| http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20100610.html |
 | Reforming the Statute of Limitations for Child Sex Abuse: New York's Child Victims Act Shouldn't Be Political, But It Is |
| By MARCI A. HAMILTON | |
| Thursday, June 10, 2010 |
The bill embodies the same type of statute of limitations ("SOL") reform that I've advocated in multiple columns here at FindLaw, and in my book Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children. It would create a short 5-year extension for criminal and civil SOLs for child sex abuse, and it would open a "window" of one year for all past victims to come forward without having to worry about expired statutes of limitations. The extension is too short in my view, but the window is absolutely crucial to identifying child predators.
As I've explained, such reform is the only tried-and-true method for identifying hidden child perpetrators, as the enactment of the legislation establishing the California SOL window proved. In this column, I'll further discuss New York's continuing experience with reform for children.
The Recent History of the New York CVA
After the CVA thrice passed in the New York Assembly, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told the Senate that he would be more than willing to get the bill to the floor in the Assembly again, but first, it needs to be passed by the Senate.
Thus, the Senate's Codes Committee was the first stop. As noted above, the CVA was voted upon there, and lost last week. However, the CVA never even made it into a committee meeting when now-convicted Sen. Joseph Bruno was the Senate Majority Leader, so the fact that the bill even got a vote in a Senate Committee was history itself.
This legislation for child protection should have been a no-brainer. Instead, it has become thoroughly political. Reportedly, New York Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos ordered Republicans to vote against it in a bloc, and they did so in Committee -- even those who had told survivors they favored the bill and would vote for it.
If there had been any doubt about the source of the most virulent opposition to the bill, Senator Lanza made it crystal clear: It continues to be the Catholic Conference. Lanza basically spoke from their playbook, claiming that giving child-sex-abuse victims the ability to go to Court would "ruin" the Church, and that the introduction of the bill was driven by anti-Catholic animus. He became quite passionate, insisting that no one was going to "destroy my church." Sen. Flanagan, too, took his cue from the Catholic Conference, claiming (inaccurately) that the same bill has bankrupted the Church in California.
In sharp contrast, the hero of the day for children was Chair Eric Schneiderman, who, in measured tones, stated that the issue was a hard one, but in the United States, those who are harmed should have a remedy. With respect to New York's child-sex-abuse victims, the vast majority have been blocked from receiving any remedy at all because of overly-short SOLs. (The lack of such remedies not only leaves the victim without justice, but also allows known perpetrators to continue to enjoy secrecy and impunity.)
Schneiderman also responded to Senator Flanagan, correctly pointing out that the Church was not, in fact, bankrupted in California. Indeed, the only California diocese to bring voluntary bankruptcy proceedings was the San Diego Diocese, which was publicly chastised by the bankruptcy judge for misleading her about the extent of its impressive wealth. No services were cut, and no parishes or schools were closed because the victims created by the Church were permitted to go to court.
In the Codes Committee, three Democrats joined the Republicans in voting against letting the bill go to the floor, though none appeared at the Committee meeting, voting only in absentia. Sen. Shirley Huntley, whose website claims she has been a strong advocate for children, was a particular disappointment. Sen. Breslin, who is Catholic, and Sen. Jeff Klein also voted against SOL reform.
Legislators Who Seem to Care More About the Vandalism of Property than the Well-Being of Children
Here is where New York politics waltzed into Alice in Wonderland territory: Mere days after the Codes Committee killed the CVA this session, Sen. Jeff Klein -- one of a number of Senators who couldn't be bothered to show up for the Codes Committee vote on the CVA -- joined Archbishop Timothy Dolan and other religious leaders to tout S.1909, (available at http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/api/1.0/html/bill/S1909), which increases the criminal penalties for vandalism of church and synagogue properties.
Klein, who was recently embroiled in an alleged pay-to-play scandal when he was caught selling $50,000 "exclusive meetings" to special interest groups, apparently has taken an active role in fighting against the vandalism of church walls. According to the Yonkers Insider, " In February of this year, Senator Klein helped clean up graffiti on the rectory wall of Saint Francis Xavier Church in Morris Park in the Bronx. Saint Francis Xavier Pastor Father Matthew Fiore reached out to Senator Klein's office after finding the graffiti on the rectory wall on the first floor of the church on the morning of Friday, February 19th. Within 24 hours of the Pastor contacting Klein's office, Senator Klein and his graffiti clean-up crew went to the church to remove the graffiti."
To quote one of the victims of incest who has been fighting for the CVA, in light of Klein's indifference to child-sex-abuse victims, his swiftness in addressing church graffiti issues was like a "kick in the gut." Recently, all one hears about is the mishandling of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church worldwide. Yet somehow, in New York, the Catholic Conference was capable of stifling all child-sex-abuse victims' claims and, at the very same time, obtaining for itself additional penalties against those who damage its property. You don't have to be a genius to figure out that the New York Catholic Conference is putting property ahead of children's safety in light of these two developments, spanning just two days!
New York's Archbishop Has Proven Himself Indifferent to Children's Victimization
How could New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan be so tone-deaf that he would create the circumstances for such an unflattering and, frankly, unChristian, pairing of issues? Didn't Jesus throw out the moneychangers from the temple and threaten all who harmed the little ones? Once again, the Catholic bishops lack any sense of how what they do resonates with child-sex-abuse victims. They are persistently indifferent.
This incapacity for empathy with victims of priests was further underscored last week by the Pope, when he included Dolan on the committee of bishops that is charged with looking into the Irish child-sex-abuse situation. From a child-sex-abuse victim's perspective, what has Dolan done so far? As the Archbishop of Milwaukee -- his former post -- he succeeded in keeping the secrets of the Milwaukee Archdiocese by killing CVA reform when he was there. And now, he has succeeded on the same score in New York. One victim after another has blogged that putting Dolan on such a committee is the equivalent of letting the fox guard the henhouse. Some of them were even sharper in their language—describing the decision as a move that charged the fox with guarding the little chicks in the henhouse, easy pickings.
