What's in the mind of a child killer?
Photo credit: amNY
What on earth could compel a man to kill and chop up a little boy, keeping the child's dismembered feet in his refrigerator?It’s possible that Levi Aron, 35, the Kensington man accused of killing 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky, might be severely mentally ill or have a personality disorder. But “most of us gravitate to thinking that this fellow was a pedophile,” who allegedly killed the child for sexual excitement or to prevent him from telling anyone about a sexual assault, said N.G. Berrill, director of New York Forensic, a behavioral science consultant group.
Aron reportedly told cops he killed the boy in a panic, but that explanation didn’t wash with experts.
“That’s an after-the-fact statement offenders make,” to obscure actual motives, said Stanton Samenow, author of “Inside the Criminal Mind.” “There may have been sexual interest and there are very high odds there was sexual contact,” Samenow said.
Sometimes “there is sexual gratification in the dismemberment itself,” added Louis Schlesinger, a professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College and author of “Sexual Murder: Catathymic and Compulsive Homicide.”
The boy’s feet may have been kept as some sort of “trophy” or “prize,” possibly to be used for sexual gratification at a later time, Berrill added.
Rarely do such crimes occur out of the blue, nor are they out of character, said Samenow. While little is known at this point about the suspect, Samenow said that forensic investigations usually reveal a history of atypical, antisocial behaviors which may include deviant sexual interests, an extensive fantasy life, the need to control others, an inability to get along with peers or to respond in a constructive way to life’s challenges, and a track record of intimidating, deceptive, and even violent behavior.
Aron may have been abused himself, added Berrill, explaining that for some victims, committing violent acts is a way for them to “relive the experience” of their own childhoods but in the role of the aggressor.
But no history of abuse can justify the murder of an innocent child.
“People who commit terrible crimes come from all walks of life. It’s not the environment that makes them violent, but the way they respond and the way they think,” Samenow said. “Typically, these people who have a brother or sister who grew up in the same environment, but who do not rush out and kill eight-year-olds,” he added.
The Kletzky murder rivets the attention of all New York in part because stranger abductions of children are “enormously, enormously rare,” in the words of Schlesinger. And they are almost inconceivable in the Orthodox community, which is believed by researchers to have lower rates of substance abuse and violence than society at large.
Parents need not put their children on lock-down out of fear for their safety, Schlesinger stressed, noting the Casey Anthony case is more representative of most child murders.
“The typical person who kills a child is the child’s mother, father, step father or another member of the family,” Schlesinger said.
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The Accused Killer in His Own Words
Read a partial transcript of the confession that police say Levi Aron gave during questioning
This transcript has been edited to remove parts of an extremely graphic nature. It has not been edited for clarity. These are the suspect's words as written on a legal pad during questioning, according to law enforcement sources.
My name is Levi Aron... On Monday evening around 5:30 I went to my dentist, Dr. Sorcher, to make a payment for visit for exam routine.
A boy approached me on where the Judaica book store was. He was still there when went out from the dentist’s office. He asked me for a ride to the Judaica book store. While on the way he changed his mind and wasn’t sure where he wanted to go.
So I asked if he wanted to go for the ride -- wedding in Monsey -- since I didn’t think I was going to stay for the whole thing since my back was hurting. He said ok.
Due to traffic, I got back around 11:30 p.m. … so I brought him to my house thinking I’d bring him to his house the next day. He watched TV then fell asleep in the front room. I went to the middle room to sleep. That next morning, he was still sleeping when I was ready to leave.
So I woke him and told him I’ll bring him to his house… when I saw the flyers I panicked and was afraid. When I got home he was still there so I made him a tuna sandwich....
Afterwards -- I panicked because I didn’t know what to do with the body.… carried parts to the back room placing parts between the freezer and the refrigerator …
… went to clean up a little then took a second shower. I panicked and .. Then putting the parts in a suitcase. Then carrying suitcase to the car …placing in backseat on floor behind passenger side.
… drove around approximately around 20 minutes before placing it in the dumpster on 20th street just before 4th Avenue. Then went home to clean and organize.
I understand this may be wrong and I’m sorry for the hurt that I have caused.
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38 comments:
Leiby Kletzky tragedy: Tips on how to talk to your kids about strangers and street dangers
The horrific murder of Leiby Kletzky, the 8-year-old Brooklyn boy who was abducted Monday while walking home from day camp, has sent shockwaves through New York City and panic and sorrow in the hearts of parents and neighbors.
Tragedies like this prove more than ever that there’s no such thing as too much communication between parents and children about street safety, not talking to strangers and steering clear of danger.
An estimated 797,500 children are reported missing each year, according to National Center of Missing & Exploited Children. While the vast majority return home safely, many are not so lucky.
"If there's one thing that kids need to know is that when they're in a situation with a stranger, they' don't need to be polite," said Nancy McBride, the national safety director of the Center for Missing and Exploited Chidren. "We raise our kids to be nice to adults and to be well behaved. But in a situation where they are feeling uncomfortable, all they need to know is that they should get away, fast."
McBride suggests sitting down with your kids and calmly talking to them about keeping away from danger. Let them ask questions to make sure you're on the same page.
Here are 10 tips on how to keep your kids safe.
1. Safety in numbers: Tell your child to take a friend with him when walking or riding bikes. When standing at a bus stop, tell them to stay with their group and not wander off.
2. Take the same route: Tell your children to always go home the same way and never to take shortcuts. Kids can get lost or end up in areas that aren’t well-lit or safe.
3. Help him remember: Help your child remember his route by pointing out landmarks to keep him on the right track. Walk the route with him and make sure he knows it forward and backward.
4. Go to a crowded place: If your child gets lost or turned around tell him to look for a place where there are a lot of people. If there are no police officers around, going inside a retail location and telling a person wearing a name tag that he is lost is a good idea.
