take the needle.
“Pain is a message,” Moskowitz said. “We can learn how to scramble that message.”
But a big portion of the program is to let these children have some fun and interact with others. Because the children are too fragile to actually practice martial arts physically on each other, Moskowitz created “virtual karate,” where two students compete against each other in contests, but are several feet apart. A judge then determines the effectiveness of their kicks, punches and blocks.
Moskowitz doesn’t know what it’s like to suffer from such a disease, but as a former police officer he is all too familiar with getting into dangerous situations, as he has throughout his life. He was a popular target for bullies as a child, the only white student his age wearing a yarmulke to school in the Bronx. By the age of 14, he had already been the victim of four armed robberies.
He took up martial arts to protect and empower himself and help get over his own fears. When he became an instructor, he included community service as an aspect of his training, one necessary if the student wanted to advance in rank.
In 1978, he formed Martial Arts for a Better Community, which trained instructors in how to teach martial arts to physically and emotionally challenged students, in addition to offering classes for poor children in exchange for them volunteering their time to train others.
The program was initially successful, but ran out of steam as it ran out of funding. However, four years ago he revived the idea, this time focusing primarily on children with cancer.
Moskowitz is currently trying to set up a study where a group of students can be gauged for a period of time to see how they progress physically.
Currently, Moskowitz has some volunteers helping him get the word out, including Gloria Katz. She has worked as a paid volunteer coordinator for a number of years and, with some extra time on her hands, decided she wanted to find an organization to help.
She met Moskowitz through the Havurat Israel Temple. “We got to speaking and we kind of were in sync,” she said. “I was looking for an organization I could really devote some good volunteer time to and something with purpose and meaning.”
Moskowitz is currently looking for volunteers to help with the program, including instructors as well as people who can work with the families or contact hospitals and schools to tell them what they do.
Eventually, he hopes to set up these programs all around the state and the country, so more children fighting for their lives can have a more holistic approach to healing.
“These kids are not treated like sick kids,” he said. “We treat them as heroes. They are very heroic to undergo some of the things they do.”
To learn more about the program or to volunteer, contact Moskowitz at (718) 575-3504 or e-mail gavriael@aol.com.

Anonymous said...

New York lender admits to fraud of Fannie Mae
Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:50pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former mortgage lender pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiring to commit fraud in a $44 million theft of payoff proceeds for refinanced mortgage loans funded by Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Leib Pinter, whose Olympia Mortgage Corporation originated

and serviced mortgage loans owned by Fannie Mae, admitted in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

A grand jury indictment in May charged Pinter and another officer of the same Brooklyn-based firm, Barry Goldstein, with conspiracy, wire fraud and bank fraud.

The charges stemmed from FBI investigations into mortgage-related fraud in the troubled U.S. housing industry. Pinter and Goldstein had controlled Olympia from 1994 until November 2004, when the firm gave up its mortgage lender license.

Last Sunday, the U.S. government announced a takeover of the two mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to help support the ailing U.S. housing market and economy.

In the Brooklyn case, prosecutors said that, when Olympia refinanced a Fannie Mae mortgage loan, Fannie Mae wired the money to an Olympia account. Olympia was then required to pay off the underlying mortgage loan by sending the outstanding balance to Fannie Mae, but Pinter was accused of misappropriating the proceeds to his firm.

"When the fraudulent scheme was revealed, Fannie Mae held nearly $44 million in unpaid, but refinanced, underlying mortgage loans from Olympia Mortgage," the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn said at the time of the indictment.

Pinter faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years on the charge, but the sentencing guidelines as part of the plea agreement call for a prison term of 10 years and one month or less. The sentencing was scheduled for December 19.

Goldstein was charged with fraud in Olympia's sale of a portfolio of nonperforming mortgage loans to Credit Suisse First Boston using falsified loan histories. His case is pending, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

(Reporting by Grant McCool; Editing by Andre Grenon)

© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.

Anonymous said...

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - A former owner of a defunct mortgage firm has pleaded guilty in New York City to a charge he and a colleague stole $44 million from the Fannie Mae mortgage finance company.

Leib Pitner entered the plea Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was accused of secretly pocketing money from Fannie Mae payoffs of 257 loans.

The charge carries a potential penalty of 20 years in prison. But Pitner is unlikely to serve more than 10.

Sentencing is Dec. 19.

The colleague's case is pending.

Pitner's Olympia Mortgage Corp. was involved in refinancing homeowner mortgages for Fannie Mae, the nation's largest buyer of home loans. Olympia lost its license in 2004.

The federal government recently seized control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Anonymous said...

We will continue to publish Leib Pinter's books. We feel every scam artist Jew deserves to fart as much as they want!

Anonymous said...

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a13400/News/New_York.html

Two Suits Against Kolko Dropped
Judge throws out civil cases against Orthodox rabbi alleged to have molested children, citing statute of limitations.


Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, in a controversial deal, pleaded guilty in April to two misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and was sentenced to three years' probation.



by Larry Cohler-Esses
Editor At Large
Citing the statute of limitations, a federal judge last week threw out civil suits filed by two men who charged a Brooklyn rabbi had molested them as children.
Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, who was convicted last April of child endangerment — a misdemeanor — and Yeshiva Torah Temimah, the school for which he worked, cannot be held liable for the alleged abuse of the two men, ruled Judge Sandra Townes last Friday.

The ruling still leaves three others who allege Rabbi Kolko molested them as children with live civil suits against him and Torah Temimah, including two boys, now aged 10 and 9. They remain within the statute of limitation, and the father of one of the boys said Tuesday he planned to go forward with his case.

“We have to go to court,” said the father, who The Jewish Week is not identifying to protect his son’s privacy. “I feel the criminal side was a joke.”

Last April, in a controversial plea bargain, Rabbi Kolko pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and was sentenced to three years’ probation. As part of the plea bargain, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes dropped felony charges of sexual molestation against Rabbi Kolko, who was alleged to have repeatedly touched two Torah Temimah first-graders in their sexual areas. Rabbi Kolko, 62, made no admission of sexual wrongdoing and was not required to register as a sex offender.

Hynes said then that he dropped the charges because the parents of the two children did not want them to have to testify — a claim the father pursuing the civil case refuted at the time. This week, the father said his young son would take the stand in the civil case, if asked.

Meanwhile, the lawyer for a 23-year-old man who recently filed suit against another rabbi said the Kolko ruling would not affect his case, though his client, too, was past the statute of limitations for his alleged molestation, said to have occurred when he was 8.
“Our case proceeds on a much different basis,” said Elliot Pasik, who represents Joel Engelman in his suit against Rabbi Avrohom Reichman, a rabbi of the Satmar chasidic sect in Brooklyn. Engelman is also suing the United Talmudical Academy, the Williamsburg school where Reichman teaches.

Pasik noted that Engelman’s suit focuses not on the sexual molestation alleged to have occurred 15 years ago, but on Reichman’s and the yeshiva’s alleged violation of an agreement he says they made with Engelman this spring. Under the verbal agreement that Engelman claims to have reached with the yeshiva, the school was to dismiss Rabbi Reichman in exchange for Engelman not taking legal action.

Rabbi Reichman did, in fact, leave the school last April after Engelman and others say Engelman confronted him about his past abuse. Engelman submitted to the court a letter he wrote to Rabbi Reichman then promising not to take legal action if he resigned his position. But Rabbi Reichman returned to working with children at a Satmar-run camp this summer, and there were reports this week from parents with children at UTA that he is back teaching at the school.

Engelman claims the yeshiva fraudulently sought to divert him from taking legal action until the statute of limitation had passed on criminal prosecution. Under New York State law, that occurred on June 24, the date of Engelman’s 23rd birthday. The school has yet to respond to the suit and did not return several calls left for it about the suit last week.

It remains to be seen whether a judge will permit Engelman’s case to go forward under this theory. The statute of limitations has already run out for Engelman to sue for the alleged 15-year-old acts themselves.

State Sen. Tom Duane (D-Greenwich Village), sponsor of one of several bills that would extend the state’s statute of limitation for child sex abuse, said last week’s Kolko ruling highlights a problem calling out for a remedy.

“Often, child victims of abuse by people in positions of authority are not able to remember or realize what happened because of the trauma,” he said. By the time they are old enough to process what happened and act, “Victims do not have access to justice,” he said.

Anonymous said...

12/15/2006

Kolko Scandal Now Criminal
Prosecutors and lawyer seeking more alleged victims after Torah Temimah rabbi is arrested; fourth lawsuit has yeshiva facing $40 million in claims.

by Adam Dickter
Assistant Managing Editor
For David Framowitz, the world became “a little safer” this week.That’s because Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, who 48-year-old Framowitz says sexually abused him 36 years ago, was arrested last week on unrelated but similar charges. “I’m very, very relieved that justice is finally being done,” Framowitz said Monday in an interview from Israel, where he now lives.Rabbi Kolko, 60, who left Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Temimah in May after Framowitz filed a $10 million civil suit against the school, was charged last week with sexually abusing a 6-year-old child and an adult man in 2003. At the same time, the child’s parents hit the yeshiva with a fourth lawsuit alleging that it covered up abuses by Rabbi Kolko. The rabbi now faces four counts of sex abuse and one count of endangering a minor. He was released on Friday on $10,000 bail and the case went before a grand jury this week.It is the first time law enforcement authorities have been involved in the case of Rabbi Kolko, because previous accusations regarded incidents that took place beyond the statute of limitations.The rabbi’s lawyer, Scott B. Tulman, did not immediately return calls to his office.As prosecutors warned there could be other criminal charges, Jeffrey Herman — the Florida-based lawyer representing all four plaintiffs against the yeshiva — was in New York this week seeking more information from potential witnesses or plaintiffs.“I have heard from many other people about this,” Herman said.The yeshiva now faces a total of $40 million in claims. Each of the suits alleges that the yeshiva covered up complaints about Rabbi Kolko, intimidated his accusers and allowed him to continue molesting children.Marcy Hamilton, a lawyer who has represented a wide range of plaintiffs alleging clergy abuse, said the criminal proceedings will increase the burden on the yeshiva in fighting the civil suits.“It’s going to be a very hard battle,” said Hamilton, a professor at Cardozo Law School. “If a religious organization wants to avoid having secrets aired in public they are very motivated toward settlement. The problem here is, since they have criminal charges involved, that tells you the statute of limitations, usually the bar in these cases, may not be a problem in [the civil] case. If that’s so, they face very serious liability.”After reviewing the latest complaint, the yeshiva’s lawyer, Avraham Moskowitz, said on Thursday that it “emphatically” denies the allegations.“The yeshiva did nothing wrong and the yeshiva is confident that when the case is over it will be vindicated,” said Moskowitz.In a statement to the press, the yeshiva’s executive director, Rabbi Yaakov Applegrad, said “at no time did the yeshiva have any knowledge of anything alleged against Rabbi Kolko, nor did any parent ever come to raise a complaint.”But Framowitz — who with another defendant, Israel Tsatskis, has taken the rare step of speaking out publicly with his allegations and identifying himself — said on Monday “the senior staff of the yeshiva for three and a half decades has known about it and basically covered it up. Anyone who tried bringing it up to the management was rebuffed or ostracized all these years. Someone has to pay the price for that.”In an interview with The Jewish Week in August, Tsatskis chronicled how Rabbi Kolko had lured him over the course of a year, first letting him monitor the sixth-grade class he was in and having him do small errands for the rabbi. “I thought I was special because he was taking an interest in me,” Tsatskis said in the interview.Then, Tsatskis alleged, that favoritism crossed the line and became abusive. Tsatskis said the molestation, which included fondling and groping of his genitals, continued until he completed the eighth grade and graduated middle school.“I hate that he took away my innocence. I blame so much on him,” Tsatskis, a 31-year-old former U.S. Army soldier living in South Carolina, said in the August interview.Framowitz made similar charges, first reported in a detailed New York magazine story.A phone number listed for the school appeared not to be working Tuesday.Framowitz said he hoped the criminal charges would protect other children from harm.“The only treatment for pedophiles is to keep them away from children,” he said. “There must be dozens or hundreds of other boys out there who have been molested by him over the years.”Herman said the criminal charges against Rabbi Kolko would not deter the civil cases. “This is about taking back power in their lives,” said the lawyer, adding that his clients greeted the news of the rabbi’s arrest with “mixed emotions.”“On one hand,” Herman continued, “there is a sense of relief, but it is also a very sad day for many of these victims who tried so hard and hoped they could have stopped it years ago but were unsuccessful.”The case is being closely watched by critics of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes.Two lawyers who monitor Orthodox sex abuse allegations, Michael Lesher and Amy Neustein, recently wrote to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the state’s governor-elect, asking him to appoint a special prosecutor in the case of Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz, a rabbi accused of sexual abuse in 1985 who has taken refuge in Israel.Hynes has argued that case law prohibits him from seeking Rabbi Mondrowitz’s extradition, a position disputed by many lawyers. n

Anonymous said...

The arch would like to welcome joel kolko into the priesthood along with avi shafran to serve as his alter boy.

Another clergy sex abuse suit filed
By Peter MacArthur

Another suit's been filed against a priest accused of sexually abusing an altar boy at a home in Rehoboth Beach three decades ago.

In the suit, the plaintiff is identified as John Poe #1, a now-51 year old who says the Reverend Leonard Mackiewicz

gave him cigarettes and alcohol and then violated him at the priest's mother's home in Sussex County.

Mackiewicz served at the time at St Francis de Sales Church in Salisbury, but worked at other times in Rehoborh, Georgetown, Smyrna and Dover.

The suit claims that because of the abuse, the victim lost his faith, suffered from feelings of isolation and has had an inability to form successful relationships.

Anonymous said...

vat is de joke about farting? ven i am shoin gendick de chulent from shabbes i alvays blow out at least five groiseh farts in ah row. Dis is noh joke, machnish choizik.

Anonymous said...

Kars4kids, Cucumber, Joy, Oorah - Is a scam of sham and what a sad thing it is that to rip off goyim is ganz fine, but if it was the other way around and it was Jews for Jesus not stating their affiliation, there would be havganas and kol korehs by every asher yatrzar fart head.

Anonymous said...

Now that I gave up my fight for sex abuse victims, would the people who crossed the street when they saw me please come over and apologize? You never know - our kids could marry one another in the future. Let's make nice!

Anonymous said...

Lipa Margulies is an honorable fart machine!

Anonymous said...