Currently, New York has one of the stingiest statutes of limitations for child sex abuse in the entire country -- 18 years-old for criminal charges and 23 for civil claims. In the future, it is inevitable that New York will radically expand these statutes of limitations for child sex abuse, because justice demands it, and because that is the trend in the entire country. Florida just eliminated all of its statutes of limitations for child sex abuse; Delaware did the same thing in 2007; Connecticut gives victims until age 48; Pennsylvania until age 53; New Jersey has a liberal discovery rule (which New York courts rejected, saying it was an issue for the legislature). Thus, the Catholic Conferences have their fingers in a dike that is crumbling around their hands. Yet it seems that they will keep those fingers in place as long as the bishops' lobbying dollars last, and as long as New York Senate members like Sens. Klein, Lanza, and Flanagan continue to act as they did last week.
Research establishes that one in four girls, and one in five boys, are sexually abused. Not only clergy child-sex-abuse victims, but incest victims too, are increasingly demanding their day in court, and the kind of statute-of-limitations reform that would make that possible. And there are a lot more incest victims than there are clergy victims. As society increasingly acknowledges the gravity and scope of the child-sex-abuse problem, and comes to understand the scientific studies showing that victims often need decades to come forward, citizens will demand laws that fit the needs of the victims, not the perpetrators or the institutions that assigned child abusers to work with children. Given the vital role of SOL reform in identifying perpetrators and creating justice for victims, and the growing political will of the victims, we may soon see New York legislators losing -- not holding -- seats when they let party leadership and the bishops drown out the voices of the victims.
Marci Hamilton, a FindLaw columnist, is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge 2008). A review of Justice Denied appeared on this site on June 25, 2008. Her previous book is God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2005), now available in paperback. Her email is hamilton02@aol.com.
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42 comments:
We all know politicians have the least credibility from any denominations with the exception of the sacred few.
My feeling is Marci Hamilton and I share the same sentiment that EVENTUALLY the bill will get passed just like it did in other states.
A message to survivors and sufferers is to keep your chin up, as you will be rejoicing one day!
Addressing the sex abuse crisis from the seat of the Catholic Church before thousands of white-robed priests, Pope Benedict XVI on Friday begged forgiveness, saying the church would do “everything possible” to prevent priests from abusing children.
“We too insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again,” Benedict told thousands of priests and faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for celebrations marking the end of the Vatican’s Year of the Priest.
http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2010/06/protect-child-it-could-be-your-own.html
Protect A Child - It Could Be Your Own!
60 years is extreme.
Former Boulder City teacher gets 60 years in child molestation case
The good things former Boulder City teacher Charles Richard "Rick" Rogers did were outweighed "a million times" by horrible things he did to young boys over the course of a decade, District Judge Michael Villani said Tuesday before sentencing Rogers to 60 years in prison for child molestation and pornography.
"The man is a monster, and he has no soul," Susan Rush, the mother of one of Rogers' victims, said in asking Villani to ensure Rogers never is released.
For Rogers, long recognized for his work with children, the end came on March 25 when someone anonymously left a zip drive at the Henderson Police Department. The device contained hundreds of images of Rogers molesting children. Those good things he did for children, prosecutor Stacy Collins said, were designed to disarm parents and get access to their children.
The next day, police arrested Rogers in his home and found thousands of photos and videos depicting child victims.
According to the indictment that was issued against Rogers, he sexually assaulted and molested several young boys from 1999 to 2009. The victims, some as young as 6 and 7, also are seen in DVDs and photos performing various sex acts.
Rush said her son, adopted when he was 16, suffers from insomnia and has nightmares when he does fall asleep. She said Rogers first victimized the boy when he was 10 after his father had died. He was assaulted at a Boulder City recreation center.
"He thought I was asleep due to the sleeping pills he gave me," said Rush's son, now a college student. "I was afraid if he knew I was awake he might kill me."
The boy never told anyone about the abuse until he saw Rogers' face on television the day he was arrested, Rush said.
Authorities said Rogers gained access to other boys by having sleepovers at his home. He either drugged them or gave them alcohol. In one video, the indictment said, Rogers is seen fondling a boy between 10 and 12 who is unconscious.
After the hearing, Boulder City police Detective Michelle Isham, who investigated the case against Rogers, said Rogers had labeled many of the photographs and videos.
"Boulder City is a small town," she said. "We recognized some of the victims that were depicted."
After Rogers' arrest, Isham said, dozens of parents whose children had contact with him came forward.
"They said, 'Here's a picture of my kid. We don't know if he was molested or not, but call us if you need to,'" she said.
Find this article at:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/former-boulder-city-teacher-gets-60-years-in-child-molestation-case-95891919.html
I spotted Nussbaum on shabbos
You would think he is as pious as they come. His Rosh yeshiva robe intact with a down hat. The molester Tzadik.
Just makes you want to barf.
Kim Myhre has been a volunteer for the YWCA’s Sexual Assault Victim Services for a year.
In that time, she has accompanied 10 victims of sexual assault to the hospital and stayed while forensic rape exams were performed.
Most of the victims have been adult women, but she has helped a few underaged boys and girls through the exam, too.
At the hospital, Myhre may speak with the nurse doing the exam and police, if they have been called.
She also talks with the victim, if she or he would like, about counseling, legal and financial services available to help them.
Husbands of female rape victims may need counseling, too, because they are victims if their wives have been assaulted.
Emotional support is a big part of what Myhre does.
Many victims still have the “deer in the headlight” look of shock and trauma, she said.
If the victims are children, she works with social services to see if the child should be removed from the home.
Myhre usually is at the hospital three to four hours, but once she remained for seven hours.
Most of her calls come in between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Her work is all volunteer, unpaid except in “hugs and thank yous,” she said.
Myhre, 40, is the mother of four sons and works out of her home as a free-lance writer.