5. Use your outside voice: It’s important for your child to know that it’s okay to SCREAM and SHOUT when he's in danger. Tell them its okay to kick and scream and make a racket and to shout at the top of their lungs, "Help! This person is not my mother/father!" or "This person is trying to take me!"
6. Not all strangers are scary: Tell your child that while a grownup may seem nice or offering something that seems harmless, it's never appropriate for an adult to ask a small child for directions or offer him money or presents.
7. Car safety: Does your child think it’s safe to get in the car with a grownup, even one he's seen around the neighborhood? Tell him that he is never, ever to get in a car with anyone unless you have given express permission.
8. Keep in touch: Tell your kids how important it is for you to know where they are. Tell them to never, ever leave school or an event without checking with you first.
9. Emergency contacts: Make sure schools, camps, and extracurricular activity coordinators have updated and correct emergency contact information. That way, if your child does go missing, no time will be wasted trying to contact you. Make your child knows where to find you and has all your phone numbers.
10. Street smarts: Your child has instincts – tell him to use them! If someone is making them uncomfortable or giving them the creeps, tell them to RUN and tell a trusted adult, like a teacher or family member.
Need more help talking to your kids about street safety? Go to missingkids.com for free tools and expert advice.
I wonder if the boy had a cellphone to reach his parents during his walk could this horrific tragedy have been prevented.
I know many parents who keep in contact with their children that way. Many cell phone carriers also offer the ability to track the phones movements and whereabouts through GPS technology.
Published July 14, 2011 | Associated Press
A man accused of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old boy who asked him for directions was ordered Thursday to undergo a psychological evaluation after his lawyer told a judge that his client might be mentally ill.
"He has indicated to me that he hears voices and has had some hallucinations," attorney Pierre Bazile said.
Levi Aron is charged with luring Leiby Kletzky to his home on Monday, and then smothering him and chopping him up when he learned that a search was under way for the missing Brooklyn boy. Detectives found the child's feet in Aron's freezer.
The 35-year-old Aron pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon at his arraignment at a Brooklyn courthouse. He entered the courtroom looking disheveled and pale.
As he was led out from the courthouse holding pens, other inmates screamed obscenities at him.
Police and prosecutors have said he has confessed to the crime.
Investigators have said that Leiby may have been tied up and tried to fight off his captor before he was killed.
At a news conference, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Aron had scratches on his arms, wrists and elsewhere -- a sign "there was some kind of struggle." There also were marks on the boy's remains that could have been caused by restraints, the commissioner added.
A preliminary medical examination indicates Leiby was "smothered or suffocated," but it remained unclear when that happened, Kelly said.
Kelly also confirmed reports that Aron had given a written confession in Leiby's gruesome slaying that ended with, "I'm sorry for the hurt that I caused."
Beyond that, "he hasn't expressed any remorse," Kelly said.
Leiby vanished late Monday afternoon after getting lost during what was supposed to have been a seven-block walk from his day camp to where his mother was waiting for him.
New York Police Department investigators later used a surveillance video to trace the missing boy to Aron, a hardware supply store clerk whom the boy had apparently asked for directions.
Detectives found the boy's severed feet, wrapped in plastic, in the man's freezer, as well as a cutting board and three bloody carving knives. A plastic garbage bag with bloody towels was nearby.
Aron, 35, told investigators that after taking Leiby off the street Monday, he brought the boy to a wedding in the suburb of Monsey and spent several hours there, Kelly said. Other guests at the wedding confirmed Aron was there but didn't see the boy, the commissioner added.
By the time the pair returned to the city, it was so late that Aron decided to take Leiby to his home to sleep and left him there Tuesday when he went to work, according to the police version of the confession. Kelly said the hardware supply store confirmed that he showed up as usual that day.
The suspect told police he killed Leiby when he got home after being spooked by a massive search for the boy in his tight-knit Hasidic community in Borough Park.
"When I saw the fliers, I panicked and was afraid," he said, according to police.
Aron also recounted how he dismembered Leiby in details Kelly said were too "grotesque" to make public.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/14/nyc-boy-possibly-tied-up-before-being-killed-police-say/#ixzz1S6wZhMjl
The following is the full text of the confession as published by NBC New York:
My name is Levi Aron... On Monday evening around 5:30 I went to my dentist, Dr. Sorcher, to make a payment for visit for exam routine.
A boy approached me on where the Judaica book store was. He was still there when went out from the dentist's office. He asked me for a ride to the Judaica book store. While on the way he changed his mind and wasn't sure where he wanted to go.
So I asked if he wanted to go for the ride - wedding in Monsey - since I didn't think I was going to stay for the whole thing since my back was hurting. He said ok.
Due to traffic, I got back around 11:30 p.m. ... so I brought him to my house thinking I'd bring him to his house the next day. He watched TV then fell asleep in the front room. I went to the middle room to sleep. That next morning, he was still sleeping when I was ready to leave.
So I woke him and told him I'll bring him to his house... when I saw the flyers I panicked and was afraid. When I got home he was still there so I made him a tuna sandwich....
I was still in a panic ... and afraid to bring him home. That is when approximately I went for a towel to smother him in the side room. He fought back a little bit until eventually he stopped breathing.
Afterwards I panicked because I didn't know what to do with the body.... carried parts to the back room placing parts between the freezer and the refrigerator ...
... went to clean up a little then took a second shower. I panicked and .. Then putting the parts in a suitcase. Then carrying suitcase to the car ...placing in backseat on floor behind passenger side.
... drove around approximately around 20 minutes before placing it in the dumpster on 20th street just before 4th Avenue. Then went home to clean and organize.
I understand this may be wrong and I'm sorry for the hurt that I have caused.
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- Police believe it was a crime of opportunity for alleged killer Levi Aron. But why would anyone dismember a child?
