Haredi Child Molester Back Teaching Children

This is why calling the police should be your first and only option.

A child is molested by a rabbi in a Williamsburg yeshiva.

The child's family tries to get the rabbi into treatment, doing so in a way that does not "embarass" the rabbi's family.

VIN reports:

…[Dov] Hikind then introduced a Williamburg mother whose son had been molested by his menahel at age 8.5 and left Yiddishkeit at 19 as a result. Most significantly, the mother related the years of devastation, isolation, shame and lack of trust in Torah authority figures. “It was a betrayal of his beliefs,” reports the mother.

After a lengthy discussion on how the victim’s family tried to get the menahel to treatment without embarrassing his own family, which didn’t work, the mother reported that even though the menahel failed a lie detector test and was temporarily removed from his position, he has been returned to teaching in summer school and will be returning to yeshivah in September.…

Here is what Dov Hikind had to say about this case:

“…How can one of the most prominent yeshivos, that educates tens of thousands of kids, know they have a molester destroying people’s lives! How can they continue with him? How’s that possible? … Well, we are going to stop him, okay? … We are going to stop that from happening. Period. But that’s not the point. The point is: What is their thinking? Where is their religiosity and their commitment?”

“My office is devoted to this. We are asking people to come forward… We have staff working on this. We are building cases and cases and cases. The stories that I have heard this week, all from our communities from Lakewood to Monsey to Borough Park to Flatbush.”

Of particularly notable mention was Hikind’s reaction to a caller named Yitz, who asked the mother, “Why don’t you go to the police? And why is this sub-human still on the streets?” Hikind replied: “In her case, they are trying to get him out of a classroom. It’s about getting him away from kids, and I have spoken to quite a few rabbonim and you have every right to do this legally. 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.”

This rabbi is teaching summer school right now.

In effect, what Hikind is saying is, do everything in your power not to involve the police. If this does not work, then – after what could be dozens of further molestations that take place while you try to deal with the problem quietly within the community – call the police.

Hikind may be well meaning, but this is sick.

VIN has the entire audio posted.

Comments

[Concerned Family]

Shmarya, thanks for this post. I would like to add that the cops can only go so far. For example, a family member was molested by a shul member (convicted more than once of molestation) and the parents called the police. The parents did this with NO support from the community and with "friends" begging them not to. The molester was arrested and the worst part - he was bailed out of jail by a stranger. This stranger is a frum guy who makes it his mission to keep Jews out of jail. Ignoring abuse in frum communities and "handling it on our own" is not ending the pain and suffering of innocent victims.

[steve]

Hikind kept silent all these years about Kolko and Mondrowitz. My guess is that now that he sees the attitude in the community somewhat changing, thanks in no small part to UOJ, he is jumping on the bandwagon. However, he still falls short in that he's not advocating going to the police. Dr. Lipner did mention last week on Hikind's show that halacha calls for going to the police and turning in the molesters.

[David Bar-Magen]

Shmarya, I ask only for clarification. It seems to me that Hikind is saying that we should do anything within our power to keep this creep out of the classroom, up to and including a public press conference. Where are you getting the idea that he doesn't want the police to be involved?

[steve]

While Assemblyman Hikind takes to the airwaves as a crusader against molesters, Bill A. 11399 sits in the NY State Assembly waiting for a vote. It has languished there for over fourteen months now. Please ask Dov and Shelly Silver what's the hold up? The answer is the Agudah and the Catholic Church.

[Shmarya]

Shmarya, I ask only for clarification. It seems to me that Hikind is saying that we should do anything within our power to keep this creep out of the classroom, up to and including a public press conference. Where are you getting the idea that he doesn't want the police to be involved?

Because the guy is teaching summer school right now, and no one has called the police.

Hikind is using the threat of a demonstration to try to force the yeshiva to remove the molester, rather than call police and have the police remove him.

[steve]

The yeshiva waited until the statute of limitations ran out before reinstating the rebbe. There is nothing the police can do at this point.

[Yochanan Lavie]

If a kid makes even a baseless accusation against a teacher in the NYC public schools, that teacher is immediately sent out of the classroom and sent to a "rubber room" (basically a holding facility that they must report to each day) until a full investigation takes place. Sometimes it can take years. If the accusations are found to be baseless, the teacher is reinstated, but it is still a black mark on his/her record. If not, the teacher is fired, with no pension, and the police are called if necessary. (NB: Nothing happens to a kid who is found to be lying, which I think is overkill).