Parents, their two children among 88 casualties in passenger jet crash in Ural mountains. Chief rabbi of Perm: This is a great tragedy
Roi Mandel

Russian citizens Ephraim and Golda Nachumov and their two small children, Eliyahu and Chava, were killed early Sunday in a passenger jet crash in the Ural mountains, the Chabad movement reported.


The Foreign Ministry has yet to receive any information on the presence of Israeli citizens on the flight.


Russian news agencies reported that Flight 821 operated by an Aeroflot subsidiary carried 82 passengers and six crew members, who were all killed in the crash. The plan was traveling from Moscow to the Ural Mountains city of Perm and crashed near residential buildings as it was preparing to land.


The Nachumov family members were part of Perm's Jewish community. They moved to the city from Azerbaijan several years ago. The four were making their way back home after visiting relatives in Azerbaijan.


"The Nachumov family was a member of our congregation," Rabbi Zalman Deutch, the chief rabbi of Perm, told Ynet. "Only several months ago I visited their home along with my wife, and their son Eliyahu was slated to begin the first grade at the Jewish school. This is a great tragedy and we are all in shock."


A delegation on behalf of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, headed by Russia's Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar and Chevra Kadisha representatives, left Moscow on Sunday morning towards Perm along with the family's relatives in order to handle the burial arrangements of the four family members.


The Associated Press contributed to this report

Anonymous said...

Leave the Rubashkin family alone. Aaron has never hurt a fly or a cat in his whole life.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/15/crime-illegals-and-the-jobs-magnet/


Monday, September 15, 2008
EDITORIAL: Crime, illegals and the jobs magnet

Perhaps no political issue better illustrates how out of touch Washington is than illegal immigration. Polling data shows that Americans overwhelmingly support a tougher stance toward illegals, yet the message does not seem to have gotten through to Congress, where powerful Democratic lawmakers are preventing floor consideration of two major pieces of legislation. One is the SAVE Act, a bill to curb illegal immigration through stepped-up enforcement - in particular, more resources to enable federal, state and local authorities to arrest, detain and eventually remove illegals. The SAVE Act (H.R. 4088 ) is the number one legislative alternative to "comprehensive immigration reform" (i.e., mass amnesty).

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has blocked the SAVE Act from coming to the floor for a vote, and it is likely dead for this year. Another bill, which would encourage businesses to use a state-of-the art system called E-Verify to find out whether a job applicant is in the United States legally, has been endorsed by both John McCain and Barack Obama. On July 31, the House voted 407-2 to continue the program. But the ACLU is strongly opposed to E-Verify, and Sen. Robert Menendez, an open-borders New Jersey Democrat, has blocked its passage in the Senate.

While Congress finds ways to avoid addressing the employment magnet that draws illegals into the United States, the American people continue to be victimized by criminals who unlawfully enter the country. The issue has become a large one in Colorado, where Francis Hernandez, an illegal alien, has been charged with manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident in connection with a Sept. 4 accident in Aurora, Colo., a Denver suburb, that left three people dead, including 3-year-old Marten Kudlis, who was getting ice cream with his mother. Mr. Hernandez, a Guatemalan national, is accused of running a red light in a sport utility vehicle and crashing into a truck. Both vehicles went careening into an ice-cream shop, killing Marten and two women in the truck.

Neither federal nor Colorado officials have been able to satisfactorily explain how Mr. Hernandez was able to avoid deportation despite 16 arrests and at least three stints of incarceration in local jails for minor crimes, which included giving police officers an alias and lying about having a driver's license. Indeed, it is not clear whether he ever had a driver's license or a job, or who owned the Chevrolet Suburban that Mr. Hernandez allegedly crashed into the truck 11 days ago. But a bizarre series of occurrences enabled him to remain free despite his illegal status in the United States - even as he continued to be arrested (and in at least some cases, convicted) of traffic violations and minor crimes. On May 24, Denver police stopped and wrote Mr. Hernandez a summons for multiple offenses, which included driving without a valid license and proof of insurance. One week later, police cited him again for driving without a valid license and other violations.

Mr. Hernandez missed another court date and did not appear before a judge on the charges until he was arrested again on July 18, when police stopped him for not having a license plate on his car and smelled alcohol on his breath. Mr. Hernandez gave police an alias and attempted to flee. The Denver Post reported that when the defendant appeared before Denver County Circuit Court Judge Claudia Jordan, court records included some information about his prior traffic-related offenses but apparently omitted information about time Mr. Hernandez had spent in jail for crimes that included lying about having a driver's license. Mr. Hernandez pled guilty to one minor count, and Judge Jordan gave him until Dec. 17 to obtain a license to drive - telling him that if he did, the defendant would not have to serve jail time. He now faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted in the Sept. 4 incident.

Right now, Colorado politicians and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are debating whether state and local officials notified ICE about Mr. Hernandez - as they should have. But regardless of who dropped the ball in the particular case, open-borders politicians like Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Menendez, who have made this country a welcoming place for illegals, have to shoulder some of the blame for the fact that aliens like Francis Hernandez continue to walk the streets.

Anonymous said...

We were considering giving a sex ed class this year. We think yudel nussbaum and yudel kolko would give a tremendous hands on approach about this topic. This way when the boys learn all about their private parts of the body they will be more tzuniusdeka in their dress and hopfully be shoimer negiah.
-----------------------------

Published on Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org (http://www.rhrealitycheck.org)
Learning About Sex Ed Before Learning to Read?
By Rev. Dr. Carlton W. Veazey
Created Sep 12 2008 - 8:00am

* Leading Voices
* Election 2008
* Sexuality Education
* STI/HIV/AIDS Prevention
* Women’s Rights
* John McCain
* Barack Obama
* abstinence-only
* age-appropriate sex ed
* anti-Obama sex ed ad
* faith
* HHS
* RCRC

John McCain recently released an ad attacking Barack Obama's education agenda, including his support for comprehensive sex education. The announcer says that Obama supports "learning about sex before learning to read." Well, I hope so. If we are not giving our children age-appropriate education throughout their lives, we are not doing our best to protect them.

Earlier this year, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice put out a request for people to tell us the story of how they learned about sex. We received well over 400 responses from individuals around the country age 17 through 94. These replies offer thoughtful reflections and often intimate, sometimes painful, glimpses into personal lives. Quite a few responders said they learned about sex "the hard way" -- from being abused as a child.

If I had known what sex was, I would have understood what was happening to me when I was molested by a male relative beginning at age 8. - Stephanie, 45*

My sex ed took place in a household where there was physical and emotional abuse, AND sexual abuse. Dad was having sex with 3 younger brothers. - Susan, 47

My uncle molested me at 12. If someone had shared the facts with me sooner it may not have happened the way it did. - Tom, 50

My father molested me. The earliest I remember was at age 6-7. - Helen, 76+

I was molested at 8 and do not recall ever being "taught" about sex. - Ginger, 32

From my older cousins talking about it and some in particular wanting to experiment with me. I was 6. They were teenagers. - Emily, 38

I was sexually abused from infancy. - Dorothy, 71

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, each year there are around 80,000 reported cases of child sexual abuse. It is well known that the number of unreported cases is far greater. Yet the curriculum for comprehensive sex education in kindergarten that John McCain derided is to learn about inappropriate touching.

Our survey also found that what you learn - or don't learn - as a child and young person can have life-long repercussions.

I wish I'd learned what intercourse was and how easy it is to get pregnant. - Joyce, 79

I wish I'd learned about STDs and the way in which they can be transmitted. I was under the impression that oral sex was safe, since you couldn't get pregnant from it. - Abigail, 26

The good girl/bad girl images prevalent when I was young only served to instill a great deal of fear in me, which negatively impacted on my marriage for years. - Jean, 57

Senator McCain, a proponent of abstinence-only education programs, is at odds with 80 percent of the American public who support comprehensive sex education. He can sensationalize the issue, but the fact remains that this is an issue of public health and safety.

Major faith traditions - Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Jewish - representing millions of Americans, support comprehensive sexuality education. These faith communities take seriously their duty to instill a set of religious and moral values that will help guide young people to responsible life choices. They believe that it is the role of government to ensure that the nation's youth receive the facts - unblemished by ideology - that will protect them from predators, disease and unintended pregnancy.

*Names have been changed.

Anonymous said...

I have a question that is bugging me and I would like an honest answer.

If someone steals a lot of money from other Jews and uses it to do a big mitzvah (like saving Isaac Hersh from Tranquility Bay), should that person be vilified, punished, and humiliated?

Does the good deed cancel the bad actions of that individual?

Anonymous said...

What is the latest on "Rabbi" Avrohm Lazerowitz? The last I heard this molester ran off to Israel and has a lawsuit pending against him and Ger. Why haven't we heard much about his latest whereabouts and actions?

Anonymous said...

Obama, McCain turn attacks to U.S. economy
Sheldon Alberts , Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, September 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama called Monday's stock market plunge and Lehman Brothers bankruptcy further evidence the United States is enduring "the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression."

John McCain wasn't so sure.

As Americans endured one of the worst days of economic news in a year already full of them, the Republican presidential candidate offered contradictory assessments about the health ofthe U.S. economy...

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=19d8fd27-daeb-4fae-9e1e-4d65cfb85f90

Anonymous said...

Ashkenazim, Sephardim fight over Chief Rabbinate appointments
Sep. 15, 2008
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST

A dispute between Sephardi and Ashkenazi rabbis over the appointment of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's son has prevented the two camps from joining forces to take control of the Chief Rabbinate's governing council.

Next Tuesday, a voting body of 150 rabbis and public servants will convene to vote for the Chief Rabbinate's governing council (moetzet harabanut harashit), the final authority on issues such as criteria for kosher supervision, deciding who is a Jew for the purpose of marriage and the appointment of new rabbis and marriage registrars.

One of the issues waiting to be decided by the governing council is whether or not to allow rabbis who already receive a salary from the state to enjoy additional sources of income from conducting weddings, giving lectures or providing kashrut supervision.

If they were to cooperate, Shas, which represents Sephardi haredi Jewry, and the two Ashkenazi haredi parties, Degel Hatorah and Agudath Yisrael, would enjoy a majority in the 150-person voting body.

However, Degel Hatorah and Agudath Yisrael refuse to form a united voting bloc with Shas in protest against Shas's candidate Rabbi Avraham Yosef, the chief rabbi of Ashdod and the son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the supreme halachic authority for Ashkenazi haredim, ordered his representatives to oppose the appointment of Avraham Yosef.

"Rabbi Elyashiv told us that he would support any other of Rabbi Ovadia's sons, just not Avraham," said a source in the rabbinate close to Rabbi Elyashiv.

Elyashiv's opposition to Rabbi Avraham Yosef is primarily due to his position on laws governing the Sabbatical (shmita) year.

Rabbi Avraham Yosef personally oversaw implementation of a controversial halachic ruling called "heter mechira."

According to heter mechira, land in Israel is sold to non-Jews for the duration of the shmita year, thus enabling Jewish farmers to continue to work the land as usual.

Rabbi Elyashiv and rabbis associated with him adamantly opposed heter mechira.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is resolute in his demand that Shas affiliates within the Chief Rabbinate support the appointment of his son.

With Sephardim and Ashkenazim at loggerheads over Yosef's appointment, religious Zionists, who make up the third camp within the chief rabbinate, are hoping to get three of their candidates elected.

Chief Rabbi of Shoham David Stav, who is also spokesman for the Hesder Yeshivot and a senior member of Tzohar Rabbis, is one of three candidates representing religious Zionists.

The chief rabbi of Kiryat Shmona, Tzfania Drori, and the chief rabbi of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu, are also running.

In addition to Avraham Yosef, Shas is also supporting former Shas MK Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz, and Rabbi Shimon Ben-Shimon.

Elyashiv's camp is supporting Rabbi Moshe Rauchverger, a neighborhood rabbi in the Haifa area and head of the Association of Neighborhood Rabbis, the chief rabbi of Migdal Haemek, Yitzhak David Grossman, known as the "disco rabbi" for his outreach work with youth at pubs and discos, and Chief Rabbi of Rehovot Simcha Cohen Kook.

A total of 10 rabbis - five Ashkenazi and five Sephardi - will be chosen to sit on the chief rabbinate's governing council for a five-year term. In addition to the 10 elected rabbis, there are also five additional rabbis who are members of the council. These include the two chief rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yonah Metzger, and the chief rabbis of the nation's largest cities Rabbi Israel Meir Lau (Tel Aviv), Rabbi Shlomo Chelouche (Haifa) and Rabbi Yehuda Deri (Beersheba). Jerusalem does not have a chief rabbi.

Half of the 150-person voting body that will choose the 10 rabbis is made up public officials: the mayors of the nation's 25 largest cities, heads of the six largest local councils, the heads of the four largest regional councils, the heads of the 14 largest religious councils and the heads of the religious councils belonging to the four largest local councils.

The other half of the voting body is made up of the chief rabbis of the the largest cities, local and regional councils and moshavim.

The size of local and regional councils and cities is determined by the size of the Jewish population.

In addition, two government ministers, five MKs and 10 public officials appointed by Religious Affairs Minister Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) also make up the voting body.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1221489039860&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Anonymous said...

If only I was aware that rabonnim can molest children. If only I believed. I'm so full of chara and drek!

Anonymous said...

Haifa court sentences child molester to 12 years in prison
Sep. 14, 2008
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

The Haifa District Court on Sunday sentenced 56-year-old Vladimir Gretzki from the Krayot, who was convicted of molesting and sodomizing two children, to twelve years in jail.

The two boys, aged eight and ten, lived near his house.

The court also ordered Gretzki to pay NIS 15,000 compensation to one of the boys he assaulted.

Anonymous said...

Why did I not hear about this when I took the ferry yesterday?

I think the media and blogmeisters like to fabricate these sexually abusive fairy tales just so they can get a chance to attack me when I refuse to comment.
--------------------------------

55-year-old nabbed as child molester
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A West Brighton man sexually abused an 8-year-old family acquaintance for more than a month over the summer, authorities said.

Philip Farrice, 55, of the 600 block of Delafield Avenue, inappropriately touched the young girl on three separate occasions between May 1 and June 30 inside a residence on the 800 block of Delafield Avenue, court papers state.

During questioning, the man also admitted having an attraction to young children, sources said.

Farrice was arrested Thursday at the district attorney's office in St. George.

Prosecutors charged Farrice with first- and second-degree aggravated sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. DOUG AUER

Anonymous said...