She became an advocate to help others along the road that she has traveled.
When she was in the fifth grade, she was sexually assaulted.
She didn’t tell anyone then. But, after a suicide attempt with an overdose of medication, when she was 18, her story poured out.
She realized that she had believed that the rape was her fault and that she should have done something to have prevented it.
After receiving counseling through a psychiatrist and a therapist, she is much better.
She’ll never forget the assault, and she still has occasional flashbacks or memories. But she is proof that life can go on after such a crime.
She also thinks she brings a special empathy to her work as a YWCA volunteer.
“I’ve been there,” she said. “I can honestly say, ‘I know what you are going through.’ ”
I'm not so sure
penetration is rape
when it concerns girls
under 18. By boys any age
is not rape. - -- -
Israeli rabbi arrested for allegedly raping underage girls
By Andrew Moran.
Jerusalem - A rabbi from the Hod HaSharon region in Israel has been arrested and was accused of raping underage girls. The rabbi offered advice and family counselling to the girls and their families.
According to Press TV, a rabbi from the nation of Israel has been accused for raping underage girls between the ages of 14 and 16.
The report states that the girls, and even the girls’ families, went to the 56-year-old rabbi for family counselling and advice. The rabbi was able to keep his victims quiet by threatening to excommunicate them or curse them if they had charged him for his acts.
This is not the first time that a rabbi has made the news on a rape allegation. In March, reports the Associated Press, a rabbi from Arizona was accused of raping a 7-year-old girl in the state of New York 10 years ago. He was arrested outside of his Arizona synagogue.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293395
Efforts are underway on Monday to reach a plea-bargain in the case of Erez Efrati, the former bodyguard of Chief-of-Staff Gabi Ashkenazi who is accused of rape.
The alleged victim is reported to be refusing to agree to a lesser charge. Efrati has confessed to the accusations but claims the drinks he was served had been laced with excessive amounts of alcohol without his knowledge.
Police arrested a 56-year-old man from Hod HaSharon suspected of statutory rape of girls aged 14-16, Israel Radio reported Sunday.
The suspect allegedly pretended to be a Kabbalist, and offered advice to the victims and their families. He would threaten to excommunicate and curse the girls if they reported him.
A 43 year-old Beit Shemesh area resident was sentenced to 14 years in prison at the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday after he was convicted of raping his friend’s three daughters, who were between the ages of six and twelve at the time.
According to the indictment, Yosef Shonim, a carpenter by trade, committed a slew of obscene acts against the girls, beginning in 2005, both at his carpentry shop near Beit Shemesh and inside his car.
A mother is suspected of knowing that the father of her four daughters was sexually abusing the girls and did not report it, Army Radio reported Thursday.
The eldest daughter, now aged 20, filed a complaint that her father had been raping her since the age of five.
She decided to make the report after she found out that her younger sister was experiencing similar abuse.
A 34-year-old resident of of Rishon Lezion was arrested on Saturday on the charge of raping his friend's girlfriend.
He was brought later in the evening to the Magistrate's Court in Rishon Lezion to have his remand set.
The accused is suspected of inviting the couple to drink with him at home, imprisoning his male friend with his guard pit bull and then raping the woman while threatening her with a knife.
A 44-year-old man from central Israel was sentenced on Thursday to 25 years in prison for raping a female relative - beginning when she was ten years old, then continuing on a regular basis for several years – and committing lewd acts against the girl's sister.
The man, Ephraim Yegudayev - a vocalist who performs with the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra, a well-known classical-traditional Ashdod-based ensemble specializing in Sephardic and Andalusian tunes - was sentenced for rape, sodomy and sexual assault. He was also ordered to pay the woman he had raped repeatedly as a girl a sum of NIS 100,000 in compensation.
According to the verdict, Yegudayev first assaulted his relative when she was ten years old, exploiting every opportunity to get her alone in order to rape her or sexually assault her – even when she was babysitting his own children. The judges also described the severe emotional distress caused to the girl whose "childhood was robbed and life ruined.” Both the defendant and the other relative whom Yegudayev assaulted, threatened and terrorized – also under 14 at the time of her assault – grew up in haredi families.
'The accused did not exercise mercy or compassion'
One lawyer who spoke to Israel Radio about the case further elaborated on the girl's anguished childhood, saying that she had grown up in the shadow of Yegudayev's crimes and had grown so accustomed to them that they did not seem questionable to her. She became suspicious, the lawyer said, only when she attended a premarital instruction course in her haredi community. She is married, but finds it difficult to overcome her ordeal.
“The accused acted on his sick, insatiable sexual desire and did not exercise any measure of mercy or compassion,” the judges wrote. “Such a behavior pattern is not unfamiliar to the defendant.”
Yegudayev had previously been indicted for several counts of pedophilia and sexual assault of minors. The accused, wrote the judges, committed the crimes while “exploiting his position and authority … only to unleash his twisted inclinations.”
5-year-old: Bus driver raped me on the way home from kindergarten
In other news, a 56-year-old school bus driver from northern Israel was arrested overnight Wednesday after a five-year-old girl told her mother he had raped her several times when she was riding the bus by herself.
The girl complained that the driver had touched her in a sexual manner on her way home from kindergarten. The mother immediately filed a complaint to Taibe police.
During questioning, the girl said that the driver had assaulted and raped her on several different occasions when she had been alone on the bus.
Police launched an investigation.
Orthodox Union
www.ou.org While many kashrut organizations do a good job of upholding kashrut standards, we believe there is one factor that makes us unique in the kosher world: the fact that Klal Yisrael benefits from the funds generated by OU certification. The OU is a non-profit organization; as such, all the income earned from companies that pay for certification is reinvested back into the Jewish community.