Dr. Michael Stone studies killers. He's a forensic psychiatrist with his own show on Discovery called "Most Evil." He's watching this case closely.
"They don't have the kind of compassion and ordinary ability to put themselves in the feelings of the other person," he said.
Dr. Stone said he believes the alleged killer could be a pedophile that was so blindsided by the aggressive search to find the boy, he killed the victim -- perhaps without raping the boy.
"The fact he dismembered the boy and put some of the body into the refrigerator, is not something you do if his only motive for some odd reason is to kill the boy," Dr. Stone said.
He compares this killer to Jeffrey Dahmer.
"In the case of Dahmer, as you know, chopped up the bodies and had skulls in the refrigerator when the police came," he said.
In both cases, Dahmer and Aron seemed like normal individuals -- the type of people you wouldn't expect to hurt anyone. Dr. Stone said that means it's difficult if not impossible to identify before a crime happens.
But in a case like this, he said there is one thing you can certainly teach your children.
"If you're lost and you have to trust a stranger, for God sakes, go for an older woman because she's not likely to force sex on you and carve you up," he said.
Dr. Stone said women are less likely to harm a child.
I think every child should carry a GPS device on their person to ensure maximum safety and security. I imagine it would pinpoint a location in real-time and prevent future tragedies.
Agudas Yisroel Of America reiterated its stance regarding reporting allegations of sexual abuse is to first go to "RABBIS" rather than the POLICE!
With that approach being emphasized by the same organization who defended Yudi Kolko, and now after the brutal murder of an innocent lost little boy, it shows how far into the muck they are.
What does the Noviminsker putz have to say about this happening in his own backyard? People should not pay attention to Agudah if they cannot abide by decent common sense when pertaining to the health and well-being of all children. This is the same Agudah who supports lawmakers who helped pass the recent, same gender marriage bill.
How dare the NY POST even print this article. The gantza velt does not have to know Agudah has a policy of shielding child predators, I don't want any reporters to turn this into a chilul hashem.
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The close-knit Orthodox Jewish community insists that rabbis, not the NYPD, get the first phone call about a suspected child abuser.
"There are prohibitions and a psychological fear about saying bad things about people or talking about negative things that bring shame," said Long Island psychologist Michael Salamon, author of the upcoming book "Abuse in the Jewish Community. "
The taboo had tragic consequences for Motty Borger, 24, who leapt to his death from a Williamsburg hotel the night after his wedding in November 2009. He had confided to relatives that he'd been molested while attending a yeshiva, but they never went to the police.
Another old law forbids turning a Jew over to secular authorities, for fear of anti-Semitism.
"In the Orthodox community, absent a homicide or murder, the people are encouraged not to go to the police," said Michael Dowd, a lawyer who represents victims of clergy sex abuse.
The Post reported yesterday that Leiby Kletzky's accused killer, Levi Aron, had allegedly tried to snatch another young boy near his house but that it wasn't reported to the cops.
A leading ultra-Orthodox group, Agudath Israel of America, recently affirmed that someone who suspects sexual abuse by a community member must first consult a rabbi "with experience in these issues."
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/orthodox_rules_shield_fiends_from_R62qnl0P6LciaRXSQKWu8H#ixzz1SPoS43My
So a neighbour tries to kidnap your son and you do not report it to the authorities but are fine with telling reporters after another kid gets murdered? I can understand that she probably didn't want anyone to think that there could be murderous paedophiles in that nice Jewish community, but that's a joke.
It seems the ‘Butcher of Brooklyn’ almost succeeded in kidnapping another boy just three doors away from his home.
Levi Aron, 35, of Brooklyn, New York, has admitted suffocating eight-year-old Leiby Kletzky with a bath towel in his apartment.
Now his neighbour Zisa Berkowitz alleges that he tried to kidnap her young son but she scared him off by screaming.
Police have already spoken to Ms Berkowitz and she told the New York Post that the story is ‘true’ and she is going through ‘a lot of trauma’.
The alleged incident happened in the last two years and was reportedly in addition to another failed kidnap attempt around a week before the Leiby murder.
Stanley Patz has been conditioned to expect his telephone to ring whenever a child goes missing, so he was bracing when he heard about the disappearance of an 8-year-old boy, Leiby Kletzky, last week in Brooklyn.
Yet this time, Mr. Patz, whose 6-year-old son, Etan, vanished off a Manhattan street in 1979, responded with an idea to help head off more kidnappings. After brooding over Leiby’s murder for a few days, Mr. Patz wondered, why not put a basic, emergency cellphone in the hands of every child? At the press of a button, children who are lost or in danger could dial 911, Mr. Patz reasoned.
And, if the phones had global-positioning chips in them, they could help authorities track a child’s whereabouts.
Perhaps, he added, it would be known as a “Leiby phone.”
“This little boy, even though he had rehearsed the route with his mother, he didn’t make the correct turn, then he realized he was lost and had to ask for directions,” Mr. Patz. “If he had this cellphone on his person, he could have called his mother.”
He thinks it would be feasible for cellphone manufacturers and service providers to make simple, potentially life-saving phones available free, possibly as part of family calling plans, he said in an interview on Saturday.
Mr. Patz conceded that he had not discussed his idea with anybody in the telephone business and had no estimate of what his plan might cost.
The concept of a stripped-down phone intended as a lifeline for young children has been tried before. Firefly Mobile, an eight-year-old company, has been marketing basic phones for children for several years. For a while, its products were available through Cingular Wireless, a provider that was acquired by AT&T, but they were not free. Representatives of Firefly and AT&T could not be reached over the weekend for comment.
But for his part, Mr. Patz was gripped by the belief that there was a way that modern technology could reduce the chances that more parents would suffer the way that he and the Kletzkys have.
“Every time a kid goes missing, reporters often call me up and say, ‘What’s your reaction?’ This time, I have a legitimate reaction,” Mr. Patz said.