Don't you dear try blaming us for contaminating baby formula. We are not that cruel.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091601498.html

Health Highlights: Sept. 16, 2008

Tuesday, September 16, 2008; 12:00 AM

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors ofHealthDay:

Chinese Investigators Find Melamine in 69 Brands of Baby Milk Powder

Melamine has been found in 69 brands of baby milk powder in China and the government has ordered a halt to the sale of all the brands, made by 22 different companies, state televisionCCTVreported Tuesday.

"In order to ensure the safety of the milk products, the relevant government departments have pulled them from shelves, sealed them, recalled them and destroyed them,"CCTVsaid in its nightly broadcast,Agence France Pressereported.

Until now, the Sanlu brand had been the sole focus of government officials looking into tainted baby milk powder that has killed two infants and sickened more than 1,200 across several provinces. Authorities said they expect that the number of infants affected by tainted milk powder will continue to grow.

So far, four people have been arrested in connection with the scandal. It's believed they added melamine to milk sold to infant formula manufacturers in order to make the milk appear to have a higher protein content,AFPreported.

Anonymous said...

MONTREAL — Some of Montreal’s traditional Orthodox and chassidic schools say much of the province’s new compulsory ethics and religious culture course (ERC) is “irreconcilable with our convictions.”

http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15355&Itemid=86

Anonymous said...

How about an article from Gary Rosenblatt emphasizing the need for Rabbis to do a better job of dealing with the sexual abuse scandals that have plagued them?

With the High holy Days upon us, the rabbinate would be wise to reflect and focus their attention on this crisis.
-----------------------------------

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c52_a13424/Editorial__Opinion/Gary_Rosenblatt.html

Helping Rabbis Do A Better Job

by Gary Rosenblatt
Editor and Publisher

With the High Holy Days soon upon us, rabbis across the country are working on their sermons, hoping they will have the chance on Rosh HaShanah and/or Yom Kippur to inform, entertain and inspire their congregants, many of whom they see only rarely in synagogue.


According to Rabbi Hayim Herring, executive director of STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal), a Minnesota-based group that helps synagogues around the country initiate programs and services for today’s Jewish community, non-Orthodox Jews who are affiliated with a synagogue spend only about 22 to 32 hours a year at services, with almost half of that time coming during the High Holy Days.


So the pressure is on the rabbis at this time of year to perform at their best, even as they deal with a myriad of other chores, from teaching children and adults, counseling people with problems, visiting the sick, comforting the bereaved, and making sure the financial and administrative needs of the congregation are in order.

The rabbinate, most would agree, is a stressful calling, and with spiritual leaders pushed and pulled among obligations to congregants, community and family, it’s not surprising that many rabbis say they have little time to think about long-term goals for themselves and their congregations, or to spend time in reflection and Jewish learning.

In an effort to address that ongoing concern, about 100 rabbis and leaders in Jewish education from all the denominations and around the country met at UJA-Federation in New York last Wednesday, convening a National Conference on Continuing Rabbinic Education.

It was sponsored by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Lasko Family Foundation and the Marcus Foundation.

Rabbi Herring noted at the outset that many professionals, like lawyers and doctors, are required to participate in continuing education programs in their field, in some cases mandated by law.

“Since rabbis are entrusted with so many souls” and have a profound impact on the spiritual lives of their congregants, “shouldn’t we take it upon ourselves to raise the bar” and establish a path toward ensuring a rabbi’s continued growth, he asked.

The consensus among the participants seemed to affirm the need and benefits of providing time and resources for rabbis to reflect and study.

But there were practical concerns voiced, like whether congregations would back the idea of rabbis having additional time away from his or her direct synagogue duties, and whether rabbis themselves would welcome an additional responsibility.

Another issue, though not voiced publicy, was about turf, specifically whether any new project might adversely effect existing continuing education programs offered by the various rabbinical seminaries. As one rabbinic movement leader told me privately, with some frustration, “denominationalism is out nowadays and it’s all about joint efforts, but we’re already struggling to raise funds for the fine programs we offer now.”

Rabbi Herring insisted that the goal of the conference was not to create a new program provider but to establish a forum to exchange information among rabbis of different denominations, support advocacy for continuing rabbinic education, fund studies and evaluations to help make 21st century rabbis more effective, particularly in reaching young people, and create a website where information about existing programs could be shared.

The full-day conference included joint text study related to whether performing mitzvot or studying Torah was a higher value, and research information on how other religious denominations offer continuing education for their clergy.

Lawrence Goleman of the Alban Institute, an independent organization in Virginia that offers learning and leadership development to American churches, explained that continuing education programs have evolved from stressing professional skills to dealing with “health and self-care and spiritual renewal.”

He advised the conference participants to focus on four areas: encountering sacred texts; dealing with the spiritual dimension of self-care and emotional intelligence; advancing congregational development and views on cultural issues in society; and concentrating on performance of clergy roles, including communication, administration, conflict mediation and innovative liturgy.

Clergy, whatever their faith or denomination, struggle with “role diffusion,” Goleman told me, determining how to prioritize their many professional obligations, and figuring out how to get their lay leaders more involved in congregational work.

Others mentioned the need for studies of how rabbis manage their time, why they leave the rabbinate, and what are the implications of the increasing number of rabbis (probably more than half) serving in non-pulpit settings; the increasing number of rabbis working part-time by design; and the fact that the rabbinate is becoming increasingly female.

Although no specific steps were taken at day’s end, the sense was that the work that led to the creation of the conference would continue and that the participants would spread the word to colleagues of the need to address continuing rabbinic education as a plus for congregants, the rabbis themselves and, ultimately, the American Jewish community.

The challenges of reaching and addressing young people in a meaningful way Jewishly is well known. If rabbis felt more valued and received more expertise in framing Jewish responses to today’s issues, they could play an increasingly vital role in sustaining and advancing Jewish life in the 21st century. That’s why we should all embrace and support the effort to help rabbis do their job better.

E-mail: gary@jewishweek.org.

Anonymous said...

I like how the yated gave me kovod once again. In the "gedolim picture section" there i was looking all shtady in my smelly talis, helping a bar-mitzvah bochur put on his teillin.

Anonymous said...

Joseph Shereshevsky,

On the one hand you have committed a grave sin by stealing from your people. You are a crook and a ganav! God help your soul!

On the other hand you did a tremendous chesed by saving a 16 year old kid. Of course, the money used for funding the rescue wasn't legitimately yours.

You could have not interceded, so I suppose you are entitled to your share of praise. Since you obtained your monetary status through deceit and manipulation, you are just as much worthy also, of receiving rebuke and criticism from others for the pain you have caused.

Anonymous said...

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24358212-661,00.html

Fury as woman molester Barbara Renee Case walks free

Georgie Pilcher

September 17, 2008 12:00am

VICTIMS' groups are outraged that an American woman who flew to Australia to have sex with a boy, 15, was yesterday allowed to walk free.

County Court judge Tim Wood freed Barbara Renee Case, 36, on a suspended 16-month jail term, telling the Virginian woman to return home to her husband and three children.

Case sobbed loudly and reached for tissues as Judge Wood said he was releasing her to fly home to her family.

The cafe worker was arrested in May after she flew to Melbourne, hired a car and drove to Bendigo to have sex with a boy she met on the internet gaming site Runescape.

Case stayed with the boy in a caravan park cabin for 10 days until police arrested her.

As she walked from the court at Bendigo, Case said she was looking forward to seeing her family. She strolled to the station and caught a V-Line train to Melbourne, where she went to the US embassy to organise a ticket home. Once there she faces possible FBI charges.

Hetty Johnston, founder of child sexual assault prevention group Bravehearts, said Case was a sexual predator who should be behind bars.

"The system is bloody crazy, absolutely crazy. If that was a man, that wouldn't have happened," she said.

Ms Johnston said the boy's refusal to make a victim impact statement and his statement that he had consented to the sex did not matter.

"That child won't know how much this has harmed him until he is much, much older.

"He is a child, she is an adult. She has gone to enormous lengths to travel around the globe to sexually assault this boy and she walks out in four months. They are hanging our kids out to dry," she said.

Judge Wood convicted Case of two counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16 and sentenced her to 16 months' jail, all of it suspended. She had served 112 days on remand, separated from other inmates.

"Any further incarceration would impact on you much more severely than an offender living in Australia because your family are in the US," Judge Wood told her.

"No useful purpose is served by delaying your return."

Judge Wood said Case's early guilty plea, her remorse and her understanding of her wrongdoing were factors in sentencing.

He put her on the sex offenders' register for life and ordered she give a DNA sample.

Anonymous said...

“As you know, many of our children and families are suffering both materially and spiritually due to the tuition crisis. Although we are all required to pay extremely high property taxes—which are included in our rental fees for those who don’t own homes—government will not allow us to use our share to pay for our children’s education. There is now a movement to sponsor federal legislation that will allow parental choice in education, and require funding of education for children attending all approved schools, including yeshivos.

Anonymous said...

Hikind Reports Second Reichman Allegation
New development comes on heels of Joel Engelman’s charges; assemblyman stymied by family’s fear of going to police.

by Hella Winston
Special To The Jewish Week

A second former student of Rabbi Avrohom Reichman alleged Tuesday that the Satmar yeshiva teacher sexually molested him as a child, State Assemblyman Dov Hikind reported this week........

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a13435/News/New_York.html

Anonymous said...

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2008/09/uoj-doctrine_16.html

Dear UOJ,

I am a communal figure and mental health professional from the US that also holds a residence in Israel. I am quite familiar with the Akiva Kagan case and the lack of response on behalf of the community and its leadership.

My involvement in the case stems from a connection to the family of one of the victims. Perhaps one could say that this "jades" my opinion but let me also say that the Rabbonim involved are NOT aware of my connection.

The 3 young victims who have already given testimony are quite credible for their ages. Their stories are consistent and fluid in regard to facts. The times, places and circumstances all "pan out" and there is no variance throughout the testimony. I have been in touch with both Child Protection Center and the Police as an advocate for the families. The investigators believe that abuse did happen at the hand of this man and police continue to gather evidence.

Meanwhile these families have to deal with trauma set upon them. It affects not only the victim himself but all of the siblings and of course the parents. Innocence and purity have been stolen from these children. In one case in RBS the child (at 7!) no longer wishes to wear a "charedi" kipa or do anything that associates with his rebbe.
Imagine being violated by the one who is supposed to bring you closer to HaShem?

Several of the community rabbonim became involved from "day 1". They were quick to suggest that the molestation was done by someone other than the rebbe. Then they wanted to contain the story by using a therapist from their "camp. All of the families that I have spoken with have told me that other than the initial call to follow their instructions not one of the rabbonim involved has contacted them regarding the welfare of their children or how they could help. Thank G-d there are a few brave and upstanding rabbis in the community who have been supportive.

The incredulous part of this sad story is that another school could take this man into the classroom. Many parents have come to the families to ask about the case. The identity of the families was made known to the suspect and his wife by the school and their rabbonim. This infringement on the privacy of the family is another grave infraction on the part of the rabbonim.

Yes, ultimately it is the molesters who commit the crimes. They are sick and need treatment and removal from children if not from society as a whole. But equally culpable are those individuals who, in the name of preserving the name of the community, continue to sacrifice our children on the alter of "Chilul HaShem".

They, are in fact, the greatest perpetrators of Chilul HaShem and must be dealt with.

Kol Hakavod to you!

Anonymous said...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3597544,00.html

Rabbi Amar calls for end to discrimination against Ethiopians

Israel's chief Sephardic rabbi issues plea to community's schools, asks that they stop refusing Ethiopian students' admission
Neta Sela

Israel's Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar has issued a letter asking heads of religious schools not to discriminate children of Ethiopian descent, who wish to apply to their respective educational institutions.



In his statement, Rabbi Amar noted that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shas' spiritual leader, approved his plea. The letter was also posted on Shas' website.


Segregation?
Petah Tikva school now attended only by Ethiopians / Idan Avni
Veteran Israelis gradually transfer children from local school following influx of students from immigrant families. 'This isn't about discrimination, there are some really sweet children amongst them, but the teachers can't handle the violence – enough is enough,' says concerned mother
Full story

Rabbi Amar's letter states that "our sages of blessed memory have taught us that the land of Israel is redeemed in agony, it is true that the difficulties of aliyah are immense.

Anonymous said...

www.ou.org
15 OU Synagogue Rabbis Reflect on Teshuva to Other NY NJ Shuls, 10/05

Kinus Teshuva, as the initiative is called, a presentation of the Orthodox Union Department of Community Services, will take place on Sunday, October 5 between the Mincha and Maariv services at 15 synagogues, six in New York City, four on Long Island, three in New Jersey, and two in Rockland County, NY.

“Kinus Teshuva provides a splendid opportunity for a community to learn and to develop additional insights and chizuk (strength) in support of each and everyone’s personal quest for teshuva and renewal,” declared Frank Buchweitz,” OU National Director of Community Services and Special Projects.

According to Emanuel J. Adler, Chairman of the OU Community and Synagogue Services Commission, “OU pulpit rabbis have much to say regarding teshuva and their own congregations are the beneficiaries of their wisdom, not only on the High Holy Days, but year round. This program will give them a chance to share their thinking and their knowledge with other congregations, supplementing the teachings of the host shul’s rav and thereby enriching the congregation’s experience at this time of year in which we engage in intense reflection on how we live our lives as Jews. As in past years, we expect that each of the sessions will be attended not only by members of the host congregations, but by visitors from other shuls in the area as well.”