The Jewish Student Union (JSU) is one such beneficiary of kashrut revenue. The brainchild of Rabbi Steven Burg, OU managing director and NCSY international director, JSU started as a club for Jewish students in three public schools in California. Targeting nonaffiliated Jewish teens, the club offered free pizza, a dynamic and energetic educator and an opportunity to connect with fellow Jewish teens and explore Judaism in a way that is interesting, fun and relevant. The clubs were wildly successful, and thanks to the largesse of Jack Gindi, z”l, and his wife, Rae, who believed in Rabbi Burg and in the value of reaching out to these teens, the program was able to expand. JSU is currently in more than 250 schools, in over twenty-five states, and some 20,000 teenagers across the country attend a JSU club each week.
JSU is addressing a dire need in our community. Tragically, thousands of young Jews, whether or not they live in Jewishly populated areas, have no relationship whatsoever with their Jewish heritage, religion or community. This isolation is not by choice. These teens simply have not been given an opportunity to learn and see the beauty of belonging to the Jewish people. This is where JSU comes in. Free food brings teens in the door. A friendly, sincere club leader makes them feel welcome. They become part of a social network of fellow Jewish students. And then the education begins. Week in and week out, they are introduced to the basics of Judaism. They explore four thousand years of Jewish history; they struggle with moral dilemmas and gain an appreciation for the wisdom behind the Torah’s system of morality. They learn Jewish theology and philosophy and are able to respond intelligently to important life questions.
JSU participants learn that what they see on CNN does not necessarily reflect the truth about Israel and the Middle East. Though the world works hard to delegitimize Israel, these teens get the facts about Israel and learn to counter the propaganda and negative images of the Jewish State. Some students sign up for NCSY’s TJJ (The Jerusalem Journey), a four-week summer program that literally transforms an unaffiliated teen into a passionate, committed member of Am Yisrael. These students become leaders on their college campuses because of the Jewish education and inspiration they receive in their clubs.
The OU is proud of JSU–both of the teens who participate in the clubs and of the dedicated staff members who devote themselves wholeheartedly to stemming the tide of assimilation. Our goal is to expand this program to 150 more schools in places like Stamford, Connecticut, Mount Kisco, New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC and additional parts of New Jersey. The reality is that when Jewish children grow up on the fringe, and the potential they have to contribute to the tapestry of our people is lost, we all suffer. Finding these teens, bringing in, educating them to appreciate the depth, relevance and beauty of Torah, and inspiring them to grow and become part of the Jewish community are responsibilities we all share.
So remember, every time you buy Tootsie Rolls or Gatorade or any of the thousands of OU-certified products, you can be proud that you have contributed to JSU and to building the Jewish future.
The Catholic Church has agreed to pay an out of court settlement rumored to be worth more than $300,000, to a woman that was abused by the infamous pedophile Father Brendan Smyth.
Marie McCormack, now a resident of Canada, sued the Catholic primate of Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, the diocese of Kilmore and the Norbertine Order to which Smyth belonged.
The settlement was made without an admission of liability and included apologies by the defendants.
McCormack's High Court action led to release of information that Brady was involved in covering up allegations of sexual abuse against Smyth in the 1970s.
Brady was charged with investigating the allegations of clerical abuse. Brady interviewed two young sex abuse victims and swore them to secrecy at the end of his investigation in the Kilmore diocese.
McCormack currently resides in Canada and according to an RTE report, her marriage and quality of life has being greatly affected by the sexual abuse she received between the ages of 14 and 20.
In a sworn affidavit McCormack accused Brady of failing to notify the police of the sex crimes. McCormack also accused Brady of covering up the crimes by failing to take steps to prevent Smyth from abusing herself and other children despite the fact that he was aware that he was a sex predator.
Brady claims that he did his duty and informed his superiors of his investigation and the allegations of sexual abuse by Smyth.
Brady claimed he was not empowered to inform the police and said that the Norbetine Order was responsible for Smyth after he was stripped of his powers in the Kilmore and other diocese.
The founder of Village of Hope, an organization dedicated to caring for Ethiopian children, has waved a preliminary hearing after being arrested on suspicion of child sex abuse charges against the children he and his wife adopted.
Lon Harvey Kennard Sr. was arrested after two of his now-adult adopted daughters contacted police and claimed they had been sexually abused as children by their adopted father.
A grown adopted son then went onto Kennard’s computer and made copies of images he found there, which police have described as child pornography involving the two victims.
Kennard originally turned himself in on March 17, and waved the rights to a preliminary hearing early this morning.
“We want him to pay for what he’s done, and we want him to get help,” Verl Kennard, his son, said.
He has been arraigned on 43 charges of sexual exploitation of a child, and sexual abuse. More charges may be pending.
He remains in Wasatch County Jail awaiting trial.
Kennard and his wife have six biological children, and six adoptive children. All are grown.
Israel has an abundance of pedophilia. One after the next. This epidemic is rampant. I had no idea it was this bad in the holy land.
צילומים-הרב מרדכי אליהו זצ"ל One hundred photos-Rav Mordechai Eliyahu
Interesting.
http://whyy.org/cms/news/health-science/behavioral-health-health-science/2010/06/16/play-tackles-child-sexual-abuse/40002
Commentary on Civil Statute of Limitations
New York adopted a special statute of limitations for victims of sexual crimes in 2006. The statute provides that actions for civil damages for defined sexual crimes, including sexual abuse of a minor, may be brought within 5 years of the acts constituting the sexual offense. The text of the statute is as follows:
§ 213-c. Action by victim of conduct constituting certain sexual offenses
Notwithstanding any other limitation set forth in this article, a civil claim or cause of action to recover from a defendant as hereinafter defined, for physical, psychological or other injury or condition suffered by a person as a result of acts by such defendant of rape in the first degree as defined in section 130.35 of the penal law, or criminal sexual act in the first degree as defined in section 130.50 of the penal law, or aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree as defined in section 130.70 of the penal law, or course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree as defined in section 130.75 of the penal law may be brought within five years. As used in this section, the term "defendant" shall mean only a person who commits the acts described in this section or who, in a criminal proceeding, could be charged with criminal liability for the commission of such acts pursuant to section 20.00 of the penal law and shall not apply to any related civil claim or cause of action arising from such acts. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require that a criminal charge be brought or a criminal conviction be obtained as a condition of bringing a civil cause of action or receiving a civil judgment pursuant to this section or be construed to require that any of the rules governing a criminal proceeding be applicable to any such civil action.