If someone had paid more attention to the Aron Levis, the Charles Mansons and the Casey Anthonys of the world, then maybe eight year-old Leiby Kletzky would be running and skipping and jumping like any other eight year-old kid, and his parents would still be tucking him in at night.
When something horrific like this happens, we cry "monster" and want to hang the perpetrator from the nearest tree. But I ask myself, does God create monsters? I hope not. Does God create very ill, disturbed individual? It would appear so. When someone commits a heinous act like this, I always ask, "Where was the help when he needed it?"
By all accounts, Levi has showed signs of instability for years. Everything about him cried out for help. Where was his community then? Why didn't anyone do anything before he committed such an unspeakable act?
This country has a deplorable lack of mental health programs. The reason you don't see as much of this type of crime in Europe is that have a mental health structure that intervenes when someone first shows signs of instability.
In America, just the act of seeking out a mental health professional carries the stigma of shame and disgrace. Careers are ruined. What would the neighbors say? We are told "snap out of it, pull yourself together, get over it." Or worse, "Pray and God will provide."
Only when we can moved past the stigma of mental illness--and find a way to pay for it--will be able to let our kids walk home unafraid.
When something happens to a child, especially something this monumentally gruesome, people are at a loss. They want to know why. Since there is no answer to this question, they look for the next best thing: HOW? This tragedy has brought up a debate among parents about how loose we hold the reins on our children. But that question brings up others. Are we suggesting that this tragedy was their fault? Leiby Kletzky’s parents may have made a choice some see as questionable, but their choice was not unconsidered. They debated, discussed, even practiced the walk with their son. 8 is quite young to walk alone in a city, but in a neighborhood police describe as a “zero crime area” should it really be too young?
Is allowing your child out onto the street alone “asking for it”?
On a question originally intended for Free-Range Parent Lenore Skenazy’s blog, but re-routed to his own site. Cul-De-Sac Hero contrasts our response to child abductions with the way we look at rape victims:
“What astounds me, is that any suggestions to women that they should moderate their behaviour to help them reduce the risk of becoming victims of rape – such as dressing appropriately for the situation, avoiding dark alleys and not drinking too much at parties – is called “victim blaming” and hateful and results in marches and protests.
http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2011/07/18/child-tragedies-why-blame-the-victims/
The father of slain Brooklyn boy Leiby Kletzky has said more security cameras could help prevent future crimes in his predominantly Jewish neighborhood.
Nachman Kletzky told a group of journalists and local elected officials that he hopes the tragic killing may spur installation of more cameras like the one that captured suspected killer Levi Aron walking with the doomed boy.
“It was good we had the surveillance video,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), after meeting with Kletzky. “Obviously, if you had more cameras there would be better odds of this being stopped before it happened.”
Councilman Brad Lander, who represents most of Borough Park, said the grieving father wanted his son’s legacy to be more prevention.
“He’s thinking about what we could do about security cameras to make sure there are no more Leibys,” Lander told the New York Post.
Leiby Kletzky, 8, was walking home from camp for the first time when he got lost last on Aug. 11. He asked Aron for directions and the man wound up abducting him, police said.
Aron, 35, who is facing murder charges, allegedly smothered the boy, then dismembered him. Kletzky’s body parts were found last Wednesday in Aron’s freezer and in a dumpster where he allegedly tossed them.
Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/140004/#ixzz1SUQhgV2T
Lipa Schmeltzer, 33 - revered by many as the "Jewish Elvis" - said he was moved to tears by the boy's death and was writing a song about him for an upcoming album.
"I wanted to write a song about this little boy," Schmeltzer said. "This was a special holy boy."
Schmeltzer said he would call the song "The Story of Leiby."
"So pure this little sheep. A poor soul. This little bird. he went home from school to the school which is in heaven," Schmeltzer sang for reporters outside the Kletzky family home in Borough Park after paying a shiva call.
"They invited me," he said. "Their son liked my songs very much."
Inside, Schmeltzer said he had recited the lyrics to Leiby's favorite song "As Long As You Are Alive" - a song about not stressing over small problems in life - after being asked by one of Leiby's sisters.
He spoke the lyrics, rather than sang them, as singing is barred during the mourning period.
"His story came to an end because of this black day that we had," he said. "Future generations of Leiby have vanished."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2011/07/17/2011-07-17_famed_hasidic_singer_lipa_schmeltzer_writing_song_to_honor_slain_brooklyn_boy_le.html#ixzz1SURkQsvZ
You would HAVE to be insane to do something like this but that doesn’t mean he didn’t realize that what he did was wrong. He knew it was wrong because he admitted to panicking when he saw the community frantically searching for the boy. If he didn’t know it was wrong he wouldn’t have “panicked”. I’m SICK of people hiding behind the insanity defense and justice never comes for their victims and the families. Enough is enough already.
Recognizing and Handling Dangerous Situations
Perhaps the most important way parents can protect their children is to teach them to be wary of potentially dangerous situations – this will help them when dealing with strangers as well as with known adults who may not have good intentions. Help children recognize the warning signs of suspicious behavior, such as when an adult asks them to disobey their parents or do something without permission, asks them to keep a secret, asks children for help, or makes them feel uncomfortable in any way. Also tell your children that an adult should never ask a child for help, and if one does ask for their help, teach them to find a trusted adult right away to tell what happened.
You should also talk to your children about how they should handle dangerous situations. One ways is to teach them “No, Go, Yell, Tell.” If in a dangerous situations, kids should say no, run away, yell as loud as they can, and tell a trusted adult what happened right away. Make sure that your children know that it is okay to say no to an adult in a dangerous situation and to yell to keep themselves safe, even if they are indoors. It’s good to practice this in different situations so that your children will feel confident in knowing know what to do. Here are a few possible scenarios:
A nice-looking stranger approaches your child in the park and asks for help finding the stranger's lost dog.