Eleven of the synagogues will both host a visiting rabbi and lend their own rav to another shul; taking this one step further, the Young Israel of Monsey-Wesley Hills, NY (Rabbi Ari Jacobson) and Congregation Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, NJ (Rabbi Benjamin Yudin) will exchange pulpits for the program.
The schedule is as follows:
New York City:
Rabbi David Algaze, Havurat Yisrael, Forest Hills, NY, at Congregation Talmud Torah Adereth El, Manhattan
Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn, West Side Institutional Synagogue, Manhattan, at Bialystoker Synagogue, Manhattan
Rabbi Bini Maryles, Director, Pepa and Rabbi Joseph Karasick Department of Synagogue Services, Orthodox Union, at Riverdale Jewish Center, Riverdale
Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt, Riverdale Jewish Center, at Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, Queens
Rabbi Yaakov Wasser, Young Israel of East Brunswick, NJ at Young Israel of Hillcrest, Queens
Rabbi Dovid Weinberger, Congregation Shaaray Tefila, Lawrence, NY, at Havurat Yisrael, Forest Hills, Queens

Long Island:
Rabbi Joshua Blass, Kehillas Bais Yehuda, Suffern, NY, at Great Neck Synagogue, NY
Rabbi Dale Polakoff, Great Neck Synagogue, at Young Israel of Woodmere, NY
Rabbi Larry Rothwachs, Congregation Beth Aaron, Teaneck, NJ, at Congregation Shaaray Tefila, Lawrnece, NY
Rabbi Kalman Topp, Young Israel of Woodmere, at Congregation Beth Sholom, Lawrence, NY
New Jersey:
Rabbi Ari Jacobson, Young Israel of Monsey-Wesley Hills, NY at Congregation Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, NJ
Rabbi Zvi Romm, Bialystoker Synagogue, Manhattan, at Congregation Adas Israel, Passaic, NJ
Rabbi Gideon Shloush, Congregation Talmud Torah Adereth El, Manhattan, at Young Israel of East Brunswick, NJ

Rockland County, NY:
Rabbi Dr. Richard Weiss, Young Israel of Hillcrest, Queens, at Kehillas Bais Yehuda, Suffern, NY
Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, Congregation Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn, NJ, at Young Israel of Monsey-Wesley Hills.

Anonymous said...

I'm not so sure there was penetration involved.

----------------------------------

A TEACHER who had sex with a student in a school darkroom during three years of abuse which began when she was 14 had shown no remorse, a court heard today.
Paul Anthony Segar, 50, of Mt Waverley, subjected the student to painful sex during the 1990s when he was a teacher at a secondary school in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, the County Court heard.

A jury found him guilty on two counts of performing an indecent act with a child under 16, two counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16 and four counts of sexual penetration of a child aged 16 or 17.

He was cleared on a further two counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16.

The court previously heard the abuse intensified when the student was alone with Segar in the school darkroom.

During a pre-sentence hearing today, the woman said she was ridiculed by other students, ashamed and humiliated by the abuse, according to her victim statement read in court.

She said she had suffered depression, anxiety, flashbacks, low self esteem and suspicion of others.

The woman said she was angry Segar had not taken responsibility for his actions and offered a sincere apology.

Prosecutor Damien Cosgriff asked the judge to consider the length of abuse, which began when the girl was 14 and continued until she was 17, and his lack of remorse.

Defence lawyer Scott Johns said Segar maintained his innocence and had a clean record.

Mr Johns said the case affected Segar professionally and psychologically, causing his marriage break-up and straining his relationship with his son.

The court heard Segar's then wife taught at the school at the same time when the abuse occurred.

Mr Johns urged the judge not to impose a "crushing" sentence.

Anonymous said...

By Bob Conner
Teacher from Schenectady County convicted of sexual abuse, endangering

FORT EDWARD — A teacher from Schenectady County was acquitted of felony sex charges but convicted of two misdemeanors tonight in Washington County Court.

Kason O’Neil, 26, of Jennifer Road, Glenville, was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree sexual abuse. He was acquitted on 12 other counts, including felony charges of rape and committing a criminal sexual act. He had originally been charged with 21 counts, but County Court Judge Kelly McKeighan dismissed seven of them on defense motions during the course of the trial — five after the end of the prosecution case, and two at the end of the defense case.

O’Neil, a physical education teacher and track coach at Hudson Falls High School, was accused of having a sexual relationship with a member of the track team when she was age 14 and 15. He has been on unpaid leave since earlier this year.

The girl, now 17 and a senior at another school, testified during the trial. So did O’Neil, denying the charges.

O’Neil remains free on $100,000 bail. The judge set an Oct. 17 sentencing date. O’Neil could be sent to jail for up to a year for the endangering conviction, and three months for the sexual abuse.

Defense attorney Terry Kindlon said, “We’re very grateful for this verdict.” He also said the defense would appeal the convictions, and that “Until they’ve been eliminated, he [O’Neil] won’t be teaching.”

The Washington County district attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

The victim did not accuse O’Neil when she was a student at Hudson Falls, but told her counselor about the abuse earlier this year, which prompted a state police investigation and the arrest of O’Neil.

The jury had been deliberating for more than three days, and on Thursday afternoon had told the judge they were deadlocked. Most of the prosecution evidence in the case came from the testimony of the victim.

New York penal law defines endangering the welfare of a child as when someone “knowingly acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a child less than 17 years old.”

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/sep/18/rapetrial0918/?print

Anonymous said...

3 Australians plead not guilty to child sex abuse

The Associated Press
Monday, September 15, 2008

SYDNEY, Australia: Three former staff members of an exclusive Roman Catholic boarding school pleaded not guilty Monday to more than 100 charges related to allegations of child sexual abuse at the institution, with their lawyer calling the case a "witch hunt."

Vincentian brother John Gaven, priest and former school President Peter Dwyer and former priest Brian Spillane were charged following a police investigation into accusations of abuse in the 1970s and '80s at St. Stanislaus' College in the city of Bathurst, 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Sydney.

The accusers say they were molested and forced to commit sex acts on each other during hypnotic late-night prayer and chanting sessions at the school. One of the complainants, a man in his 30s who has accused all three men of assault, told Bathurst Local Court on Monday that he had witnessed the abuse of up to 60 fellow students.

The lawyer for all three men, Greg Walsh, entered not guilty pleas on behalf of his clients. Walsh told the judge the men had no prior convictions and were of good character.

Spillane, 65, of Sydney, faces 93 charges relating to alleged sexual assaults against 13 people, including several counts of sexual intercourse with students and acts of gross indecency. He was the only one of the three accused to appear in court Monday. He made no comment to reporters.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Walker told the court the case was rapidly expanding, and as many as 40 additional people may lodge complaints against Spillane, who served as a teacher and chaplain at the school during the 1970s and '80s.

Outside the court, Walsh said the claims against his clients had ballooned into "mass hysteria and moral panic."

"It's a witch hunt," he told reporters. "These men are innocent. The allegations are bizarre and they have arisen in very suspicious circumstances."

Walsh declined to comment on any evidence in the case. He has previously called the case "highly contaminated," in part because he said the accusers' complaints were based on scientifically questionable repressed memories.

Pope Benedict XVI visited Australia in July as part of the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day festival and publicly condemned sexual predators in the church, apologizing to their victims.

Gaven, 66, and Dwyer, 65, face 32 child sex charges between them. Gaven is a layperson of a religious order called the Vincentians. Dwyer serves as a priest in Armidale, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) north of Sydney.

Gaven worked in several positions at the school over a period of about 15 years, including serving as a groundskeeper, dormitory supervisor and, for a short time, the school's vice president, St. Stanislaus Principal John Edwards said. He left the school in the early 1990s.

Dwyer worked at the school as a music teacher and then served as its president from 1980 to 1992, Edwards said.

All three men have been released on bail. They are scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 10.

Anonymous said...

"What is the latest on "Rabbi" Avrohm Lazerowitz? The last I heard this molester ran off to Israel and has a lawsuit pending against him and Ger. Why haven't we heard much about his latest whereabouts and actions?"

Who wants to know? It's none of your business! I escaped to Israel and just when I thought the people in America forgot about me you have to remind them.

What it that big shot lawyer Elliot Pasik going to sue me now for? He's wasting his time.

Meanwhile, you wouldn't believe how many young boys are here for the taking. Eretz Yisruel really is the land of milk and honey.

Anonymous said...

I think people of color are not Jewish. This includes the Ethiopians. That's why when I grab a boy by his shirt and throw his kippa on the ground and step on it with disgust for not wearing his uniform, I make sure to tell him not to dress like a nigg** and pout o rican.

Anonymous said...

Perel,

As dean I think you should give me the opportunity to rough up the bad boys first. If it looks like my blood pressure is getting out of control then you can take over.

Anonymous said...

What will it take for the Jewish community to report child molestation to the police? I read Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz's article in the Jewish Press this week. In it there is a quote from Dov Hikind that since the frum don't go to secular authorities we must come up with a solution to stop this. But, isn't going to the police the ONLY REAL SOLUTION?

exposemolesters said...

A MUST READ!
===============================

http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521886215

Justice Denied
What America Must Do to Protect its Children
Marci A. Hamilton
Cardozo School of Law
Hardback

(ISBN-13: 9780521886215)

* Published April 2008

In stock
$23.00 (A)

* Lecturers can request examination copies for course consideration.

Recent events such as the clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic Church have brought the once-taboo subject of childhood sexual abuse to the forefront. But despite increasing awareness of the problem, the United States has not succeeded in establishing effective means of deterring and preventing it, leaving the children of today and tomorrow vulnerable. Hamilton proposes a comprehensive yet simple solution: eliminate the arbitrary statutes of limitation for childhood sexual abuse so that survivors past and present can get into court. Removing this merely procedural barrier permits the millions of survivors to make public the identities of their perpetrators and to receive justice and much-deserved compensation. Standing in the way, however, are formidable opponents such as the insurance industry and the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. In Justice Denied, Hamilton predicts a coming civil rights movement for children and explains why it is in the interest of all Americans to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse this chance to seek justice when they are ready.
Contents

1. We have failed our children; 2. What is wrong with the system; 3. The solution is clear and simple: abolish the statutes of limitation for childhood sexual abuse; 4. What it will take to act on the lessons learned; 5. Barrier #1: the insurance industry; 6. Barrier #2: the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church; 7. The other barriers: the teachers, the defense attorneys, and an uninformed public; Conclusion.
Reviews

“Too many ‘talk the talk’ of making children a priority in society. What Hamilton has done with her book is to show a clear and simple way that policymakers can ‘walk the walk’. . . [she] clearly and articulately connects the value of using civil law as a tool to protect children. �
--Ted Thompson, Executive Director, NAPSAC (Natl Assn to Prevent the Sexual Abuse of Children)

“This brave book is one all lawmakers should read.�
--Jason Berry, author of Lead Us Not Into Temptation

“In understandable, eloquent prose, Marci Hamilton makes the case for abolishing a statutory scheme that protects sexual predators and which closes our courtrooms to maltreated children. Although it is too late to claim the honor of having acted quickly to address this injustice, this book shows us how to avoid the disgrace of having never acted at all.�
--Victor Vieth, Director, National Child Protection Training Center

“Hamilton is absolutely right: a vigorous and effective children's civil rights movement is long overdue . . . I applaud Marci Hamilton for leading the way with her outstanding legal scholarship, advocacy and passion for justice!�
--Eileen King, Regional Director, Justice For Children

“Hamilton provides a compelling case that demonstrates that the interests of insurance companies, unions, churches, and schools will always trump the safety of children unless we do something about it. Hamilton tells us what we can do, how to do it, and why it will work.�
--Charol Shakeshaft, Chairperson and Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Virginia Commonwealth University

“Professor Hamilton combines genuine sensitivity to the plight of survivors of childhood sexual abuse with in depth expertise in the working of the legal system. “
--Barbara Bennett Woodhouse, Director, Center on Children and Families, Fredric G. Levin College of Law, University of Florida

"A powerful call to action by one of America's leading constitutional scholars. Marci Hamilton makes clear what must be done if we are to prevent the continued sexual abuse of children."
--Jeff Dion, National Center for Victims of Crime.

"...Hamilton tackles the issue head-on but in language that is clearly written and not full of unnecessary legalese...I encourage you to read Hamilton’s book."
---Bucks County Courier Times, Diane Shea, Langhorne, adjunct professor, Holy Family University and former director, residential services for Elwyn, Inc.

"Professor Marci A Hamilton, a law professor at Cardozo School of Law, has written a strong and well researched book....a must-read for lawyers who have represented victims or, as Professor Hamilton refers to them, survivors, of sexual abuse."
--Herbert J. Friedman, The Nebraska Lawyer

"Justice Denied is about one of the most horrendous offenses against children short of murder: child sexual abuse....The author paints a vivid and shocking picture of child sexual abuse which should disavow the attitudes of those who think its limited to sinister looking street denizens in dirty trench coats.... Marci Hamilton’s book is short and to the point. Its last sentence sums up the book and the cause: “It is an either/or choice: we can either protect the predators or the children.� This book concludes with the hope that it will be so for the right of children and their parents to live in a society without fear of sexual assault."
-- Thomas P. Doyle, is a Dominican priest and served as a canon lawyer at the Vatican Embassy. Doyle is the author of Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse with A.W. Richard Sipe and Patrick Wall.
Details

* Page extent: 168 pages
* Size: 228 x 152 mm
* Weight: 0.45 kg

Library of Congress

* Dewey number: 345.73/025554
* Dewey version: 22
* LC Classification: KF9323 .H36 2008
* LC Subject headings:
o Child sexual abuse--United States
o Child abuse--Law and legislation--United States
o Time (Law)--United States

Anonymous said...

Joel argues that the UTA promised to dismiss his abuser, though once the SOL passed, they were free to hire him again. He’s taking the matter to court as a result.

Justice Denied author Marci Hamilton thinks it’s a risky move:

The reliance argument [when a case is based on relying on a promise] makes perfect common sense but hasn’t worked all the way up,” said Marci Hamilton, a professor at Cardozo Law School. “States like Pennsylvania and New York have been resistant to it. The view is that if the statute of limitations [SOL] is being misapplied it is up to the state legislature to change it.

This case just shows that the SOL is too short. When a 23-year-old can’t get into court, the SOL is too short. The majority [of abuse victims] come forward in their 40s. This reinforces that another state legislature that needs to act. When children are young [and within the SOL] they are often not psychologically ready to come forward. It can be very frustrating.

Anonymous said...

Silencing dissent, hushing up scandal
Sep. 16, 2008
MICHAEL J. SALAMON , THE JERUSALEM POST

Two items recently crossed my desk. The first was an article that appeared in The Jerusalem Post written by Matthew Wagner entitled "Haredim move to silence 'treif' music". It was about a movement to ban musicians who produce or perform any music which the Guardians of Sanctity and Education deem inappropriate. Musicians playing such music would be banned from playing in wedding halls, their CDs would be banned and their concerts disallowed.

The other item was a breaking news piece from JTA indicating that Rabbi Benzion Twerski had resigned from a task force in formation being brought together to deal with sexual abuse in the Orthodox community. New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, also an Orthodox Jew, is establishing the task force to deal with this scourge. Twerski resigned because of the many threats against him and his family made by several individuals from his community.

When taken together these two items suggest such a profound and disturbing conflict regarding the current goals of the Orthodox world, of which I am a member. If music is so important, is not the emotional welfare of members of the community even more so? How can music be a threat and abuse not be? While some may argue that this is not the message to be learned, that the insular community is seeking ways to deal with the sexual abuse problem discreetly, it is clearly not so when someone as prominent and discreet as Twerski can be so horrifically threatened. But, he is not the only one to receive threats. Apparently so have musicians. The canceling of a recent concert is evidence of this.