(Added L.2006, c. 3, § 3, eff. June 23, 2006.)
Retroactivity was limited by act of the legislature, which provided
that the Act "shall apply to acts committed on and after such date [June 23, 2006] as well as to acts committed prior thereto, provided that such section three of this act shall not apply to acts committed prior to such date where the commencement of an action thereon was barred under the provisions of article 2 of the civil practice law and rules in effect immediately prior to such date."
Other Statutes
New York does have a general infancy tolling provision. N.Y. Civ. Prac. Law § 208 which suspends the operation of a statute of limitations until a minor reaches the age of majority.
If the victim brings an action against an institution (i.e. church, school) which supervised the perpetrator, or any action that is based in negligence (rather than criminal conduct) the SOL is 3 years. N.Y. Civil Prac. Law § 214.
In addition, N.Y. Civ. Prac. Law § 215 (8)) tolls the statute of limitations when a criminal action has been commenced against the defendant. A criminal action is commenced when the the prosecuting authority files charges against the perpetrator. The applicable statute of limitations will begin to run when the criminal case is terminated (either by dismissal, acquittal, conviction, or sentencing).
If the perpetrator has been convicted, the victim has 7 or 10 years (depending on the crime) from the date of the conduct constituting the crime to file a civil suit. N.Y. Civ. Prac. Law § 213-b.
New York Courts have refused to adopt a common law discovery rule, apply tolling provisions or other theories (i.e. mental disability, fraudulent concealment, equitable estoppel or delayed discovery) to repressed memory or delayed realization cases. See, for example, Langford v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, 705 N.Y.S.2d 661 (N.Y. App. 2000);Sharon B. v Reverend S., 244 AD2d 878, 665 N.Y.S.2d 139 (1997 N.Y. App. Div.); Steo v. Cucuzza, 624 N.Y.S.2d 203 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995); Anonymous v. Anonymous, 154 Misc. 2d 46, 584 N.Y. Supp. 2d 713 (Sup. Ct. Suffolk Co. 1992); Burpee v. Burpee, 1152 Misc. 2d 466, 578 N.Y.S.2d 359 (Sup. Ct. 1991); aff'd .
By David Voreacos
June 17 (Bloomberg) -- A New Jersey rabbi pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder $1.5 million in a U.S. corruption crackdown that led to charges against 44 people last July.
Eliahu Ben Haim, once the principal rabbi of Congregation Ohel Yaacob in Deal, New Jersey, today admitted that he used religious charities to engage in 35 money-laundering transactions with a cooperating witness. He converted $1.5 million in checks into $1.35 million in cash, keeping $150,000 in fees, according to a charge he admitted in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey.
Ben Haim, who faces as many as 20 years in prison, remains under house arrest on $1.5 million bail, with a global positioning system to track him, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. He agreed to forfeit $1.5 million, including $630,525 seized last July 23.
Ben Haim isn’t cooperating with prosecutors, his attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, said in an interview. Lustberg declined to comment further.
Twenty people have been convicted after a sting by the Federal Bureau of Investigation netted public officials, five rabbis and a man accused of illegally dealing a human kidney. Those convicted include a former state assemblyman and two people not originally charged last July.
The case is United States of America v. Eliahu Ben Haim, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Trenton).
--Editors: Andrew Dunn, Stephen Farr
To contact the reporter on this story: David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey, at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/06/16/36grant.h29.html
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It’s depressingly easy to find news of educators’ sexually abusing their students. The headlines are full of it. Yet it’s difficult to find instances where the threat of punishment fits the crime. Even though research suggests that as many as 10 percent of students may experience some form of contact or noncontact abuse before they graduate from high school, the country’s education system seems to have institutionalized a blind-eye approach to the problem.
School personnel who may suspect misconduct feel powerless to report their friends and colleagues. Administrators handle cases internally to avoid lawsuits and bad publicity. And lawmakers evade responsibility for crafting tough legislation or a cohesive national policy, in part because of fears that they will inadvertently damage the reputations of all teachers. Moreover, because educator sexual abuse is such an unconscionable act, there is a lingering tendency to deny that it even exists.
In recent years, some states have updated their policies aimed at protecting students from abuse. But even in these instances, official responses often lack transparency, and systems for documenting offenders and prevalence rates are flawed. At times, policies are not implemented at all.
Legal and practical loopholes continue to allow sexual predators to enter the nation’s classrooms, despite the increased attention being given to the problem in recent years. These loopholes include the following:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/06/16/36grant.h29.html
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• Prevention efforts are not required, or are not implemented. While some states may mandate that districts implement sexual-abuse-prevention programs, others continue to leave such efforts up to localities. But without accountability or state funding—and out of fear that prevention efforts will turn into witch hunts—local districts may never teach the proper prevention mechanisms: how to recognize the warning signs of abuse, awareness of reporting requirements, and, most importantly, ways to help children define clear boundaries of acceptable behavior—and know what to do when those lines are crossed.
• Cases are not reported to law enforcement or child protective services. Despite mandatory reporting laws, only an estimated 1 percent to 5 percent of cases in which students are sexually abused by educators are referred to law-enforcement or child-protective-services agencies. Cases are often handled internally, allowing the abuser to move on to another school without a criminal report or record. This can happen for many reasons. Administrators may worry about litigation or negative media coverage. They may have a personal relationship with the abuser. They may be heeding the wishes of parents and students, who want to avoid attention and the legal process.