A woman who lives in your neighborhood but that the child has never spoken to invites your child into her house for a snack.
A stranger asks if your child wants a ride home from school.
Your child thinks he or she is being followed.
An adult your child knows says or does something that makes him or her feel bad or uncomfortable.
While your child is walking home from a friend’s house, a car pulls over and a stranger asks for directions.
What Else Parents Can Do
In addition to teaching children how to recognize and handle dangerous situations and strangers, there are a few more things parents can do to help their children stay safe and avoid dangerous situations.
Know where your children are at all times. Make it a rule that your children must ask permission or check in with you before going anywhere. Give your children your work and cell phone numbers so they can reach you at all times.
Point out safe places. Show your children safe places to play, safe roads and paths to take, and safe places to go if there’s trouble.
Teach children to trust their instincts. Explain that if they ever feel scared or uncomfortable, they should get away as fast as they can and tell an adult. Tell them that sometimes adults they know may make them feel uncomfortable, and they should still get away as fast as possible and tell another adult what happened. Reassure children that you will help them when they need it.
Teach your children to be assertive. Make sure they know that it’s okay to say no to an adult and to run away from adults in dangerous situations.
Encourage your children to play with others. There’s safety in numbers!
Read more: http://www.ncpc.org/topics/violent-crime-and-personal-safety/strangers
Just because Hynes said it does not appear Leiby Kletzky was sexually molested does not mean he wasn't. Furthermore this may have very well been a sexual murder motivated crime.
Sometimes “there is sexual gratification in the dismemberment itself,” added Louis Schlesinger, a professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College and author of “Sexual Murder: Catathymic and Compulsive Homicide.”
The boy’s feet may have been kept as some sort of “trophy” or “prize,” possibly to be used for sexual gratification at a later time, Berrill added.
The New York Daily News reports today that a Brooklyn councilman is proposing “Leiby’s Law,” named in honor of 8-year-old local boy Leiby Kletzky, who was murdered after becoming lost on his seven block route home from day camp, and asking the man indicted in the murder, Levi Aron, for directions.
In this law, local businesses could volunteer to be designated as safe havens for children who are lost or otherwise in trouble. Says the News: “Employees would undergo background checks and business owners would put a green sticker in their store windows so children know it’s a safe place to get help.”
Reade more at:
http://blogs.forbes.com/kiriblakeley/2011/07/21/leaving-little-lieby-a-better-legacy/
http://www.give2gether.com/projects/help-support-leiby-kletzky/
Question:
Tell me more about the Leiby Kletzky Memorial Fund
Answer:
The Fund will be managed by Leiby's parents, Nachman and Esther Kletzky, who will oversee distribution of funds along with their esteemed Rov, Rabbi Binyomin Eisenberger shlit"a.
The Leiby Kletzky Memorial Fund has been established under a recognized 501(c)(3) IRS tax exempt non-profit organization, Khal BLev Echod. For more information please call 718-838-1708 or email us at Leibykletzkyfund@gmail.com
Question:
Can I send a check?
Answer:
Yes. Make your check payable to the Leiby Kletzky Memorial Fund and send it to Nachman & Esty Kletzky c/o Rabbi Binyomin Eisenberger, 1448 56th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11219.
Contributions can also be made by credit or debit card. When Clicking on the "Donate" button, please enter your donation dollar amount and click on "donate" once again. Once you are redirected to a secure donation page on PayPal, look for the credit cards icon and click on the link "continue".
Excellently written, http://forward.com/articles/140150/
If Kamenetzky's latest ill timed statement is not enough to convince his staunchest supporters that he and the rest of the donkey daas torah of Agudath Israel Of America are nothing but a lousy, inadequate, abominable bunch - nothing will.
Kamenetsky: Report child abuse to rabbis, not police
July 21, 2011
(JTA) -- A leading American Orthodox rabbi, Shmuel Kamenetsky, said that child abuse should be reported to rabbis, not police.
Kamenetsky, the vice president of Agudath Israel of America's Supreme Council of Rabbinic Sages, said in a speech July 12 in Brooklyn that the sexual abuse of a child should be reported to a rabbi, who would then determine if the police should be called. He made the speech as a search was being conducted for an 8-year-old Brooklyn boy, Leiby Kletzky, whose dismembered body was found the following day in a dumpster and in the apartment of Levi Aron.
Aron was indicted Wednesday in the boy's murder.
A recording of the Kamenetsky speech in Flatbush first appeared July 17 on the Failed Messiah blog. Kamenetsky was repeating Agudath Israel of America's official policy banning Jews from reporting child sexual abuse to police, according to the blog.
A representative of the Shomrim, a volunteer civilian patrol in New York, told the New York Daily News that his organization keeps a list of alleged child molesters whom they have not reported to the police. The New York Jewish Week reported that it is possible that Aron may have been known to some in the haredi Orthodox community, but that they did not report him to the police.
"We call upon Agudath Israel of America's leadership to immediately retract these dangerous statements [by Kamenetsky]," Survivors for Justice, an advocacy, educational and support organization for survivors of sexual abuse and their families from the Orthodox world, said in a statement.
Where can I find myself a boy slave?
An Orthodox Jewish Brooklyn woman was repeatedly raped and turned out for prostitution over eight years by her assailants, who used the threat of harm to her family to keep her in line, authorities said yesterday.
The horror began when the victim was just 13.
Ringleader Damien Crooks, who has 37 arrests and six convictions, along with Jamali Brockett, raped the girl in a Crown Heights park in 2003 -- and once sold her on the street to a passer-by for $20, Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes charged.
"For years, defendant Crooks terrified this woman," Hynes said.
The victim still managed to graduate high school and attend college, where she confided her ordeal to her professor, a former assistant district attorney.