IN MY work I too have received threats, most recently for suggesting that the rigid shidduch approach to dating seems not to be working. What this approach has accomplished in recent years is to increase rigidity and unrealistic demands for a spouse; rates of domestic violence are increasing and so are the divorce rates.

There seems to be little balance left in the Orthodox world. There is no allowance made for harmless pleasure and those who abuse are given a free pass. Those who attempt to stand up are threatened.

Still there is a commandment that states "V'chai bahem"; we should live by the rules. That command, however, requires that the rules are such that one can live according to them. Additionally, we have lost sight of the adage "yesh chochma bagoyim," there is knowledge, as well as arts and music, among the nations of the world that is meant for us to share. I believe that is why much of our liturgical music comes from a host of sources including the church. And our great rabbis have not simply accepted it but enjoyed and encouraged this music.

When I look at the increasing rigidity that these events objectify, I think of how we are pushing people away instead of bringing people closer to the core values of Judaism. I also reflect on the experience of Ayan Hirsi Ali, currently a member of the Dutch Parliament, reared as a devout Muslim who was forced to evaluate the oppressiveness of her religion. She became a vocal critic of the religion to the point where she has had to go into hiding. At the end of the day, she may be the model that our children follow if we do not find a way to balance the needs of our society with those of a firmly religious leaning. Pushing people too hard will only force them to push back.

To suggest that the decisions of a few vocal individuals make are the only correct approach and allow them to steer us away from doing what must be done is simply illogical. Every society has its ills. So does ours. We must find productive ways to deal with these ills if we are to survive.

The writer, a fellow of the American Psychological Association, is the founder and director of the Adult Developmental Center in Hewlett, New York. His most recent book, The Shidduch Crisis: Causes and Cures, is published by Urim Publications.

Anonymous said...

Persecuting the Righteous and Protecting the Guilty

Olam Hafuch Ra’isi

By: Yakov Horowitz

All week long, my email inbox and the comment threads on many of the frum blogs have been melting down with irate comments from frustrated members of our community, expressing their justifiable anger at the horrible treatment of my dear chaver and colleague Dr. Benzion Twerski at the hands of ‘askonim’ and ‘kanoim’ (I actually think of them as baryonim; see Gittin 56a).

Reb Benzion’s “sin” for which he and his family members were subjected to verbal harassment and threats, was that he accepted an invitation from Assemblyman Dov Hikind, to chair a panel of frum mental health professionals and educators, who were to make recommendations to protect our children – in a Torah-appropriate manner and in consultation with leading rabbonim – from abuse and molestation in our schools and homes...


Read entire article at:

http://www.rabbihorowitz.com/PYes/ArticleDetails.cfm?Book_ID=1056&ThisGroup_ID=262&Type=Article&SID=2

Anonymous said...

Be'er Hagolah (or Be'er Hagalut as some of us call it) is a yeshiva that has so much potential yet they do so little with it. I do not exactly know what Peal Kaufman's problems are except to realize she seldom smiles and has a difficult time treating other people with respect and dignity. This includes the people she works with and of course the students themselves. I had a few run-ins with her and she lefts me with emotional scars.

Rabbi German is good buddies with kaufman and I don't think he will ever get rid of her. Besides, I think he needs to fire himself too. What do you call a guy who is a perfectionist at the expense and embarrassment of the people around him? You call him Rabbi Avner German! For every one positive impact he makes on a student, he follows it up with three negative ones. Is that considered a normal principal of a kiruv school?

I read Exposemolesters's thread on BHI, seen all the comments, and can say that it is accurate and on target. This place needs majoir changes. The atmosphere is not what it should be for kids who are not that religious. If they want us to grow up and learn the torah they have to begin by setting a good example themselves. Verbally and physically abusing us is not going to help any.

Anonymous said...

Good riddance to this Murderer!

Anonymous said...

Settle? Vat; are dey meshuggeh?

Church settles sex abuse suit against priest

Seth Rosenfeld, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Anonymous said...

Is it time for new leadershi[ yet?

Anonymous said...

Why do we need to read all the shtusim about how so and so was molested. Enough already! So if one slipped through our fingers, do we have to make it sound like it's the end of the world? The Church is al achas kama vekama so much more responsible then the yidden. At least we sweep under the rug leshem shomayim altz not to make a chilul hashem. But The priests do so out of pure rishus.

Anonymous said...

Child abuse cases similar yet so different

By Dr Gary Schoener

OVER the years I have dealt with around 2000 victims of child sex abuse involving clergy.

I've assisted people in bringing complaints about all manner of religious organisations and groups - from Catholic dioceses to Anglican, Jewish organisations and Lutheran Synods.

Most people would be familiar with the US Catholic Church scandal uncovered in the Archdioscese of Boston involving a secret settlement of child molestation claims against at least 70 Catholic priests.

The story made world headlines with some calling it the worst crisis in the Catholic Church in 500 years.

Contrary to what most believe, most victims were known only to their attorneys and the church. Those 500-plus cases in Boston were, for the most part, not public.

The first 15 men I evaluated had not told their parents - and did not plan to. Only a few had told their wives and they often lied to them when they came to see me.

Without confidentiality, most would not have come forward.

Here's a typical comment: "Look, my parents worked three jobs to pay tuition so I could go to Catholic school so as to avoid sex and drugs and bad things and despite their efforts that's what I got. I do not want them to know this, it is of no benefit to tell them."

Hearing of the alleged St Stanislaus College cases it was of little surprise only 13 of as many as 40 alleged victims had come forward. My experience has shown that many victims don't. There is little incentive to come forward as nobody benefits from being identified as a sex abuse victim.

The victim in the Bathurst case who told the police he hadn't told his wife would be the most common case - the rule not the exception.

For some of the victims who are reading the headlines as the story unfolds, the abuse becoming public can help them. As others come forward they can feel less isolated.

Interestingly, the internet was a key ingredient in these allegations coming out. This is not unusual, the same has been true elsewhere in the world. The internet has brought about a major change in that victims can find each other and find support.

However, when stories like these come out, some begin to relive the trauma and develop post traumatic stress disorder.

Others develop incredible rage, especially as they learn that they are only one of many. They do not feel different or "special" any more.

And it's common for the victim to ruminate about the question, "why me?", tending to blame themselves for "letting it happen," or "letting it happen multiple times" or "not reporting it".

The victim who spoke out in The Daily Telegraph described "being herded into a prayer room by a priest chanting 'hypnotic' spells in tongues".

This is one of many ways in which the stage can be set for abuse; however abuse does not require any special techniques - the power of faith in the priest and church is sufficient to do the job.

He also described how the priest or priests in question involved the kids abusing each other.

Again, as horrific as this sounds, this is not new. While many of the cases I have dealt with have eerie similarities to this one, the impact of the sexual abuse on the victim varies dramatically person to person.

It's dependent on many things - the timing in their life, the degree to which the perpetrator was trusted, the amount of repetition, the degree to which fear was induced, the degree of physical pain, and dozens of other factors.

Either way, the impact on their lives can be severe and the course of their life drastically changed.

They lose basic trust in others and have difficulty forming relationships later in life. They have low self esteem and insecurity issues, they are depressed and have suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts.

They often question their sexual identity or develop sexual impulse control disorders of their own.

They take to drug and alcohol abuse and become addicts as a way of dealing with their inner turmoil.

The vast majority lose faith in religion or society in general.

Another thing we also see, though, is people have lost their family. Their parents might be devout followers of the church and they don't dare tell them. Or in cases where they have been brave enough to tell them, the parents have not been able to rise to the occasion and don't believe the child.

When I evaluate damages for a court case, one of the things I do is look at their siblings and see how their lives turned out.

You don't need to be a psychologist to say: "My God, something bad happened here to this individual."

* Dr Gary Schoener is a US-based psychologist who has treated more than 2000 sex abuse victims.

Anonymous said...

Stop Iran. Now!

The big powers are going down…a world without America and Israel is both possible and feasible
— Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran


Ahmadinejad is coming to the U.N. to spread his message of “holy hatred” against The United States, Israel, Women’s Rights, Religious and Other Minorities.

Stand united in the face of nuclear threats and human rights abuses.

Rally to Stop Iran. Now!

Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
(Across from the United Nations)
Monday, September 22nd
11:45 am, rain or shine, 2nd Avenue at 47th Street (Subways: 4, 5, 6, or 7 to Grand Central Station)



We need you to attend - and encourage others to attend as well. Help in mobilizing tens of thousands outside the United Nations on September 22nd at 11:45 a.m. to send a clear message to world leaders – particularly in advance of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s General Assembly address the next day - that we oppose Iran’s nuclear program and supporting global terrorism. We condemn Ahmahdinjad’s Holocaust denial and his threats to “wipe the US and Israel off the map”, and his blatant abuse of human rights.

Please take the following steps immediately:
• Post and distribute the Event Flyer.
• Send emails to as many lists as possible.
• Tell all your friends.
• Organize buses or urge others to do so. Arrangements for bus parking can be made by contacting Marcia Eisenberg at the New York JCRC, 212-983-4800 ext 137 or eisenbergm@jcrcny.org.
• Make signs and bring them to the rally. (A list of suggested slogans is below.)

Messages for Banners and Signs
• Stop Iran Now
• No nukes for Iran
• Stop Iran from Going Nuclear
• Iranian Nukes Threaten Us All
• Iran Denies the Holocaust; Deny Iran Nukes
• UN: Strong Sanctions Work
• Speak Out Against Global Terrorism
• Iran Funds Global Terror
• Iran Funds Hamas
• Iran Executes Children
• Don’t Let Iran “Wipe Israel off the Map”
• United Against the Iranian Threat
• Iran – Leading Supporter of Terror



For more information contact: info@conferenceofpresidents.org or 212-318-6111
info@jcrcny.org or 212-983-4800 x161

Sponsored by the National Coalition to Stop Iran Now
with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, United Jewish Communities, UJA-Federation of New York, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Anonymous said...

Padlocking the exits is a major fire hazard. That's why when we get wind of the fire trucks coming to do an inspection we quickly remove them. Say there was a fire and students were trapped. Say the teachers and faculty members choke and burn to death. We are aware of these scenarios. However, we feel locking up the facility is a means of keeping our students under our watchful eyes. The heck with putting people's lives at risk!

Anonymous said...

Chabad rabbi who aided Chernobyl children dies
Sep. 22, 2008
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST

A Chabad rabbi who helped thousands of children and their parents affected by the Chernobyl, Ukraine nuclear disaster has died.

Chabad announced Sunday night that Rabbi Yossie Raichik died Sunday of a lung infection. He was 55.

Raichik was the director of Chabad's "Children of Chernobyl" (CCOC) project, which airlifted more than 2,531 children and 1,757 parents to Israel from the nuclear-contaminated Chernobyl for treatment after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion sent out a toxic radioactive cloud with four times more fallout than the Hiroshima bombing.

Until his death Sunday, Chabad activists worked around the clock to secure a lung transplant for Raichik. Last Thursday a religious woman hospitalized after suffering a stroke became a candidate to be Raichik's donor.

However, the woman's family insisted on consulting with a leading rabbinic authority in Bnei Brak. By the time the rabbi finished making his own investigations the woman passed away, making the lung transplant impossible to perform.

Rabbi Yosef Aharonov, chairman of Chabad Youth Organization [Tzeirei Agudath Chabad], an umbrella organization that included the CCOC project, said, "Rabbi Raichik devoted himself totally to thousands of Chernobyl's children, so much so that he insisted on continuing to head the project even after receiving recommendations from doctors to take a break from work due to his lung illness.

"In addition to his own six children and wife, Dina, he has left thousands of Chernobyl's children without a father."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017358206&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Anonymous said...

By Yair Ettinger

Some 150 rabbis and public figures will meet today to choose new members of the Chief Rabbinate Council (Moetzet Harabbanut Harashit), against a background of political deals and intrigues and ideological battles.

Full article:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023457.html

Anonymous said...

www.tehrantimes.com

Rabbis hail Ahmadinejad's NY visit

A group of American rabbis welcome Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's visit to New York in a move aimed at countering an anti-Iran protest.

Iran promotes peace and respects Judaism, spokesman of Neturei Karta International (Jews United Against Zionism) Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss said in a statement issued on the eve of President Ahmadinejad's visit to New York.

This is while a pro-Israeli group called the Conference of Presidents of Major American Organizations has made efforts to organize a rally in front of the UN headquarters on Sunday to protest President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's arrival in the U.S..

Neturei Karta International, however, took quite a contrary position toward Ahmadinejad's visit and called for dialogue with the Iranian president.

""It is sad that so few have actually attempted to speak to the Iranian President or seek the true opinion of Iranian Jewry who live in peace and practice their faith throughout that nation. We have met this man who has demonstrated time and again that he is sincerely interested in the well being of Iran's Jewish community and has deep respect for world Jewry and their Torah faith. The Zionist attempt to socially isolate this man and his people is immoral and disastrous,"" said the statement.

""It has been our honor and privilege to meet with President Ahmadinejad ... we have found the Iranian President to be a deeply religious man, dedicated to a peaceful world, based on mutual respect, fairness and dialogue,"" Rabbi Weiss wrote.

""Out of great respect to the Iranian Nation and their leadership we proudly welcome the Honorable President Ahmadinejad to New York, WELCOME!"" added the rabbi at the end of the statement.

Iran's President arrived at New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport on Sunday to address the 63rd annual session of the UN General Assembly on September 23.

Anonymous said...

September 22, 2008

300 metro Detroiters protest Iran's president

Jewish community upset with Ahmadinejad for denying Holocaust, threatening Israel, seeking nuclear weapons

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Chanting “not by Hitler, not by you,” about 300 metro Detroiters demonstrated today outside the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills against Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is visiting the United Nations this week.

Speakers slammed Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust, threatening Israel and seeking nuclear weapons.

“It is time to isolate Iran,” Rabbi Aaron Bergman, of Adat Shalom synagogue in Farmington Hills, said to the crowd. “If you call for the destruction of others, you have lost the right to such technology.”

Bergman, who lost family members in the Holocaust, said the Iranian leader is a serious threat.

“As a child of a survivor who lost everyone he loved, I am saddened and angry … by a man who says Israel is a cancer,” he said. “When Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust, he’s kicking over their headstones, saying our loved ones did not die, that they did not even exist.”