In the absence of a proper investigation and legal proceedings, however, offenders are allowed to resign from their positions and often may be hired in a neighboring county or state, where they will have the opportunity to abuse other students. In general, it is estimated that sexual offenders will have abused an average of nine victims before they are reported to the legal system.
• Challenges arise in trying to convict offenders. Even if a case is reported by an administrator to the authorities, there is often not enough evidence to convict the offender. Many schools conduct internal investigations before reporting to law enforcement—giving offenders advance warning that enables them to dispose of evidence, change their story, and perhaps further intimidate their victims. Many children and their parents may not want to give testimony or depositions about their experiences. And, unfortunately, a child’s version of events is usually not sufficient evidence to convict an offender in a court of law. So charges are dropped or those accused plea-bargain to lesser crimes, which often do not place them on a sex-offender registry. Without a conviction, there is no record of the abuse report, and an offender can continue to victimize children and be passed on to neighboring school districts—often with a recommendation letter in hand. Even offenders who are convicted may never serve a day behind bars.
• Improper record-keeping hampers enforcement. Although a conviction should initiate teaching-license revocation, both districts and court systems are slow to process paperwork as the responsibility gets passed from one government entity to another. Because of this governmental red tape, offenders convicted of sex crimes in Virginia took an average of 583 days to have their licenses revoked by the state department of education. In October 2008, seven teachers convicted of sex crimes still held active teaching licenses. Despite criminal records, teachers have lied on their applications, moved to another state, and used their active teaching licenses to gain another job.
Child-protective-services records are only searchable by state: There is no national database. Court records are not searchable by type of employment or by demographic statistics. Thus it is impossible to search court criminal records for all cases of educator sexual abuse. This allows offenders to potentially move to other states and continue to abuse children without their criminal records following them.
There's a guy by the name of Dov Hikind. You may have heard of him. He's the Assemblyman who had this to say on his 2008 radio show about molesters who still teach in Yeshivas.
"The first objective is to get this guy out of the classroom. If I have to go public, if I have to hold a press conference outside the yeshivah, I will do that! This guy is not going back to the classroom in September. We will make sure that will not happen.”
Hikind also had stern warning and harsh words for those schools harboring pedophile rebbes.
Those who are abusing our children, doing inappropriate things, I’m coming after you in every single way. Quit before your name is released and your family is embarrassed! I will not be silent or shy away.
Has Dov Hikind kept his word? I say that by all accounts he has not lived up to those words he uttered.
I am very disappointed and upset with Hikind as a result of his empty promises.
Read the entire article and listen to the 2008 Hikind radio show, copy and past this link to your browser.
http://www.vosizneias.com/18867/2008/08/04/brooklyn-ny-dov-hikind-puts-yeshivas-on-notice-with-harsh-warning-i-am-going-to-publicly-shame-you-if-you-harbor-rebbe-molesters/
After a day which brought weeks of tensions between Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community and the state to a climax, 35 fathers of students at the Emmanuel Beit Ya’acov girls school began two-week jail terms for contempt of court over discriminatory practices at the school, and their hassidic community hailed them as heroes for “choosing Torah” over the secular court system.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=178759
A New Town man faces up to life in prison after a federal court jury convicted him of a sex crime.
Acting U.S. Attorney Lynn Jordheim says 30-year-old Monty Mariner was convicted Thursday in Minot on charges of sexual abuse, assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon. He is to be sentenced Sept. 27.
Authorities say Mariner physically and sexually assaulted a woman inside a vehicle after leaving a house party in New Town last November. Jordheim says the woman suffered life-threatening injuries.
Dov Hikind disparaged any remaining trust survivors of sexual abuse had in him.
It is painstakingly lucid. DH talked the talk, but his inability to walk the walk suggest his political ambitions supersede even the darkest of horrors.
I know some victims of molestation who reached out to him, and they came away with a renewed feeling of helplessness and disenchantment.
One guy who poured his heart out to DH (and his team) told me - all they want to hear is stories, but if you expect any ACTION on their part, you're in for a huge disappointment!
Untreated prostate cancer no death sentence
5:37pm EDT
By Frederik Joelving
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even without treatment, only a small minority of men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer die from the disease, Swedish researchers reported Friday.
Drawing from a national cancer register, they estimated that after 10 years prostate cancer would have killed less than three percent of these men.
"What the data is showing is that for most patients with low-risk cancer, there is no need to panic," said Grace Lu-Yao, a cancer researcher who was not involved in the new study. "Prostate cancer really is no longer a fatal disease."
With modern screening tests, said Lu-Yao, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick, many prostate cancers are found that might never have developed into serious disease. In such cases, the slight reduction of risk by surgically removing the prostate or treating it with radiation may not outweigh the substantial side effects of these treatments.
In the Swedish study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers compared deaths among more than 6,800 men with prostate cancer who underwent treatment -- surgery or radiation -- or were simply monitored regularly by their doctors, the so-called "watchful waiting" approach. With watchful waiting, patients are only treated if their cancer progresses.
The men, who were younger than 70, had low- or intermediate-risk cancers, as judged by several factors, including blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason score, a measure of abnormal cells in the prostate.
After about eight years, 20 percent of the men in the watchful waiting group had died, almost twice as many as in the treatment group. However, the number of deaths was no different than what would be expected in the general population. Less than three percent had actually died from prostate cancer, and those who weren't treated turned out also to be sicker in the first place.
The researchers calculated that of those men with low-risk cancer, 2.4 percent would die from the disease within 10 years without treatment. While this number was about three times higher than in men who had had surgery or radiation therapy, it wasn't clear how much of the difference was due to worse general health in the men who didn't get treatment.
The Swedish findings jibe with earlier results, including a large US study.
Given the overall low death risk, the researchers said watchful waiting "appears to be suitable" for many men with low-risk prostate cancer.
Instead of panicking, Lu-Yao said, men diagnosed with this type of cancer should see it as "a wake-up call, an opportunity to improve their health," for instance by exercising more and eating a more healthy diet. That, she said, was much more likely to influence their chances of living a long life.