I don't want rogue teachers hurting kids. (They also besmirch the profession, but that is a secondary consideration). The yeshiva system should put some investigative mechanism in place. The NYC DOE has a former cop head a department of investigation.

[Yochanan Lavie]

I also want to point out Hikind is a Democrat. Both parties are full of rot.

[maven]

I'm willing to bet there was also some statement that the teacher "did teshuva" and went through "fasts" and other such "tikkunim" and as such is now "ok", as was the case with Ben Zion Sobol, still the worst serial molester of boys under his care at a yeshiva years ago.
What, tikkunim and fasts aren't good enough for you? You must be a shaygitz and forget about a shidduch for your kids!

[When Will People Learn?]

A child is molested by a rabbi in a Williamsburg yeshiva.

The child's family tries to get the rabbi into treatment, doing so in a way that does not "embarass" the rabbi's family.

The child's family should have tried to get the rabbi into jail. Period.

They're worried about embarassing the rabbi's family, after the hurt he put on their own family?

I understand feeling bad for the rabbi's family, too, as it would likely come as a shock that hubby/daddy is a child molester . . . but I would feel even worse for the child . . . so, jail is where the rabbi belongs.

(Presuming he's indeed guilty, etc.)

[A reader]

This is horrible. The criminal belongs in jail.

And say what you want about Hikind, but compared to others doing nothing, wouldn't you rather him at least doing something!?

And say what you want about Hikind, but compared to others doing nothing, wouldn't you rather him at least doing something!?

=====================================

He's not doing anything!!! he's ranting, as he does about anything else, as that is all he ever does. he didn't name any molestors. if he had that would have been something. he didn't encourage victims to report their abusers to the proper authorities, that would have been something. he didn't inform people that rabbis and principals don't have the requisite training or investigative knowledge. that would have been something. he didn't make a blanket statement to report first, that would have been something. that makes him as bad as all the rest.

what makes him worse then all the rest is that he has the power to work for the passage of a law in ny state that would require background checks for all school employees. instead he has thwarted this effort at every occurance.

this is nothing but a pr show for him.

[Abe]

>After a lengthy discussion on how the victim’s family tried to get the menahel to treatment without embarrassing his own family, which didn’t work<

This is another example of the perfidious disfunctionality of ultra-orthodox judaism.
Its the mind corrupting ultra-orthodox indoctrination that directs people to sublimate their natural revulsion to pedophelia in favor of aquiescing to so-called gedolim.
I hate to say this, but these people are getting the religion they deserve. Too bad their children must suffer also.

[shmuel]

Abe, ditto. Could not agree more.

[Nachum]

"The yeshiva system"

There is no yeshiva system.

[Yochanan Lavie]

The tehillim say we should not place our trust in princes. That is what the black hats do. Even the litvishe yeshivot have dynasties now.

[Baruch Atta]

"Haredi Child Molester Back Teaching Children"
If this is true, then the hanala of the yeshiva are as guilty as the molester. The name of the yeshiva should be publicised. At this point, all I know is that it is a "Williamsburg yeshiva". So, at this point, all Williamsburg yeshivos are implicated in this, and absolutely everyone should be boycotting every Williamsburg yeshiva until both the name of the yeshiva is known and the name of the molester is known to the public. If I had a son in a Williamsburg yeshiva right now, I would pull him out, until I was sure that his yeshiva is not the one implicated. This is a case of p'kuach nefish b'vadai.

[Miryam]

I am a convert who embraced Agudah style worship whole heartedly. My faith in any organized style of Orthodox Judaism was shaken when a friend's daughters were abused and the community covered for him wholesale. I then learned that everyone 'knew' but when he married an unsuspecting woman (with children!) no one spoke up to warn her under the guise of 'lashon hara'. When my husband confronted a member of the bais din on how he was going to address the matter, the response was something along the lines of 'how will he make a parnassah?'. He had no problem advising those questioned as to how to evade police questioning, however (because they should not be trusted). My belief in Hashem has not been shaken. By the way, these girls want nothing to do with frumkeit.In man? Hmmmm.