The rally was held by the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit and included students from local Jewish schools. A similar rally was held today in New York City.

One of the local speakers was the Rev. Kenneth Flowers of Greater New Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Detroit. “I speak out against evil in any form,” Flowers said. “If you have a person like Ahmadinejad, who speaks about the annihilation and destruction of Israel and the U.S., as a man of faith, I have to come against something like that. You can’t sit idly by and do nothing when someone is talking about blowing up an entire country and destroying an entire people.”

The protesters held up signs that read: “Never again, act now,” “Israel is on the map to stay,” “Stop Iran nukes” and “Don’t let Iran wipe Israel off the map.”

Sarah Spitzer, a student at Yeshivat Akiva school in Southfield, said there is a problem with Islamic extremists with “backward beliefs” who “wish to conquer the world with them.” She added that the Iranian leader is coming to New York with a “smile on his face, sugar in his words and a knife in his pocket.”

Zoe Pinter, 16, of Franklin Jewish Academy, said that being “anti-Israel is synonymous with being anti-Semitic.”

Israel “is the land promised to us by God in the Bible” and by the United Nations, she said.

“Ahmadinejad must be stopped,” Pinter added. We cannot be silenced.”

Other speakers said the Iranian government has cracked down on rights for women and gays, and is spending money on terrorism rather than helping its own people.

“Increase the sanctions on Iran,” Robert Cohen, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said to the crowd.

E-mail NIRAJ WARIKOO at nwarikoo@freepress.com.

Anonymous said...

Out of the shadows: Central Coast men talk about childhood sex abuse in new film
Jennifer Squires - Sentinel staff writer
Article Launched: 09/21/2008 01:32:07 AM PDT

MONTEREY -- Their stories are the same, but different.

Fear. Secrecy and shame. Anger. Men who were sexually abused when they were boys.

"Boyhood Shadows," a groundbreaking documentary about the little-talked-about crime and the emotional carnage it leaves behind, debuts Monday evening at the Steinbeck Forum.

Kim Allyn, a Santa Cruz deputy sheriff who was molested by his priest as a child, is one of the boys-turned-men featured in the film

"I'm just so thrilled they made it," Allyn said. "Nobody wants to talk about it, man. Nobody wants to hear about this.... It's happening every day."

One in six boys is molested by age 16, according to the documentary. Sixty percent of sexual assaults are unreported.

Early last year, filmmakers Terri DeBono and Steve Rosen made a 30-second public service announcement for a Monterey County Rape Crisis Center counseling program for male survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The center received an overwhelming response for the ad and immense interest in the counseling group, which was one of just 40 groups of its kind in the world.

The men in the group thought it was time to tell their stories. DeBono and Rosen, who specialize in social issue documentaries, saw their next project.

The couple said it was a topic that needed to be explored, but it wasn't easy

"I went dragging into this project like a dog to the
Advertisement
veterinarian," DeBono said. "It's a subject no one wants to talk about. I certainly didn't."

But it was the silence surrounding the topic that pushed DeBono and Rosen to move forward.

"It's a very, very difficult subject matter that people are extremely -- more extremely than I imagined -- uncomfortable dealing with," Rosen said. "That's a terrible tragedy because such a large number of men have been abused."

The 14-month project began on the Central Coast, then reached out to abused men in San Francisco, Los Angelos, New York and Boston to show childhood sexual abuse of men can occur anywhere.

The filmmakers said they hoped the compelling men they profiled would intrigue viewers and help them understand the long-term impacts childhood sexual abuse has on victims. The 90-minute film follows Glenn Kulik, a Los Angelos man molested as a child. Kulik kept his secret for years. He lived on the streets and numbed his pain with alcohol, drugs and sex.

Several men with local ties -- including Allyn, a 21-year-old boxer from Prunedale, two Aptos residents and Allen Martin, who served for years as the anchor of KION-TV -- are part of the documentary.

"We really concentrated on trying to tell the story in a way that you can see the dignity and the power and the anger of these people and what they've done with their lives in order to survive," Rosen said.

The men dealt with their abuse in different ways.

"For me, I had to become strong and protect people because I didn't get the same goddamn help. I think that's part of my compensation for it," Allyn said. But he said he knows two molest victims who committed suicide as adults and other men who self-medicated with "women, alcohol or horsepower."

"You name it, something to put the flames out," Allyn said.

Both filmmakers said they learned an immense amount from the men they interviewed and that it caused them to reflect on their own experiences.

"At first you just really don't believe it ... and then you start talking to more and more people -- a lot of people -- and you start thinking back to the people you knew in high school who were reserved and shy," Rosen said. "You wonder if that's what their problem was."

DeBono, a high school drama teacher for 14 years, wishes she would have asked troubled students if they had been abused.

"Some of these symptoms, had I known, I could have identified some of these kids years ago," she said.

The filmmakers hope "Boyhood Shadows" will educate people, especially teachers, about signs of abuse, motivate legislators to pass more stringent sex abuse laws and have an impact on future jurors who may be ruling on sexual abuse cases.

"Maybe we can make people stronger, to stand up to defend a child," DeBono said. "It is a hard thing to do because it's a subject that no one feels comfortable with."

Allyn also hopes the documentary will also help abused men begin to talk about their pain. In recent years, he started speaking publicly about being abused Father Patrick McHugh, the head of St. John's Catholic Church in Felton in the 1960s and '70s, when Allyn was an altar boy. He and five other altar boys sued the Monterey Diocese in 2003 and settled for $1.5 million three years later.

The lawsuit has made Allyn a public face for Catholic priest abuse in the region.

"You have no idea how many men have come forward to me and confessed that they were molested," Allyn said. "When a man comes to terms with what happened and can get help and actually start talking, they become very happy.... You're kind of released from the imprisonment of this horrible story. You didn't do anything wrong."

Monday's event is a fundraiser for the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center. It's also the first and only public screening of the film, which has been entered in the Sundance Film Festival and will make the rounds to several other film festivals, including the Human Rights Watch festival in New York City.

"These guys are telling stories that will break hearts all over America," DeBono said.
Contact Jennifer Squires at 429-2449 or jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com.
If You Go


What: 'Boyhood Shadows: "I Swore I'd Never Tell"' screening.
WHEN: 7-9 p.m. Monday
WHERE: Steinbeck Forum, Monterey Conference Center, 1 Portola Plaza, Monterey.
WHAT: Documentary about survivors of male childhood sexual abuse, features several Central Coast men.
WHY: A benefit for the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, and include a dessert reception with the filmmakers and cast members following the screening.
INFORMATION: Call the rape crisis
center at 373-3955 for tickets.
To view the film's trailer visit
www.boyhoodshadows.org.

Anonymous said...

What is this with sex abuse victims? They are all telling sheker right before rush hashuneh.


Payout for teacher's sex abuse victims

Sep 22 2008 WalesOnline

FORMER pupils who were sexually abused by their teacher have received compensation from a South Wales council.

The eight former pupils of Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen have received damages from Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council for abuse suffered while in the care of teacher John Owen.

Lawyers representing the victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said the settlement would remain confidential but reflected “the significant pain and suffering of the victims”. It is understood to be the first compensation payment made in this case.

Owen committed suicide in 2001 before he could face trial on charges of indecent assault. He had worked at the school in Pontypridd for 17 years. Payment was agreed ahead of a trial at Cardiff County Court.

The settlement comes four years after the former Children’s Commissioner for Wales Peter Clarke published the damning Clywch Report. This followed a public inquiry in which the commissioner investigated allegations that pupils had been sexually abused by Owen.

Mr Clarke had concluded that he had no doubt that Owen was guilty of serious acts of sexual impropriety against some pupils at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydefelen and that his acts had severe consequences for his victims.

Hywel James, a partner of James & Bulteel, who represented the victims, both during the inquiry and the civil proceedings, said: "I am extremely pleased that this matter has been resolved without the victims of John Owen having to endure the further trauma of a civil trial. It was never the motivation of the victims to seek financial compensation. Their main wish throughout had been to expose the criminal acts of the late John Owen and the failures of those in authority as identified by the Clywch Inquiry. However the victims did suffer severe trauma which has been confirmed by independent medical evidence. The settlement sums, whilst never fully redressing the damage caused is some acknowledgment of their suffering.

“The settlement in part draws a line under issues which arose from the Clywch Inquiry. The victims however remain firmly of the view that the lessons learnt from the Clywch Inquiry and the recommendations of the late Peter Clarke, as Children's Commissioner for Wales need to be fully implemented.”

Nobody was available from Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council to comment at the time of going to press.

Anonymous said...

Rabbis claim Bezeq delaying kosher Internet
The rabbinical committee on telecommunications may pursue an arrangement with HOT if no agreement is reached with Bezeq.
Gad Perez 18 Sep 08 14:38
Bezeq (TASE: BZEQ) has been dragging its heels in the cooperation on kosher Internet access between it and the rabbinical committee on communications, say sources close to the committee. The two sides had agreed on the requirements and conditions for cooperation in the provision of "obscenity-free" Internet services to users in the haredi (ultra-orthodox) sector, but virtually no progress has been made in recent months, despite the media attention and the headlines announcing the launch of commercial services last year.

The sources say that Bezeq fears it could lose revenue because of the fact that haredi customers can obtain kosher Internet and VoIP-based telephony services from rival providers. Since Bezeq's international telephony services subsidiary Bezeq International Ltd. is still unable to offer VoIP telephony because of the Ministry of Communications policy, its competitors, NetVision Ltd. (TASE: ) the ones likely to benefit are its competitors, 012 Smile.Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:SMLC; TASE: SMLC), which are already able to offer the haredi sector both kosher Internet services and kosher telephony services tailored to the haredi sector's needs. Haredi customers are, in effect, likely to opt for Bezeq International's competitors because of this.

The rabbinical committee would nevertheless prefer to work through Bezeq, given that the Hot Cable Systems Media Ltd. (TASE: HOT) infrastructure has not been rolled out in the places and communities they live in. However, should they fail to reach agreement with Bezeq, the rabbis will pursue an alternative arrangement with HOT.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 18, 2008

Anonymous said...

Before Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur comes along shouldn't the sex abuse enablers from YOB, YTT, SATMAR, NIRC, and GER personally apologize to every soul they damaged forever? Shouldn't they?

How dare they go into the high holy days every single year without seeking selicha umechila! What good is fake tshuvah? Who can cry and scream the loudest during kol nidrei doesn't wipe away the horrible sins of shlomo mandel, lipa margulies, yaakov hopfer etc... Shame on them and may the be judged for their wicked ways.

Anonymous said...

After Iowa raid, rabbis to meet on kosher process

NEW YORK (AP) — Responding to allegations of worker abuse at the nation's biggest kosher slaughterhouse, an organization of Orthodox Jewish rabbis announced Wednesday it was forming a task force to craft Jewish principles and ethical guidelines covering the kosher food industry and business in general.

The Rabbinical Council of America said it would publish the results in a detailed guide. Rabbi Asher Meir, an author and expert in Jewish business ethics, will lead the task force.

"We are fully aware of the realities of a competitive marketplace spread all over the globe, and the need to provide affordable kosher food," Rabbi Shlomo Hochberg, president of the council, said in a statement. "In taking this step, the RCA seeks as a practical matter to reinforce ethical values and corporate policies, while ensuring a reliable and affordable supply of food products for the kosher consumer."

The kosher industry has come under scrutiny since a May 12 raid at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, resulted in the arrest of nearly 400 illegal immigrants in one of the nation's largest such cases. State officials say dozens of underage workers were employed there in violation of child labor laws.

Agriprocessors has denied any wrongdoing. On Wednesday, two women accused of helping illegal workers obtain and submit false documents pleaded not guilty in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Laura Althouse, 38, and 29-year-old Karina Freund, 29, work in Agriprocessors' human resources department.

Althouse was charged with aiding and abetting document fraud, aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants. Freund was charged with aiding and abetting undocumented immigrants.

Anonymous said...

shame on lipa smeckle margulies!

Anonymous said...

Published Date: 25 September 2008
A MAN was jailed for over seven years at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday for abusing two children.
James Scott, 51, of Etcham, Surrey, admitted abusing one girl, aged 12, in 1981 and 1982 and another when she was six and seven in 1981 and 1982 in Paisley and Renfrewshire.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Man-jailed-over-80s39-sex.4525957.jp

Anonymous said...

http://www.whitecivilrights.com/psychiatrist-scared-off-investigation-of-orthodox-jewish-molesters_1323.html

September 15, 2008
Psychiatrist Scared off Investigation of Orthodox Jewish Molesters
Filed under:

* Civil Rights

— @ 8:33 am

by Jeff Davis

For years we heard of sexual abuse stories within the Catholic Church. Now what would happen if someone spotted signs of abuse within the Jewish community. Well, a prominent Jewish psychiatrist has recently been forced to quit his job after threats that he and his family would be treated as outcasts in the Orthodox community which he was investigating and to which he belonged.

A recent news article reports “Threats forced a prominent psychologist to resign from a task force on sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community. Dr. Benzion Twerski, who is also an Orthodox rabbi, resigned after receiving the threats, The New York Jewish Week reported. The task force had been established recently by New York state Assemblyman Dov Hikind. Benzion Twerski, Ph.D., graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology from University of Pittsburgh in 1985. He studied in Yeshivos in Scranton, PA, Baltimore, and Jerusalem. He has been one of the leading professionals in youth-at-risk and addictions in the Jewish community.”

It sounds like this psychiatrist was well qualified. One would think a normal, sane community of people would want child molesters uncovered and punished. Well, think again.

The news article continues “Hikind has made combating sexual abuse in the Orthodox community a priority following several high-profile cases of abuse by Orthodox rabbis. The Brooklyn lawmaker says he has compiled a dossier detailing hundreds of cases of abuse and has threatened to name names if community leaders do not act on his information. ‘He was basically forced to resign,’ said Assemblyman Dov Hikind, above, of Dr. Benzion Twerski. ‘He was literally put against the wall, and he felt he had no choice…the point is, they got to him, they threatened him.’ Twerski’s dramatic departure came just as Hikind was rolling out the new panel, planned as the next step in a personal crusade against child sex abuse in the Orthodox community that he has come to view as an epidemic… Hikind said he had amassed a dossier with the cases of hundreds of individuals who say they have been sexually molested by rabbis and other Orthodox community members during their childhood. And he threatened to broadcast the names of their abusers if community leaders do not respond to his call for action against them.”

