BREAKING! Wanted Haredi Molester Stefan Colemar Arrested In Jerusalem; Fled Indictments In US

Wanted haredi pedophile Stefan Colemar has been arrested in Jerusalem and now faces extradition to the US, UOJ reports:

Stefan Colmer was arrested in Israel today (June 14) on a provisional arrest warrant. He is now in custody awaiting an official extradition request from the U.S. government seeking his return to Brooklyn to stand trial on child sex abuse charges, for which he has already been indicted.

Comments

[Alex]

Castrate him!

[Ari]

I love how none of this ends up on "TheYeshivaWorld"

Sigh...

[AP]

I'm in shock, I know this guy personally. I cannot believe this...

[gary]

Ari, believe it. Many may victims all quiet, no one wants chilul . just need to eliminate this predator. he really damaged a lot of kids. needs to be off the streets.

[AP]

I knew him a few years back, I am really still in shock. All of the stories about molestation in the yeshiva world bothered me but I always assumed it would be a guy who was obviously nuts. I ate at this guys house a number of times, I would never have thought he was capable of such things. This is a real eye opener, Stefan seemed so harmless, just a nice guy. One thing I should clarify, I don't think the kids he would invite were under 13, they were all bachurim(not that it makes things any different)and I don't think he lured these particular kids, he always had bachurim for meals...
His wife is unbelievably nice though, poor girl, and the kids, oh my.
Although he needs to get major help, whatever that means, the community should help his wife and kids somehow. Maybe help her get a get and move on.

[Michael Lesher]

I was closely involved with the investigation that led to Colmer's arrest. The two boys named in the indictment were both 13 at the time of the abuse. They are both highly credible. Police, and all my sources, are certain there are many more victims in Brooklyn of about same age. He also abused kids in New Jersey years ago. I have been in touch with one of them, who has made a report to authorities as well.

In case anyone is in any doubt, I will add that two separate sources, both very credible, have reported to me that Colmer himself admitted to sexually abusing kids. He evidently believed that as long as he kept his confessions within Orthodox circles, nothing would ever happen to him. And up to a point he was right.

Which brings me to the point. The frightening thing is not that an acquaintance knew nothing of his sexual victimization of young boys -- that's understandable -- but that so many people in positions of responsibility DID know and did nothing to prevent more kids from being abused. That is really the core of the Colmer story, and I'm afraid it needs to be understood if we are going to prevent a recurrence.

To that end, if AP or anyone else who knows Colmer would like to contact me, I'm very interested to hear what you have to say. I can be reached by email at mlesher@att.net. If need be, you can learn something me and my work at my web site, www.MichaelLesher.com.

[Yehuda]

I also know this man and I would have never suspected anything either, until it all came out about what happened. From what I remember he seemed like a really nice guy and I used to talk to him a lot when he lived in my area. His wife happens to be a true genuine sincere person and I really feel bad for her that she has to go through this, because she certainly doesn’t deserve any of this to happen to her. I really hope she’ll be able to get any help she needs and pull through and still be the very nice person I remember her as.

As for the above poster Michael Lesher, I don’t really know all the facts but I did hear that that Stefan was in contact with people of responsibility that were working with him and trying to help him become better. Just because on the outside it looks like its being ignored doesn’t give you a right to be judgmental and say everything was completely ignored.

[Concerned]

Colmer is a serial molester. Responsible Rabbis were knowledgeable. One respondent notes that Colmer "... always had bachurim for meals..." The question is- did responsible Rabbis know and allow Colmer to continue to invite bachurim? Perhaps this blog can try to time-line this. I personally am dan l'kaf z'chus to the Rabbis. However, if the likes of a Rabbi Ginsburg of the Mir knew and took no action to stop Colmer's access to potential victims, then we have a scandal of great proportion.

Further, if Colmer was really trying to receive help and not just glad-handing, why did he not choose to go the authorities, admit guilt and ask for a supervised rehabilitation program? Instead, he ran to Israel, took on an alias and went into hiding.

[AP]

this is the timeline i am imagining right now.
colmer did this in nj before he was religious
colmer became religious got married moved to ny
colmer had a relapse
colmer was getting help
colmer was chased out of brooklyn
colmer was chased out of passaic
colmer fled to israel to start over

this is of course giving him the benefit of the doubt

[AP]

when i say he always had bachurim for meals, i am referring to when i knew him which was before this went public. I cant imagine any mir bachurim would go to his house for meals after the story broke. as was noted in other places, ginzburg made a condition that colmer pray at his shul while he was still in brooklyn (and not at the mir), so maybe they were trying to contain him.

[Concerned]

I saw this posted on the UOJ website and I think it is important:

Regarding serial child molesters like Colmer, it is important to seperate this issue from homosexuality. There are frum therapists trained to help men with homosexual issues. Predation is another matter completely. The problem is that several of these therapists in the frum community have have taken on predation cases. These therapists have neither the education or skill set to treat the child molester and must refer these cases. Therapist must hold PHD or MD with specific training to treat the predator. There are several therapists, without the requisite training, here and in Israel, are taking on such cases. As good intentioned as they may be, they are putting our communites at risk by not referring to professionals. These frum homosexual therapists must be closely monitored by responsible community activists.

[Mordecai]

No, you guys got it all wrong from a theological point of view. Colmer is an observant Jew and as we all know from the Alte Rebbe, Jewish souls come from the good place. Therefore [saying in sing song Yiddish] there is a larger point here that we are failing to see. If you came upon a man and you see his leg is being sawed off you may say: What a horror. But then when you learn the man doing the sawing is a doctor who is saving the man's life by sacrificing the leg you understand the larger picture. We must understand all of this from a Talmudic point of view. Being mere pedestrian Jews as opposed to the Black Hats we are missing the larger cosmic picture.

[Anonymous]

Extradition! (from the Broadway sensation Fondler on the Roof)

Extradition, extradition! Extradition!
Extradition, extradition! Extradition!

Who, day and night, must sodomize talmidim,
tell them it's okay, behind shadowy closed doors?
And who has the right, as scoffers of the law,
to seek asylum in the Holy Land?

The Rebbeim, the Rebbeim! Extradition!
The Rebbeim, the Rebbeim! Extradition!

Who must know the way to run a yeshiva,
A quiet yeshiva, a kosher yeshiva?
Who must squirrel away all the sexual abuse,
To perpetuate the torah way?

The hanhala, the hanhala! Extradition!
The hanhala, the hanhala! Extradition!

At three, I learned the alef bais.
At four, my balls were fondled.
I hear they found the bastard.
I hope he rots in hell.

The talmidim, the talmidim! Extradition!
The talmidim, the talmidim! Extradition!

And who is it that makes sure
that whatever comes to pass,
molesters of children
will get it up their ass?

The zroya netuyah! Extradition!
Of the law! The law! Extradition!