Haredi Child Rapist Flees Israel, Hides In London, Escapes Justice – Twice

There is a bright side to this story. The haredi child rapist was, accidentally, arrested again, as…

…the venerable London Jewish Chronicle reports:

How a puncture on the A40 caught a rapist on the run
06/06/2008
By Candice Krieger

A convicted rapist who fled Israel before he could be jailed for a sex attack on an underage boy was caught last week when police stopped to help him change a wheel on a busy road.

Nachman Stal, 37, is understood to have been living in secret among the Charedi community of Stamford Hill, North London, since skipping the country two years ago.

But he was recaptured last Wednesday when his car had a puncture on the Westway stretch of the A40 in Ladbroke Grove, West London.

Mr Stal, rumoured to be working as a driver in the London area and using a false passport, had pulled over to change the tyre when police in a passing patrol car stopped to help. He was arrested on a provisional extradition warrant after a routine check of police records revealed the driver to be the fugitive Stal.

On Wednesday he appeared at Westminster extradition court via video-link from Wandsworth Prison, where he is being held in custody.

Stal, a Ger Chasid, was convicted of raping a boy under the age of 16 in Tel Aviv between April and May 1998 and indecently assaulting a boy under the age of 16 in Tel Aviv between December 1998 and February 1999.

The incidents allegedly took place in his car. He was convicted in 2006 but fled the jurisdiction — not the first time he had gone missing.

Stal, who used to live in Kiryat Sefer, east of Tel Aviv, was first indicted in 2000 but did not turn up for the trial hearing, and the indictment was cancelled.

It was thought he had fled to Britain. The charges were renewed in September 2004 when he returned to Israel. He was convicted in 2006 but managed to escape for a second time, fleeing the jurisdiction, even though police were holding his passport.

A new remand hearing, again via video-link, will take place on June 25 at Westminster extradition court.

A spokesperson from the Israeli Embassy said: “The Israeli Embassy only knows about such cases when the Israeli citizen involved chooses to notify us and in this case he hasn’t.’”

Stamford Hill’s Rabbi Avraham Pinter said he was not aware of Stal or that he had been hiding in London.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- A Charedi man was due to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court today (Friday) accused of raping a 12-year-old boy in a London synagogue toilet.

Moshe Reichman, 24, was charged under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

The rape is alleged to have taken place at the Vinstz [Viznitz?] Synagogue in Stamford Hill, home to Europe’s largest Charedi population.

Update 1-3-09: Charges against Moshe Reichman were dropped when the victim did not appear in court to testify against him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note the pattern. Light supervision before trial. Escape to Europe (or Brazil, or Canada, etc.). No real attempt to find the pedophile. Pedophile hides safely in a haredi community.

This pattern has been repeated several times, both with Israeli haredim fleeing Israel and American haredim (like Avrohom Mondrowitz) fleeing America.

In some of these cases – like this one and Mondrowitz – the pedophiles are Gerrer hasidim who find protection in Gerrer communities.

[Hat Tip: Steve.]

Comments

[Had Enough]

It's great that he was caught - and so appropriate that it involved his automobile, since he assaulted both the kids in a car. That the convicted assaulter of boys was caught in a place called LADbroke Grove, seems fitting, too.

And then the story about the other guy.

What the heck is going on? Is this more prevalent in charedi communities or is it just the norm in all communities - Jewish and non-Jewish? Right now, I'm glad that I don't have kids, because I don't think I could trust anyone around them anymore.

[steve]

He must have been a talmid of Yudi Kolko-notice his modus operandi.

[yudel]

It is more prevalent.

[Smelly Tushie]

I'm confused. This account says the tire had a puncture, but another article says the car suffered a blow out. As I understand, he can only be held accountable if there was actual penetration.

I am surprised you haven't picked up on the haredi drug smugglers arrested in Japan. It is all over Mishpacha magazine. And see

http://tinyurl.com/5r2fc7

the haredim are trying to free them

[Shmarya]

I can't cover everything.

Anyway, unless I see haredi leadership involved, it isn't much of a story. Crime happens everywhere.

[Monica]

I can't really understand the reason the haredim would let a pedophile live among them with so many children around. It is not even that they want to trial him themselves it is just providing shelter.
As someone that knows much more about the community than I do, maybe you can give a little more insight not just on what they do but as to why they do it

[Yochanan Lavie]

Monica: Denial is not the name of a river in Egypt.

[Monica]

So I might be naive but I really don't understand the reasons they do what they do. I am not fighting with the facts just looking for insights

[formely frum]

From japan story

"While the phenomenon of using unsuspecting yeshiva boys for illicit operations is not new, this case, which has many ominous ramifications has prompted some of the haredi world’s most prominent rabbanim to urge their communities to cooperate with the local police," Tzivin revealed. "Rabbi Mendel Shafran, a respected dayan in Rav Y. L. Landau’s Bnei Brak beis din has paskened that even a religious Jew, who is found recruiting innocent youngsters for the purpose of committing a criminal act is tarred with a din rodef and should be reported immediately to the police. This is a very important development that the haredi community must now take seriously."

I wounder, if the same applies to molesters, or maybe case this is different since going to the police will free some frum boys?

[Shmarya]

Landau is a Chabadnik. Not sure about Shafran. Anyway, that reduces the value of this psak din in the haredi world.