Well now we know what would happen if a child abuse scandal were uncovered among Jews. The investigating psychiatrist would be threatened and scared away. Most likely, this whole story will quietly disappear off the media radar to be replaced by the latest OJ trial, the latest mud-slinging in the ‘08 election and the antics of Paris, Lindsay, Britney and Nicole. The Jewish news media will just not focus the same attention on their own community that they focused on the Catholic Church.

Anonymous said...

First step to covering up sexual abuse is helping the molester escape justice.

-------------------------------

Ultra-jewish cult help accused child-molester escape justice
2008-03-16 — Dave Bath

An ultra-ultra-orthodox Jewish school council in Melbourne has conspired to assist a probably child-molesting school principal escape justice. Will those complicit be held to account in our courts, or will they be treated with kid gloves, not labelled "cult" the same way other ultra-looney Judaeo-Christian groups seem to escape the label and avoid prosecution?

The Adass community in Melbourne has many things in common with the Exclusive Brethren, who are getting away with mere electoral irregularities. The group even shuns contact with normal orthodox jews, prevents girls from working or entering tertiary education until they are married, refuses to engage with the wider community, and has all the hallmarks of a dangerous cult.

For those outside Victoria who might have missed it, here’s a potted summary of what’s been happening…

* For years it seems the female principal of the cult’s girls school has been molesting students.

* In such a close community, it’s likely that the school board has been aware of it for some time.

* When the principal was brought before the board a few days ago, she resigned, and fled for Israel, with the board paying for the plane ticket.

* There are claims that Mrs Leifer left Australia with up to $100,000 borrowed from a family in the community two days before she flew to Israel

* A police spokesperson said the force "was aware of the claims", but does not indicate whether they were informed by the school or community, or whether they learnt about it from journalists.

* Addas community spokesmen said "appropriate bodies" were informed, but would not confirm that they had contacted police, suggesting that they are still trying to keep it in house.

If you or I knew of a child-molester, and helped them escape justice, what would happen to us? This seems worse than driving the getaway car for a bank-robber who didn’t actually hurt anyone physically.

Will the police seek an extradition warrant from Israel, and how vigorously will they pursue it? Will Interpol be involved as they are with other international child abusers?

Will action be taken to free children, especially girls, from an oppressive cult that forces them to marry young before they can pursue their education?

Will the tabloids smear the non-ultra-ultra-extremists of the Jewish community just like they do the Islamic community?

Now, I’m not for smearing non-extremists in any particular religion because of a minority of nutters, but this Addas community has gone too far. They have all of the characteristics of a dangerous cult, including the oppression of young people, probably after life-long brainwashing. Should we be rescuing these children, and unbrainwashing them?

This group wants nothing to do with either the Australian community at large, nor even with the general Jewish community. Unfortunately, with only 150 families, it won’t be possible to get an undercover cop infiltrating the organization like there have been for mosques.

Thankfully, other conservative Jewish groups (some would say very conservative if not Zionist), have been reporting the outrages. I never thought I’d be tipping my hat to Australian Jewish News, for instance!

Anonymous said...

Don't attack Agudah just because we are against being a mandated reporter and having fingerprinting/background checks of all our employees, especially the older ones like yudi kolko. We do not know yet if we will approve any measures that put our rabbinic molesters at risk of exposure.

Anonymous said...

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a13496/News/New_York.html

Rabbinic Molesters Issue Moving Agudah

David Zwiebel of Agudah says he is closely watching emerging details of proposed sex abuse legislation in the Senate and Assembly.

by Larry Cohler-Esses
Editor At Large

The recent rash of cases in which rabbis have allegedly molested young children going back decades has moved one group that usually bristles at government involvement in Orthodox schools to envision shifting its stance.

“Our general sense is that we’re much better off when government leaves us alone,” said David Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America for government and public affairs. “But because of the sensitivity of this particular issue, I could see the possibility of our rabbis affirmatively encouraging schools to buy into the system, and even maybe affirmatively encouraging government to impose it on us.”

Zwiebel was speaking specifically about a new law that will, for the first time, allow non-public schools to voluntarily take part in a program to
fingerprint school employees for use in criminal background checks.

But for Agudah, an umbrella organization of ultra-traditional Orthodox groups that seek a degree of insulation from the secular world, it was a striking statement.

To be sure, Agudah contemplates no welcome mat for a mandatory government fingerprint program just yet. That would be “quite premature,” said Zwiebel. Agudah, he said, wants first to see how the state implements the voluntary law.

But in an interview with The Jewish Week, Zwiebel, with whose organization many in Albany check first on legislation involving the Orthodox community, appeared to offer a wary road map to supporting greater oversight by the government on issues relating to sexual molestation of children.

The pressure for increased government involvement has been building for years. It began with the shocking emergence earlier this decade of Catholic priests who, it turned out, had molested children under their care for decades, and had often been protected by their Church superiors.

More recently, credible allegations have emerged here in New York against a small number of yeshiva rabbis said to have also sexually abused their students over several decades. The alleged victims — often now adults — have also charged that the yeshivas and rabbinic supervisors were informed about their teachers’ conduct but did nothing, or even protected them.

Now, state Assembly Member Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), who has become deeply involved in this issue, speaks of hearing “hundreds” of reports of rabbinic sexual abuse — reports that appear to him to be credible. This week, speaking at a conference on this controversy, Hikind for the first time numbered these reports in the “thousands.”

Slowly, and somewhat erratically, the state legislature has begun to take up the question of legal reforms to address this situation. The fingerprinting law passed last year will permit non-public schools to voluntarily take part in a program that is already mandatory for all public schools.

But some lawmakers hope to go further next year, with legislation to make non-public school participation mandatory. They also want to pass a bill that would make clergy and non-public school officials “mandated reporters” — individuals required by law to report to the authorities any information or evidence they receive that a child has been abused or molested in a school setting. Public school officials are already required to do so, thanks to an education law passed in 2000 that excluded the private school sector.

Another bill, now stalled by differences between the Assembly and Senate, would extend the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of molesters and for civil suits to be filed against them. Presently, prosecutors cannot go after a child molester once the child in question reaches age 23. And a child victim of sexual molestation must sue his molester — or a school that fails in its duty to protect him — for civil damages by between one and six years after he turns 18, depending on the nature of the allegation. But experts say child victims can take many years, or even decades, after they reach adulthood to process what was done to them and act on it.

Agudath Israel does not oppose any of these measures in principle, Zwiebel said. But God is in the details. And one red flag for the group is disparate treatment.

“It’s never been our position that non-public schools should be treated differently than public schools,” when it comes to protecting children, he said. “But our position is that they should not be singled out.”

This led Agudath Israel to vigorously oppose a 2003 proposal that would have required members of the clergy and certain categories of religious educators and administrators to go to the authorities with any information they had received about child abuse by other clergy over the last 20 years. Inspired by the continuing revelations coming from the Catholic Church, the bill singled out the duty of these religious workers to report on their colleagues — but not on sexual abuse from other sources.

In a memo then to leaders of the state Assembly and Senate, Zwiebel denounced the legislation as “patently unconstitutional” for its “apparent assumption that religious functionaries, more than any other element of society, are inherently suspect — and should therefore be subject to special legal scrutiny and reporting requirements — regarding allegations of child abuse.”

Since then, critics have frequently denounced Agudath Israel’s stand as obstructionist and cited its opposition to this bill as evidence of an intent to shield rabbinic abusers. Condemnations on the Internet against the group have been especially angry and intense.

But Zwiebel said that if the Legislature were to introduce a bill that simply included non-public school officials in the duty to report evidence of abuse of students in a school setting, as public school officials already must do, “At a minimum, I am pretty certain we’d advise our friends in the Legislature we don’t oppose this.”

As for efforts to expand the statute of limitations, whether criminally or civilly, “I don’t imagine we’ll oppose any of that” either, Zwiebel said. “Whether we would affirmatively push it, I can’t answer.”

Indeed, legislation on this appears to be stuck between the State Senate and the Assembly. And according to a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau County), it is opposition from the Catholic Church and the insurance industry that is playing a role.

The Assembly’s bill would significantly extend both the criminal and civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse going into the future. But the Democratic-dominated Assembly is determined to also give those now beyond the civil statute of limitations a key back into the courts. Its bill would establish a one-year “window” for adults with allegations of childhood abuse to file suit, regardless of when the abuse took place.

Skelos’ spokesperson voiced concern about this provision, citing the potential difficulties of obtaining evidence in very old cases. The Senate, he noted, has passed three different bills to eliminate or extend the criminal statute of limitation. But it has refused to pass the Assembly’s bill. The Assembly, in turn, has held fast against the Senate’s bill.

Meanwhile, the regulations have yet to be published for implementing the law passed last year that would allow non-public schools to opt in on fingerprinting and criminal background checks of its staff.

Zwiebel made clear that Agudah’s willingness to accept a bill to make this mandatory for non-public schools will depend on how the voluntary program goes.

One regulation under consideration, he related, would institute a “roach motel” principle: Once a school chooses to opt in, it will not be allowed to opt out.

“I’m troubled by that,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like wise public policy.”

Another proposed rule would mandate that a school opting into the system must require every employee to be fingerprinted, without exception.

“I don’t understand that part of it,” he said. “It would allow us no discretion to [exempt], say, certain veterans about whom there have never been any questions from a criminal background check.”

Still, he said, “I’m not necessarily implying those two rules would push us away. I’d like to know exactly what the details are.”

In many cases, Zwiebel said, Agudah’s views have been misrepresented. He pointed, among other things, to an error in a recent Jewish Week story — since acknowledged — that stated the group opposed a mandatory fingerprinting law and another to make yeshiva officials mandated reporters.

But referring to disturbing exposes that have appeared in this paper and elsewhere, he said, “Some of the anguish and pain that has come in the last few years, though uncomfortable, promotes consciousness of a problem that’s been in the shadows. So, though our views have been misrepresented, I can’t say [the critics] are bad people. They obviously care a lot about this issue.”


Hella Winston contributed to this story.

Anonymous said...

Rabbi among Ahmadinejad dinner guests
Sep. 26, 2008
LLISON HOFFMAN, Jerusalem Post correspondent, New York , THE JERUSALEM POST

Several hundred people - including a Jewish rabbi and a radical Muslim cleric - joined Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a traditional breaking of the Ramadan fast Thursday before he left New York.

Outside, several hundred people gathered along 42nd Street across from the Grand Hyatt Hotel, next to Grand Central Terminal, waving Israeli flags and signs reading "No feast for the beast."

Among the speakers addressing the demonstrators - and the crush of evening commuters who paused outside the train station to listen - was MK Aryeh Eldad, who exhorted his listeners not to "wait in vain" for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian threat.

"We know that we can trust no one but ourselves, and we will stop you, be sure, in whatever way we can," Eldad cried. "Your end, your end, Ahmadinejad, will serve as a lesson for any anti-Semite."

Inside, well-dressed guests lined up in the Hyatt's plush lobby and chatted amiably while waiting to go through tight security on the way into the ballroom, where Ahmadinejad was scheduled to appear alongside the president of the United Nations' General Assembly, Nicaraguan diplomat Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann.

The controversial event - an Iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan - was organized by a coalition of pacifist churches and billed as an interfaith dialogue on the topic of "the significance of religious contributions to peace."

It was the capstone on a whirlwind week for the Iranian leader, who on Tuesday told world leaders that Israel was on its way to collapse and could not escape from the "cesspool" of violence "created by itself and supporters."

One guest, Addie Banks, said she had participated in a similar gathering while Ahmadinejad was in New York for last year's UN powwow and felt it was important to keep "building bridges," though she acknowledged she was disappointed with the absence of progress toward peace over the past 12 months.

"We have to at least try," said Banks, a pastor and executive board member of the Mennonite Central Committee, one of the key organizers.

Others in the crowd included Imam Abdul Alim Musa, a black American Muslim cleric based in Washington who has long supported Iran's Islamist government and who founded the Sabiqun, or Vanguard, movement, described by the Anti-Defamation League as a "radical and anti-Semitic ideology."

Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, founder of the Shomer Shalom peace movement and one of the early forces behind the Jewish Renewal movement in America, was also in attendance.

Gottlieb, who earlier this year became the first American rabbi to go to Iran, said she encouraged religious leaders to push for "face-to-face" talks between Washington and Teheran. But she indirectly challenged Ahmadinejad's views on the Holocaust, saying she "comes from a community that has experienced genocide."

In April, Gottlieb told The Jerusalem Post she was leading a delegation of 21 peace activists to the Islamic Republic on a mission "to humanize the face of Iran, lest we end up with a disaster of global proportions we cannot imagine."

Iranian media and wire services, including The Associated Press, were permitted inside the ballroom. Organizers denied repeated requests from The Jerusalem Post to attend, at various points citing the desire to keep the media presence small.

Spokeswoman Andrea Louie of Religions for Peace told a Jerusalem Post reporter at the ballroom entrance that only agencies that covered last year's interfaith gathering with Ahmadinejad were invited this year. She said she could not comment on why Israeli and Jewish press appeared to have been excluded.

Across the street from the hotel, a loose coalition of more than 60 groups - including evangelical Christians, Iranian dissidents, Jewish organizations and American political groups - tried to make their voices heard.

"The Hyatt hosts terrorists!" they chanted intermittently.

Organizers of the dinner said groups who opposed the event had misunderstood its purpose.

"People say, 'Why are you honoring this man?' Well, that's not the purpose," said Rev. Chris Ferguson, representative to the UN for the World Council of Churches, a co-host of the dinner.

"It's not a celebration or an endorsement of anyone's opinions," Ferguson said.

In a statement released Thursday, the Mennonite and Quaker organizers of the event said: "The exclusive purpose of this evening's dialogue among religious and political leaders is to build peace and understanding between societies that face increasing tension. As people of faith, we are obligated to seek peace, especially with leaders and individuals with whom we have serious disagreements. As people of peace, we advocate for our governments and the government of Iran to resolve their conflicts through dialogue. We see this particular event as an opportunity to continue a conversation with the Iranian people and their president."

Ferguson said the dinner was intended to be a forum for private dialogue between religious and political leaders as part of an ongoing effort by the World Council, along with Mennonite and Quaker groups, to inject Christian principles of peaceful outreach and common understanding into political negotiations.

He said Ahmadinejad was invited because he is a "religious person" who refers to his religion in his decision-making.

"He is not a religious scholar but like the others speaking he does approach his political role with reference to his religion," Ferguson said.