SOURCE: link.reuters.com/quj82m and link.reuters.com/ruj82m Journal of the National Cancer Institute, online June 18, 2010.
Exclusive
New people come
forward saying Rabbi
Baruch Lebovits
molested them, too
BY Simone Weichselbaum
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, June 20th 2010, 4:00 AM
Ward for NewsRabbi Baruch Lebovits looks over his
shoulder while in court. The once-revered cantor is
sentenced to 10 to 32 years in prison in April.
New sex abuse allegations - at least one stretching
back more than a decade - are surfacing against a
once-respected Brooklyn rabbi recently convicted of
molesting a teen.
A 29-year-old Borough Park man went to cops last
week saying that Rabbi Baruch Lebovits fondled him
in a ritual bath, known as a mikvah, when he was
just a teen.
Several more men have reached out to police to
share stories of sexual abuse at the hands of
Lebovits, sources said.
"What he is charged with is the tip of the iceberg,"
said one law enforcement source.
Lebovits was sentenced in April to 10 to 32 years in
prison for sex assaults on a 16-year-old boy - a
stunning turn in the life of a cantor who led popular
religious services in Brooklyn and upstate.
The conviction appears to have drawn out other
men who now say Lebovits victimized them for
years, cops said.
Even if they are true, the new allegations would have
happened too long ago to be prosecuted.
But Lebovits, who is in prison, still has plenty of
legal troubles.
On Wednesday, a Brooklyn judge is supposed to
decide whether two additional sex-abuse cases
against the rabbi can continue: an 18-year-old man
told cops that Lebovits attacked him in a car two
years ago; and a 22-year-old man said Lebovits
abused him starting when he was 12 , and
continued until he was 16.
"He is a grand-molester," said the father of the
victim whose testimony led to the April conviction.
"He is in his 50s and he is still molesting kids."
His name has been linked with other high-profile
incidents in the tight-knit Hasidic community.
After Borough Park newlywed Motty Borger killed
himself in November, a newspaper report - citing an
unnamed source - claimed the 24-year-old man had
said he was molested by Lebovits.
"Totally not true," said the groom's dad, Shmuel
Borger.
"When a Hasidic man gets indicted, he will lose the
case. That's how the system is. They want to make
an example out of [Lebovits] to the community.
That's what they did," Borger said.
In May, 28-year-old Meir Dascalowitz of
Williamsburg was charged with molesting a 12-
year-old boy in a mikvah. Police said Dascalowitz
told cops that he had been abused by Lebovits as a
teen.
Still, Lebovits has hordes of supporters. Court
hearings are packed with men who support him.
Lebovits, a cantor at Borough Park's Munkatch
synagogue, sang at upstate Jewish concerts, where
he gained a large fan base among religious men.
"Anybody who is going through pain and suffering
should be supported," said Mordechai Mandelbaum,
57, founder of the kosher soup kitchen nonprofit
Masbia and a familiar fixture in the courtroom
during Lebovits' trial in March.
"The allegations didn't seem to hold water. And I
don't trust the secular court is the place to find
justice," Mandelbaum said.
His stance is common in his community.
"They are rallying behind Lebovits because their
feeling is this problem should be dealt in religious
court, not secular court," said defense attorney
Israel Fried, who represents many Hasidim,
including Dascalowitz.
Lebovits' family has put their faith in the secular
courts in at least one area - they are hoping he wins
an appeal of his conviction.
The family "hopes the truth will come out in the
justice system," said Lebovits' 42-year-old son,
Chaim.
simonew@nydailynews.com
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/the-mysterious-death-of-an-orthodox-jewish-millionaire-murder-or-suicide-1.297461
-------------------------------------
The New York medical examiner ruled Solomon Obstfeld's June 9 death a suicide, but family and friends insist Obstfeld was murdered after a dispute with an Israeli rabbi.
This the reason pedophiles in the Jewish community thrive. They have guys like Mordechai Mandelbaum who have a very dangerous outlook.
Treatment for a sexual
predator costs a
whopping $175,000
per person per year in
New York: study
BY Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, June 21st 2010
The average annual cost of treating a locked-up sex
offender is $96,000 (in New York State that number
jumps to $175,000) – about twice what it would cost
to put him through an Ivy League university,
according to a nationwide Associated Press
analysis. All told, the 20 states with “civil
commitment” laws aimed at keeping sex offenders
behind bars will spend close to $500 million this
year on housing and treatment for more than 5,000
inmates.
The programs, formed back when states were more
flush with cash than they are in the current
recession, were meant to keep dangerous sex
offenders considered capable of striking again
locked up once they’d served their time. But the
civil commitment programs are setting the states
back by hundreds of millions of dollars annually
and creating a problem for legislators. They must
trim budgets but don’t want to be perceived by their
constituents as soft on child molesters and other
sex predators, reports the AP.
“I’ve heard people in a lot of the states quietly say,
‘Oh, my God, I wish we’d never gotten this law,”
University of Maryland School of Law Prof. Lawrence
Fitch told the AP. “No one would ever dare offer
repeal because it’s just untenable.”
At a Moose Lake, Minn., facility, 400 sex offenders
divide their time between group-therapy sessions
and activities like painting state-park signs.
Minnesota plans an expansion at Moose Lake, which
resembles a medium-security prison.
What makes facilities like this one so expensive is
the cost of all the treatment staff – behavioral
therapists, social workers, psychiatrists and
psychologists. For example, there is a treatment
team consisting of five or six people for every 25 to
50 offenders at the Moose Lake facility.
Overall, the cost of keeping sex offenders in
treatment costs more than five times what it does to
keep offenders incarcerated, reports the AP, and this
doesn’t include all the legal expenses incurred
when committing someone.
Some wonder if the programs are even effective.
Research shows treatment can only lower a sexual
predator’s chances of committing another sex crime
slightly – by a little less than 20%, Fitch told the AP.