"She's a diamond in the rough. She did a great job segregating whatever happened in her life," the professor said.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/teen_made_sex_slave_for_years_gA310mvhvPjxrL7ICLI1NN#ixzz1T4i5IZu3
Yeshivah College shame on you!
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/synagogue-asks-alleged-child-molester-to-stand-down-20110719-1hne0.html
A SECURITY guard accused of sexually abusing boys from an Orthodox Jewish school in St Kilda East has been asked to stand down from the board of management of an Elwood synagogue until a police investigation into alleged paedophilia at the school is completed.
Several former students of Yeshivah College have lodged statements to police alleging they were molested by David Cyprys, a security guard who also taught karate.
The Elwood Talmud Torah Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue, has asked Mr Cyprys to stand down from his role as a committee member on the board of management.
President Hilton Meinrath told The Age Mr Cyprys had been a part of the synagogue for a number of years and they had never received any complaints.
Mr Meinrath said Mr Cyprys had a current government permit to work with children. But he said he had asked him to stand down voluntarily until the police investigation into alleged abuse at Yeshivah College was over. ''We will not take any further action until we know one way or another,'' Mr Meinrath said.
Mr Cyprys continued to work alongside children at Yeshivah Centre, which runs the school, despite pleading guilty to indecent assault in 1992. No conviction was recorded, but he was fined $1500 and ordered to be of good behaviour.
The former Yeshivah Centre director, Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner, was told of sexual abuse complaints against Mr Cyprys as early as 1996. Mr Cyprys's private security licence states he is employed by Yeshivah Centre.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/synagogue-asks-alleged-child-molester-to-stand-down-20110719-1hne0.html#ixzz1T9GY0fUy
We feel this is another case way too old to do anything now.
‘‘A SADISTIC predator’’ is how a victim has described the Christian Brother who abused him along with multiple other boys at schools in three cities, including Ballarat, between 1969 and 1988.
Several of Robert Charles Best’s victims are also pursuing civil action against him for the pain and suffering he has caused and also plan to issue common law writs against organisations including the church and the schools involved.
In a victim impact statement read to the County Court yesterday, one man, now in his 30s, accused the Catholic Church of being complicit in the disgraced priest’s crimes.
Another victim said: ‘‘You are evil, a coward and above all else, you are guilty’’.
Despite initially denying the abuse, Best, 70, was convicted by six juries and later pleaded guilty to several similar charges, including the buggery of a nine-year-old.
In total, he is to be sentenced for one count of buggery, 24 counts of unlawful and indecent assault of boys aged under 16, and two counts of aggravated indecent assault. His victims were aged between seven and 13.
All charges relate to when Best was working as a teacher – and in some cases was the principal – at St Alipius Primary School in Ballarat between 1963 and 1973, St Leo’s Christian College, Box Hill, between 1975 and 1985, and, St Joseph’s College, Geelong, from 1985 to 1988.
At his pre-sentence hearing, a victim described him as “a monster” and blamed him for his anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol problem and an attempted suicide.
“This bastard robbed me of a normal life and the simple pleasures that come with it,” he said.
“The church’s and RB’s dogged defence of their crimes has worked to rub salt into the wounds they inflicted. This denial is an affront to justice, by a supposedly just church (and) is deeply offensive to me. It’s disgusting.”
Another victim was given a “backhander” by a priest when he told him about Best’s abuse, and was told: “If you tell anyone what happened I will f---ing kill you’,” prosecutor Amanda Forrester said.
A rabbinical court has brought the long-hidden issue of sexual abuse in Montreal's Orthodox Jewish community out into the open.
In an advisory issued at the start of the summer-camp season, the Beit Din, a religious court, told parents to teach children about inappropriate touching, whether it's by another child, a relative or an authority figure.
The written notice said parents should explain to children it's an obligation — not a sin — to tell a parent or rabbi if an incident occurs.
The move is a departure for a community that's been accused in the past of sweeping the sensitive topic of sexual abuse under the carpet.
"That already is a huge step for the Orthodox community," said Diane Sasson, executive director of Auberge Shalom, a centre for women and children affected by conjugal violence.
That the Jewish court is acknowledging the existence of sexual abuse is a sign of progress, Sasson said.
But an expert on sexual abuse in the Orthodox community criticized the religious court for not telling parents to report incidents to police or youth-protection authorities.
"The Beit Din hijacks the criminal justice system because it supplants it and usurps the authority," charged Amy Neustein, editor of Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities and Child Sex Scandals.
Neustein lost custody of her six-year-old daughter in 1986 after she alleged her ex-husband molested the child. The sociologist also accused rabbinical courts of hushing up abuse.
"The Beit Din have become very proficient at obstructing justice," Neustein said in a telephone interview from Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Rabbinical+court+opens+abuse+debate+orthodox+community/5162525/story.html#ixzz1TGB0EroG
Now they realized oops we botched up. We had Kamentzkey reiterate our true stance on asking a rav, rather than going to police. The poor timing of it is more of a factor to them for the spin of words to control their dangerous protocol.
TOTAL HOGWASH!
Agudah in its statement referred to rabbinic arguments that authorities should be notified when a certain threshold of evidence is met, but “where the circumstances of the case do not rise to threshold level … the matter should not be reported to authorities.”
However, in order to distinguish whether the threshold has been met, the statement continued, “the individual shouldn’t rely exclusively on their own judgment … rather, he should present the facts to a Rabbi.”
I'm just fine now after meeting my colleagues in arms to discuss neutralizing my toxic statements. We acted out certain scenarios and decided to encourage victims to notify our Rabbis who will determine if your case meets the threshold.
Harav Shmuel Kamenetsky
What the hell is wrong with these people? First, Leibby Kletzky and now a great torah sage - both murdered by RELIGIOUS JEWS?
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday expressed his shock at the murder of Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeirahe, who was stabbed to death in the early hours of the morning.