Ahmadinejad, in his UN speech and in meetings with the press this week, has repeatedly accused the US and the "Zionists," as he steadfastly refers to Jews and Israel, of serving "base, material" ends and claimed that he represents the godly path of the global oppressed.

Others invited to sit at the head table for the event included d'Escoto, a Roman Catholic priest who was once an official with the World Council and published books on liberation theology in the 1970s.

Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, called for UN Secretary-General to urge d'Escoto to cancel his appearance with Ahmadinejad.

But D'Escoto, who said in his opening address to the General Assembly this week that he dedicated his one-year presidency to "the democratization of the United Nations" and to helping the "dispossessed," has not been shy about reaching out to the Iranian leader, hugging him after his speech to the UN delegation.

He has raised hackles with the Israeli delegation to the UN, whose ambassador Gabriela Shalev accused him of not being a "friend to Israel."

"I think he doesn't understand that the duty of his position should be above all these kinds of activities," Shalev told The Jerusalem Post.

"He hijacked his position as president," Shalev added.

Rev. Kjell Bondevik, a former prime minister of Norway who now heads a human rights center in Oslo, will also be at the head table.

Ferguson said Jewish representatives had been invited and were expected to be among those attending, but refused to identify them.

"There will be participation from those particular communities, and they are free to speak after the event," Ferguson said. "This is a private meeting but not a secret one."

Yet some protesting the dinner scoffed at the idea that inviting Jews to the table was the same as nurturing real dialogue between Iran and Israel.

"To my knowledge they've never engaged the Israeli government on any peace issues," said Hillel Stavis, whose group Christians and Jews United for Israel planned to rally outside the Boston offices of the American Friends Service Committee, the political arm of the Quaker movement.

No one from the Israeli delegation to the UN was invited to Thursday's dinner, said spokeswoman Mirit Cohen.

AP contributed to this report

Anonymous said...

Survey shows seculars hold rabbis to higher moral standard than political leaders. Gesher Director Shoshi Becker: While we are in month of forgiveness, nation is not quick to forgive its leaders

Kobi Nahshoni
Published: 09.25.08, 21:39 / Israel Jewish Scene

On the eve of the Chief Rabbinate's Rabbinical Council elections, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz told the government he would not pursue a criminal case against Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger.


The statement was made in response to a demand by the Ometz Association (which champions proper public administration) to file charges against Metzger for allegedly receiving illicit benefits in return for marrying couples deemed disqualified to marry under Jewish Law; "making inappropriate sexual advances" at a photographer and having various private groups fund trips abroad for him and his family.

Case Dropped
Mazuz: No grounds to file charges against Metzger / Aviad Glickman
Senior aide to attorney general says State Prosecutor's Office found no evidence to support pursuing criminal case against chief rabbi
Full story


Before Tuesday’s elections which determined how the Rabbinate views its goals for the upcoming years, a conjoined Ynet and Gesher Organization survey was conducted on what crimes the public views as sufficient grounds for removing a rabbi from his position.


The conclusion: An acting rabbi must also be dismissed for “moral” transgressions that are not crime-related


Moreover, as a byproduct of the upcoming days of forgiveness, the public is ready to forgive the mistakes made by opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) and former Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri but not of those made by former President Moshe Katsav.


The Gesher-Ynet survey was conducted by the Panel4All institute which included 510 participants who serve as a statistical sample of the Jewish, adult population in Israel.


Innocent until proven guilty
In the first part of the questionnaire participants were asked, “What types of misdeeds are grounds for removing a rabbi holding a public position (city rabbi, head rabbi, etc.)?”


Forty-three percent said that a rabbi must also be dismissed for “moral” transgressions that are not criminal.


Thirty-one percent believe that just like any other person, a rabbi also has the right to prove his innocence and thus he should be able to continue in the position as long as he is not proven guilty.


Twenty-six percent said that rabbis must be treated just like any other public figure and their dismissal should occur only upon an indictment proposal for criminal acts.


A religious categorization showed that secular and traditional participants are actually “stricter” with rabbis and are of the opinion that they should be ousted for moral transgressions (47% and 44% respectively).


However, the ultra-Orthodox and religious people asked believe that a rabbi is innocent until proven guilty for crime-related acts alone and until then should be able to maintain his position (79% and 51% respectively).


Netanyahu, Deri or no one?
The second question in the survey was, “Which of the following leaders are you willing to forgive despite their past faults?”


The participants were presented with six names. Twenty-four percent chose former Prime Minister and Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) and 17% chose the mythological former Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri.


Thirteen percent granted their forgiveness to Labor Chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak and 12% said Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz.


Resigning Prime Minister Ehud Olmert received 9% while solely 4% were given to former President Moshe Katsav.


However, 36% of those asked said they won’t forgive any one of the mentioned personas.


An assessment of the outcome shows that 74% of the ultra-Orthodox respondents preferred forgiving Aryeh Deri and then Netanyahu with 37% but none of them would forgive Olmert.


Amongst the religious, Netanyahu received 43% forgiveness points and Deri came in at a close second with 40%.


The traditional representation was also more sympathetic with Netanyahu with 30% and Deri with 20%.


The secular population asked chose Netanyahu first with 19% and Deri was second last with 10%; just one step up from Katsav.


All in all, 11% of the haredis and 21% of the religious said that they wouldn’t forgive any of the people mentioned. This is in comparison with 35% of the traditional and 39% of the secular public who were even less sympathetic.


Gesher Director Shoshi Becker said that “it is interesting that actually people who don’t consider themselves religious hold rabbis to a much higher moral standard and the outcomes of the survey can be explained in two completely opposite ways.


Those who don’t consider the importance of the rabbinic world or tend to criticize it will find a way to charge a rabbi and distance him from influencing Israeli society or in actuality, people who are not religious but appreciate tradition and Judaism would want a rabbi to be a positive and moral representative of tradition and Judaism.”

Becker went on to say, “While we are in the month of forgiveness and mercy, the nation of Israel is not quick to forgive its leaders. The survey proves that the expectation of rabbis is higher than that of political leaders.


"The message to political leaders and rabbis is clear, the nation wants a moral, straight and honest leadership and is not quick to give second chances,” she said.

a 4.4% sampling error may exist

Anonymous said...

Friday, Sep. 26, 2008
A Kosher Meat Plant Struggles to Recover
By Betsy Rubiner

On a workday last week in the northeast Iowa town of Postville, a young man who identified himself as an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, leaned idly against a storefront. He'd rather be working, he explained, but he can't return to his job at Agriprocessors, Inc. That's the meatpacking plant where 389 workers, including some of his relatives, were arrested during a May immigration raid. "Too much fear," he says. "But we have to live here because Guatemala is very bad."

Across the street, Samir Jaylani, 21, gathered with other Somali refugees newly arrived from the Minneapolis area to take jobs at the plant, which is trying to rebuild its workforce after losing about half of its staff in the immigration raid. But Agriprocessors is having a hard time keeping new arrivals on the job. Jaylani quit after one day processing turkeys. "I didn't get trained enough," he says. "It was highly dangerous equipment. I wouldn't take the chance of cutting my hand off."

Around the corner, dozens of people — many of them current and former Agriprocessors employeers — lined up for free canned and packaged goods at Postville's weekly food pantry. "I haven't seen a paycheck over $100 and it's my fifth week," says Darrell Hawkins, 46, a former forklift operator from Kentucky now working a "gutter" at Agriprocessors. (He removes turkey giblets.)
A company spokesman, in an interview last week, vigorously denied any wrongdoing. Agriprocessors says it did not knowingly hire illegal immigrants or underage workers, claiming that minors had lied about their age to get jobs. And the company emphasized that it offers its employees rigorous safety training.

As Agriprocessors faces mounting legal and commercial challenges while struggling to regain its standing as the nation's largest kosher meat supplier, residents of this town of 2,273 are nervous. The company sought to address concerns in the community and beyond last week by hiring a new CEO, New York attorney Bernard S. Feldman. "I have every intention of making Agriprocessors a model of kosher production," Feldman said in a statement, pledging that the company will work closely with governmental agencies concerned with product safety, labor rights and the humane treatment of animals. Feldman's appointment came a day after the plant's owner, manager and three human resources managers entered not-guilty pleas on over 9,000 misdemeanor charges of illegally using child labor at the plant. A Federal grand jury also indicted two of the human resources managers, charging them with helping workers obtain false documents.

The leadership change followed a demand by a major kosher-certification agency, the Orthodox Union, that Agriprocessors replace its CEO or risk losing the agency's seal of approval, which would be a catastrophic blow for a kosher meat supplier. Questions had also arisen over whether the slaughtering techniques used in the plant had complied with koshering standards, after a video filmed undercover in the plant by the animal rights group PETA showed slaughtering techniques that some observers suggested were at odds with koshering practices. Federal inspectors cited Agriprocessors for violating a regulation pertaining to humane slaughtering methods, although they did not consider the violation egregious, and confirmed that it had been corrected. Agriprocessors is also challenging a state citation in August for 31 alleged violations of workplace safety regulations.

Restoring the plant's production to the pre-raid levels is made more difficult by the challenges of hiring a new workforce. Although it has recruited workers both from elsewhere in the U.S. and from as far away as the Pacific island of Palau, employee turnover remains a problem. Management is also confronting efforts by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to organize at the plant, as well as competition from a Minnesota meatpacker that boldly scheduled a job fair in Postville last week, offering higher wages than those paid by Agriprocessors.

The troubles at the kosher meat plant are felt throughout the town, with reports of small businesses faltering, fights at the local tavern, and rising tension between residents of different backgrounds.

"It's the worst thing that could be happening to this town," says Paul Real, director of the Hispanic ministry at St. Bridget's Catholic Church. "The streets are full of people that aren't working. The food pantry sees over 100 clients, when it used to see about 30."

Many Latino residents have left, including almost 300 former Agriprocessors workers now serving five-month prison sentences after pleading guilty to identity-theft charges. They are expected to be deported next month. A further 45, mostly women, who were released on humanitarian grounds but required to wear electronic ankle bracelets, have not yet faced charges. Ten were permitted to return to Guatemala or Mexico. Others hope to convince the courts to allow them to remain in the United States, according to their lawyer. And many of those who eluded arrest are believed to have fled or are lying low.

Churches that had stepped up to provide basic needs for those left unable to work or to leave after the raid are now hard-pressed to help new arrivals who bring little with them and need help with everything from medical care to bus tickets home. Some of the new arrivals complain of having been lured here by false promises, finding lower pay than expected, high rent, poor housing and harsh work conditions.

"We're just trying to get out of Postville," says Marcus Valdez, 39, who arrived from Texas with his pregnant wife and two young children but left Agriprocessors after five weeks. During his time there, he says he injured his forearm and his eye was infected by turkey innards.

Church leaders, whose humanitarian efforts were boosted by donations from around the country, are now running low on funds and supplies. "I just wish they would help these immigrants so they could work here easily," says Dona Peck, 67, a local volunteer who was helping people stock up last week. "They're needed. A lot of them are just nice family people."

Anonymous said...

"I wouldn't trust Mike around my kids. I think he's still a risk." The nun was right.
Mike knows what he has done. He celebrates the fact the gods have sold him the perception I am taking the blame for his sexual mental illness. As such, this man represents a risk to the community, for if he thinks he got away with it once he may again.

Anonymous said...

I threw tantrums in Catholic Church when young because Catholic Church is evil.
It is a clue about who I am. As was the Ocean Beach supernatural phenominah, seen by many many besides me.
There are other examples as well.

The gods have no no genetalia. Sex is purely temptation. The gods reproduce with cloning. Any child who ascends enjoys this absence as well and one of the clues they send with this Situation. They share their ultra-extreme conservative views on sex, how they use society to promote sexual temptation, poisoning the minds and bodies of the disfavored.
Throughout human history women have been the enforcers of decency, and it has worked very well among those not grossly disfavored (Italian, etc). Now that they have embraced so many male sexual charecterisitics everything this structure has desinigrated.
Throughout history women have been the enforcers of decency. In the 20th century the god's policy of societal deterioration has compelled women to abandon their traditional roles, embracing the typical sexual pathology of males, which is why women will ultimately be responsible for societal decay and the end of Planet Earth.
And that's why the gods destroyed the Mediterreanean with the Noah's Flood event::::They treat their women like shit, and the gods transferred this patriarchal, male-superiority pathology to Europe and the rest of the world with the Catholic Church.

A good example of societal decay and how the gods manage their culpability is birth defects. In the past the gods occassionally punished people by divinely creating birth defects in the womb. Now, with the advent of biotechnology, they tempt the mother with "earning" and compell her to take a substance in utero which deforms the fetus dispelling the gods of blame and future compensation. Incidentally, the use liberal policies to pay for these individuals, ensuring a lifetime wasted, for they have no hope for progress. Too often in the past they were mercifully killed and brought back without this handicap, allowing them a chance to achieve progress.
The gods are washing their hands of culpability.
The gods are washing their hands of Planet Earth.

Anonymous said...

A Fascination with Sex

Perusing the Talmud, one is overwhelmed with the recurrent preoccupation with sex, especially by the most eminent rabbis. Dozens of illustrations could be presented to illustrate the delight of the Pharisees to discuss sex and quibble over its minutest details.
The rabbis endorsing child sex undoubtedly practiced what they preached. Yet to this hour, their words are revered. Simeon ben Yohai is honored by Orthodox Jews as one of the very greatest sages and spiritual lights the world has ever known. A member of the earliest "Tannaim," rabbis most influential in creating the Talmud, he carries more authority to observant Jews than Moses.

Today, the Talmud’s outspoken pedophiles and child-rape advocates would doubtlessly spend hard time in prison for child molestation. Yet here is what the eminent Jewish scholar, Dagobert Runes (who is fully aware of all these passages), says about such “dirty old men” and their perverted teachings:

There is no truth whatever in Christian and other strictures against the Pharisees, who represented the finest traditions of their people and of human morals. 1

1. Dagobert Runes, A Concise Dictionary of Judaism, New York, 1959.

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It is unfortunate that it has come to this. It is a big darn shame it has come to this. It is very hurtful that it has come to this. But yet, IT HAS COME TO THIS. It has come at the price of a GREAT CHILUL HASHEM. It has come to Hashem having to allow his holy name to be DESECRATED so that his CHILDREN remain SAFE. Shame on all those responsible for enabling and permitting Hashem's name to be desecrated! When you save children you save the future. You save the future you save generations. You save generations you save lives. You save lives you have saved the world!!!!!!!