As lawmakers with less money in hand continue to
make cuts to education and health care, some
wonder how viable the civil commitment programs
are.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Lock everybody up and throw away
the key,’ ” state Rep. Michael Paymar (D-St. Paul) told
the AP. But, added Paymar, who heads a public-s
afety budget panel, “It’s just not practical.”
How much does a single castration cost?
cut off or out the sexual hormones and be rid of these miscreants forever............taxdollars at work again by idiots who think they can change the world with our monies!
Poland uses chemical castration. Why not us?
An American-born rabbi living in Australia has been cleared of multiple fraud-related charges over a Hebrew school.
Rabbi Yossi Engel and his wife, Chana, were cleared Tuesday in Magistrates’ Court in Adelaide on 39 counts of dishonestly dealing with documents relating to the Spirit of David Hebrew School, which prosecutors claimed was a scam in order to receive government grants of $50,000.
The case against the Engels was dismissed after police tendered no evidence, despite an investigation dating back several years.
“I can get on with serving the people of South Australia,” Rabbi Engel said outside the court. “My name is now clear. I'm incredibly grateful to God for this, and I'm extremely happy now that I'm able to do what I want to do, which is serve the people of South Australia and the Jewish community here.”
The Engels maintained their innocence from the moment the allegations were raised in 2007.
Engel, 41, a Chabad-Lubavitcher from New York, moved to Adelaide in 1998 and was appointed to the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation, but his tenure was terminated in December 2006, sparking an acrimonious legal battle that split the community and wound up in the Supreme Court of South Australia. The judge ruled in favor of the city’s only Orthodox synagogue.
Engel then opened his own Chabad congregation, which is believed to draw 30 to 40 worshipers on Shabbat.
Adelaide, a dwindling Jewish community on the edge of the Australian Outback, has fewer than 1,000 members, a small Jewish school that has been battling to stave off closure and a Progressive temple.
One less pedophile means less danger. Why so much honor for MJ?
-
Friday, June 25 will mark the one-year anniversary of the death of pop icon, Michael Jackson. To commemorate the occasion, CNN will run a special “Michael Jackson: His Final days,” set to air on the anniversary of his death at 8:00 PM, EST.
http://www.nerdles.com/2010/06/22/michael-jackson-one-year-later/
A Baltimore school police officer was found guilty Tuesday of sexually abusing a 16-year-old student in his office at Masonville Cove Community Academy last year.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Gale E. Rasin found Reginald Watson guilty of sexual abuse of a minor, fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault, saying that she believed the victim's testimony to be credible and consistent. Sentencing is set for Aug. 16.
Watson, 36, who is free on $50,000 bond, could be sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexual abuse of a minor, 10 years for second-degree assault and one year for the fourth-degree sex offense.
Continued...
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-ci-school-police-trial-20100622,0,4769123.story
Why 27 years for Rubashkin, but zero time (or very little) for "frum" child molesters?
The system is all messed up.
Subject: statue of limitations for child abuse
Answered By: lakers
Asked By: jean30
jean30 asked this question on 5/10/2000:
Is there a statue of limitations regarding child abuse? If so .. is it different by state? Or is this a Federal Law?
lakers gave this response on 5/10/2000:
Most states have laws limiting the time during which crimes other than murder may be prosecuted. All states have time limitations for bringing a lawsuit to recover money for damages from the wrongdoing of another- a civil action. In recent years, many states have adopted extensions to their criminal and civil statutes of limitation for cases of child sexual abuse and in certain other sexual assault cases. The length of extension varies greatly between the states.
The majority of states that limit the time within which criminal prosecutions must be brought extends the time for cases of sexual offenses against children. Those states have recognized the power imbalance between child victims and the adult perpetrators, who are often family members. Child victims are more easily intimidated by offenders. The position of authority occupied by the perpetrator also enables the offender to confuse the child, by assuring the child that the sexual conduct is not wrongful and/or threatening the child with terrible consequences if he/she discloses the activity. This makes reporting of offenses less likely. Moreover, child victims may be too young to know how or what to report. States also recognize that child victims may suffer memory repression or severe psychological trauma from the nature of the offense. For all these reasons, most legislatures have extended the limitations period for the prosecution of child sexual offenses.
Some states have NO TIME LIMITATION for the prosecution of most sexual offenses against children. These include: Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. You would have to refer to the state statutes to see specific crimes this is meant for.
In addition, several states have NO STATUTE of LIMITATION for prosecutions of the most serious form of sexual assault, regardless of the age of the victim. These include Florida, Indiana, Mississippi,New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.
Most other states have some form of extension of the limitation period. Generally these extensions are set out in the statute, but in a few jurisdictions this is simply a matter of law as created by court decisions (common law). The extension of time may be based on: a set number of years from the date of the crime; the date the child reaches majority; the date the crime is first reported to law enforcement or another governmental agency; the date the victim discovers the crime or some combination of extensions.
Even in states where there is an extended time limitation to prosecute someone for sexual abuse of a child, in some older cases of molestaiton there may not have been a criminal law in effect at the time of abuse that prohibited that particular conduct. Check with prosecutorial agencies in the jurisdiction where the abuse took place if there are any questions about this.
Regarding civil actions, as of 1997 28 states had adopted an extension of time limitation based on the "discovery" of child sexual abuse or its effects. In other states, common law might extend the time limitations.
As for federal law, I have no information. The federal jurisdiction over these cases is usually rare.
Visit your local law library or see if your state posts its statutes on the internet for further questions.
The average rating for this answer is 5.
jean30 rated this answer a 5.
Fantastic!!! Thank you ;-)
Very interesting to note the outpouring of support for Sholom Rubashkin, with almost all the Jewish papers using strong language, such as "Massacre," "Travesty" of justice.
Where is the same outcry by these same papers for victims abused by Kolko and the man who aided and abetted his acts, Lipa Margulis?
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