"The rabbi was a spiritual leader to so many Israelis, he helped them with advice and charity, and very often he did this in secret," the prime minister said.
PM expresses shock at murder of Rabbi Abuchatzeira
Pedophile accidentally gives mom pics of child
By Daryl Slade, Calgary HeraldJuly 30, 2011curriebarracks
A man who inadvertently gave a mother a digital photo card that contained pornographic pictures of her daughter, believing there were only images of the girl dancing and singing, faces up to eight years in prison.
Crown prosecutor Jenny Rees argued that the 48 images discovered on the card provided by Bradley Shawn Lemire on Aug. 28, 2009, half of them pornographic, led to more than 2,000 other images of child pornography being found on the accused's computer after it was seized by police.
That collection included 228 images of the woman's four-year-old daughter and another young girl from 10 separate occasions.
"There were two victims, both very young, who were sexually exploited by pictures being taken of them," Rees, who argued for a total sentence of six to eight years, told provincial court Judge John Bascom on Friday.
"Young children are more vulnerable and are in need of protection by the courts. Courts have to send a message that abuse of the vulnerable will not be tolerated."
Lemire, 48, who has been diagnosed as a pedophile, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of making child porn and one count each of sexually touching one of the girls and possessing child porn.
Defence lawyer Dean Zuk argued for four to five years for all of the charges, saying it was not a commercial endeavour in which the images were distributed to anyone else.
He also noted the touching was indirect and could warrant a concurrent sentence.
"Mr. Lemire says it was not right what he did. He says it was wrong," said Zuk.
"He has admitted responsibility, he knows he is facing prison time and he wants treatment."
Bascom said sex offender treatment is "absolutely necessary" for Lemire. But he added if the man doesn't "buy into treatment" it won't be successful. Court heard previously from the girl's mother that there had been rumours among family and friends of Lemire's questionable behaviour around children that caused some parents to not leave him alone with them.
The woman said in her victim impact statement that she never expected to find pornographic pictures of children when Lemire gave her the digital photo card from his camera.
She said she opened a file called "BAD" and discovered several photos of naked girls as young as four years old, and reported it to police.
Bascom adjourned sentencing, to consider both sides' arguments, until Aug. 15.
dslade@calgaryherald.com
Seventy-two people have been charged with participating in an international child pornography network that prosecutors say used an online bulletin board called Dreamboard to trade tens of thousands of images and videos of sexually abused children.
Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday a 20-month law enforcement effort called Operation Delego targeted more than 600 Dreamboard members around the world for allegedly participating in the private, members-only Internet club created to promote pedophilia.
Numerous participants in the network sexually abused children ages 12 and under, produced images and video of the abuse and then shared it with other club members, according to court papers released in the case.
At a news conference at the Justice Department, the attorney general called the criminal activity a "nightmare" for the children and said that some of the children featured in the images and videos were just infants.
In many cases, the children being victimized were in obvious, and intentional, pain - even in distress and crying, just as the rules for one area of the bulletin board mandated, the attorney general said.
Fifteen arrested Dreamboard participants personally created child pornography, according to the Justice Department.
Napolitano said the amount of child porn swapped by participants in the network was massive, the equivalent to 16,000 DVDs. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who heads Justice's criminal division, called the criminal enterprise "a living horror."
Of the 72 charged in the United States, 43 have been arrested in this country and nine abroad. Another 20 are known to authorities only by their Internet names and remain at large.
Authorities have arrested people in 13 other countries — Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Hungary, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Qatar, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland, but some of those were arrested on local rather than the U.S. charges.
The U.S. indictments were unsealed in Shreveport. La.
To conceal their conduct, members used screen names rather than actual names and accessed the bulletin board via proxy servers, with Internet traffic routed through other computers to disguise a user's location, according to the court papers.
Participants were required to continually upload images of child sexual abuse to maintain their membership.
Participants who molested children and created new images of child pornography were placed in a "Super VIP" category that gave them access to the entire quantity of child porn on the bulletin board, the court papers stated.
A "Super Hardcore" section of the bulletin board was limited to posts showing adults having violent sexual intercourse with "very young kids" subjected to physical and sexual abuse.
All 72 U.S. defendants are charged with conspiring to advertise and distribute child pornography, and 50 of them are also charged with engaging in a child pornography enterprise. Thirteen of the 52 defendants who have been arrested have pleaded guilty in the conspiracy. Of the four who have been sentenced, the least amount of prison time was 20 years behind bars and the most was 30 years.
Why bother preying on orphans in Africa when there are plenty boys and girls to abuse locally.
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http://news.yahoo.com/african-children-may-stopped-sex-predator-160503360.html
GREYTOWN, South Africa (AP) — The words of little children from an isolated town in rural South Africa may have stopped an international sex predator.
U.S. investigators say Jesse Osmun confessed that as a Peace Corps volunteer, he for months sexually molested at least five girls at a South African shelter for AIDS orphans and other children. None of the girls were older than 6.
In a Twitter account and blogs, Osmun portrayed himself as a champion of Africa and wrote about working with children. Before coming to South Africa, where he started work at the shelter in March 2010, Osmun volunteered at an orphanage in Kenya, where the director said he did no harm. Osmun also wrote of seeking other international aid work before his arrest last week.
His do-gooder identity may have helped cover a darker side. Then the little girls spoke.
"They were frightened. They were brave to tell. They did something very important," said Samkele Mhlongo, a Greytown police translator who helped an American investigator interview two of the victims from the Umvoti AIDS Centre where Osmun volunteered.
Mhlongo said the children, shown pictures of Osmun, said they described being instructed by him to perform oral sex, and afterward being given candy and warnings not to tell anyone what had happened. Mhlongo said Osmun showed the children child pornography stored on his computer.
According to an investigator's affidavit submitted to the Connecticut court that will try Osmun, a teacher saw Osmun follow three girls into a building at Umvoti on May 24. The teacher followed after a few minutes, and saw Osmun with his back to her, one of the girls near him. Osmun appeared startled and zipped up his pants. A girl later told the teacher about being asked to perform oral sex.
Teaneck rabbi charged with sexual contact with 2 boys
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
BY HOWARD PROSNITZ
STAFF WRITER
Teaneck Suburbanite
TEANECK - A Teaneck Rabbi has been charged with two counts of aggravated sexual conduct and two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor. Rabbi Uvi Rivlin, 63, of Lindbergh Boulevard, was arrested at his home on Tuesday by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Sex Crime Unit and Teaneck Police. The FBI was also involved in the investigation. Rivlin was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $175,000 bail with no 10 percent option.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BERGEN COUNTY PROSECTOR'S OFFICE
Rivlin is alleged to have engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with two 13-year-old boys from Israel who were staying at his home.
The boys were visiting the area through a program, in part, sponsored by Rivlin called the Scholarship Fund for the Advancement of Children in Israel which brings disadvantaged Israeli children to the United States to spend the summer. The children live with host families. Rivlin, who is married, was one of the hosts.
One child was reported to have visited in the summer of 2009 and the other in the summer of 2010. The children separately reported the sexual abuse to the Israeli Police after they returned to Israel. The statements they provided to the Israeli police were tuned over to the Bergen County Prosecutor's office.
In a press release, the prosecutor initially identified Rivlin as a teacher with Congregation Beth Aaron on Queen Anne Road. However, this proved to be an error, and the prosecutor issued a corrected press release identifying Rivlin as a teacher at Congregation Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, New York. Rabbi Larry Rothwax, of Beth Aaron, said that Rivlin has no affiliation with the Teaneck Congregation and that the scholarship program is unaffiliated with any synagogue. However, Rothwax said that is aware of the scholarship program and has been introduced to children sponsored by it.
"It is an admirable cause," said Rothwax. "Despite the allegations made against Rabbi Rivlin, the organization provides a wonderful experience for children from Israel to visit the United States."
The Teaneck Jewish Center has also been involved with the scholarship organization, According to a local Jewish newspaper, in 2009 the Jewish Center conducted a Bar Mitzvah for a visiting Israeli boy sponsored by the program. Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, spiritual leader of the Jewish Center of Teaneck, did not return a phone call.
E-mail: prosnitz@northjersey.com
Read my blog for info on a most recent, ongoing, Child (rape) Abuse case.
I will never forget being assaulted by this rasha gamur. The fact that he harbors pedophiles shows this man should be spit upon.
How he has no embarrassment to give his fake mussar shiurim when he himself does not practice the very words he preaches shows he is a complete phoney.
With more reporting like this maybe we can get trash like Rabbi Uzi Rivlin off the street and protect society from this filth.
The Israeli boys who reported their abuse are brave beyond words. Kol Hakavod!
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Teaneck Rabbi 'perplexed' by molestation case, attorney says
A 63-year-old Teaneck rabbi is “perplexed and upset” by accusations that he had sexual contact with two 13-year-old boys at his home, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Rabbi Uzi Rivlin of Teaneck appears in court today in Hackensack. He's accused of having sexual contact with two 13-year-old boys.
TARIQ ZEHAWI/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Rabbi Uzi Rivlin of Teaneck appears in court today in Hackensack. He's accused of having sexual contact with two 13-year-old boys.
“It was a complete, utter shock to him,” defense attorney Howard Simmons said shortly after Rabbi Uzi Rivlin formally was charged with criminal sexual contact and child endangerment at a brief hearing in Superior Court in Hackensack.
“He just doesn’t understand why these children would make these allegations,” Simmons said.
Rivlin, who authorities said is a teacher at the Congregation Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y., was brought to court Wednesday in shackles and an orange jail suit, a day after police arrested him at his home.
He did not seem to understand when Judge Donald Venezia asked him if he had a U.S. passport, and replied with a “no” after Simmons repeated the question for him.
Rivlin was ordered to surrender his Israeli passport, which he did Wednesday. He is also prohibited from having contact with children if he posts his $175,000 bail.
The two boys were brought to the United States from Israel through a scholarship fund that Rivlin helped set up for disadvantaged children and victims of terrorism.
Israeli students travel to the United States under the program, where they stay with a host family and attend summer camp. One of the boys stayed at Rivlin’s home in the summer of 2009, and the other stayed there last year, authorities said.
After returning to Israel, however, the two boys complained separately to Israeli authorities that Rivlin touched them in a sexual manner, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said in a press release Tuesday.
Israeli police took statements from the boys and notified the FBI, which then notified Teaneck police and the Prosecutor’s Office, Molinelli said.
Simmons said Rivlin, who is married and has grown children, has lived in the United States for 20 years and has been running the program for several years. He has brought “many, many children” from Israel under the program, he said.
The two accusers stayed at Rivlin’s home for short periods while they were waiting to attend camp, Simmons said.
Rivlin is charged with two counts of child endangerment and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual contact. The endangerment charges each carry up to 10 years in prison upon conviction.
The case will now be presented to a grand jury for indictment. Simmons said prosecutors will have no case unless they transport the alleged victims from Israel and have them testify before a grand jury.
E-mail: markos@northjersey.com
Find this article at:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Teaneck_Rabbi_perplexed_by_molestation_case_attorney_says.html
As the summer winds down let us not forget the terrible evil lurking. Be vigilant. Be watchful. Be careful. Use common sense. There are probably more Levi Arons amongst us.
Hi EM. Thank you for all your dedication and hard work to this worthy cause of saving yidishe neshamas from terrible people.
The awareness and minimizing of the damage is a big zechus.
There are many who are empathetic towards those innocent victims suffering in silent agony. Unfortunately, many are not!
Wishing you have a Shana Tova U'metuka!
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