Untangling A Rape Case In Crown Heights

There were mornings when the women at Mama’s Senegalese hair salon received an unusual guest: a 13-year-old Jewish girl from the neighborhood’s Chabad-Lubavitch community. She had an unusual request: to change clothes in the bathroom. She would walk in wearing the long traditional dresses she put on for school, then walk out wearing something less traditional: clothes that one might wear to work as a prostitute on the streets of Brooklyn.

Untangling a Rape Case in Crown Heights
By ALAN FEUER and COLIN MOYNIHAN • NY Times

THERE were mornings when the women at Mama’s Senegalese hair salon received an unusual guest: a 13-year-old Jewish girl from the neighborhood’s Chabad Lubavitch community. She had an unusual request: to change clothes in the bathroom.

She would walk in wearing the long traditional dresses she put on for school, then walk out wearing something less traditional: clothes that one might wear to work the streets.

“I’d say, ‘Baby, you a good Jewish girl,’ ” said Annie Allen, a beautician at the shop, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. “ ‘What you doing?’”

Now, nine years later, the question of what she was doing — or what was being done to her — lingers at the center of a haunting criminal case in the Brooklyn courts. On one side is the girl, who is now a woman of 22 and says that for the better part of a decade, a group of local thugs forced her into prostitution, ensuring her submissiveness with a steady diet of beatings, threats and rapes. On the other side are the accused — four older black men — who deny the woman’s charges and contend that she herself was a kind of predator: a troubled teenager who crossed Crown Heights’s racial divide with an appetite for sex.…

The Times' piece goes on to talk about the prosecutorial misconduct in the case and traumatic bonding, victims of long term abuse who come to identify with their abusers.

And it tries to tell the girl's story.

And here's where the Times runs into some trouble:

The neighborhood has been a mix of Hasidic and Caribbean since the early 1940s, when Lubavitch leaders made their headquarters in a former hospital at 770 Eastern Parkway. Around that building, the neighborhood is split — blacks to the north, Jews to the south — though where she grew up, jerk-chicken joints are pressed against mezuza stores.

770 Eastern Parway was not, as far as I ever heard, a hospital. It had in it a doctor's office and clinic – a doctor who, by the way, reputedly did discreet abortions. Anyone who has ever been on the upper floors can see that it would have been one of the smallest hospital in the world.

But standing in the basement synagogue – which has grown over the years to take over the basements of adjacent buildings – one could perhaps be confused enough to believe what the Times wrote.

Crown Heights was overwhelmingly middle class and upper middle class in 1941, the year Chabad moved in. It was overwhelmingly white and heavily Jewish, housing several other hasidic sects, non-hasidic Orthodox Jews and non-Orthodox Jews. The "split" the Times talks about took place 25 years later.

And what, one might ask, is a "mezuza store"?

The Times' confusion doesn't stop there:

Hers was a pious, but outward-looking, family: her father was a connoisseur of East German music and the Cuban Revolution; her siblings’ wedding announcements appeared in the “Mazal Tovs” section of CrownHeights.info.

Of course, anyone even remotely familiar with Chabad's Crown Heights community knows that everyone's engagement is posted on several different Chabad blogs like Crown Heights dot info and Shmais. Having your engagement noted online means nothing.

However, which site reports it first does mean something, because the sites are split between public messianist and non-public messianist factions. Crown Heights dot info tries to position itself between the two factions.

Again, the Times is clueless. And this isn't simply an arcane piece of information the Times got wrong. Here's why:

The father said he met with the commander of the local police precinct in November 2003. “He laid out his concerns,” said Yanki Prager, a member of the Crown Heights neighborhood watch who attended the meeting. Again, the family said, nothing happened.

Crown Heights has two Jewish neighborhood watches, Shomrim and Shmira, and a newer, predominantly black, peace patrol that operates largely on the non-Jewish side of the neighborhood.

Both Jewish patrols were founded long before the events in question took place. Since Chabad's rebbe died in 1994, Shomrim has been associated primarily with the non-public-messianists; Shmira with the messianists. They drive around in private police cars. The two groups do not get along with each other or, quite often, with police.

Shmira has been on the outs with the D.A. since at least 2008, when one of its members beat the son of NYPD cop. The youth, who is black and a former honors student, was walking home from school when he was stopped and attacked.

Both groups have long had a a love-hate relationship with police, and the police have long had a reluctant relationship with both groups.

To think this may played into the police reaction to the family's complaints because they went to police with a Shmira leader is not extreme.

Neither is the idea that the girl was almost certainly known to police as a prostitute, and police liaisons to the competing patrol, Shomrim, could easily have been told that the girl was a "bad" girl and a willing participant.

This girl was pimped, prostituted and raped over and over and over again.

One reason that she was is that police did not start taking trafficking of women seriously until after the girl was already off the streets.

But other reasons may go back to the Shmira/Shomrim rivalry, the public messianist/anti-public-messianist rivalry, and the infighting that has plagued Chabad's Crown Heights community for two decades.

But this is all lost on a New York Times that thought Crown Heights in 1941 was Chabad and Haitian, that 770 was hospital, that Crown Heights had one civilian street patrol, and that did not know that "Chabad Lubavitch" is supposed to have a hyphen between the two words.

You can read the Times piece here.

Comments

[Steven]

The way things are going in the frum world, even is this 13 year old chassidic girl was forced into prostitution by a two headed dwarf possessed by demons who was being blackmailed by President Obama as he was really an illegal alien wanted for possession of kryptonite - I would believe it.

[Eli, what me messiah?]

How could the NYTbe so clueless about a major religious cult based in NY?

[ruthie]

my heart goes out to the girl.
she had zero support. full stop

[MarkfromShortHills]

What a ghastly tale. I credit this woman for her strength in escaping from all this.

[LowLives]

They don't look haredi to me.

[lubavitch girls are dishonest . do not trust them .]

i don't believe this chabad girl. she is a liar .

why would a 13 year old chabad lubavitch jewish girl do in a black hair salon ?

she has no business being there .

if she wants to change clothings IN HER OWN NEIGHBORHOOD , she'll go home or to a jewish store . they are plenty to go to.

if she chose to enter a black hair salon instead , then she has an evil intention .
SHE IS SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING . no doubt about it . those chabad girls are taught in their beth rivka schools to NEVER GET NEAR A BLACK PLACE WHATSOEVER . (bc of the black neighborhood they live in ) .

judges are not stupid .

just the fact that she entered ON HER OWN the black store , MORE THAN ONE TIME is enough evidence that she was looking for trouble . she'll loose her case . right there.

nobody forced her to enter the black hair salon . she did it on her own , AND REPETITIVELY , on top of that . therefore , no excuse to credit her .

she searched for trouble . she was hungry for sex . what else can she look for in a black place ? sex , definetely .

the chabad girl is the one who CHOSE TO BE IN THAT POSITION of demanding sex and most probably enjoying it . otherwise , she would not have come back . it was her choice to come back ,since she did not live with her 'pimps'. she lived home with her parents . if she was an honest girl, she would have stopped , bc she was not a
lonely girl . she had a family structure .
she has protection . no excuse .

the judge should throw the case ON THE SPOT .no trial for a blatant liar .

let me tell you something that i know , bc i had for the past 30 years been in contact with the chabad lubavitch in crown heights . i have observed their girls and had experiences . i know what i am talking about .

those lubavitch girls of crown heights , beth rivkah educated are THE WORSE OF THEM ALL .

they meet secular guys OUTSIDE THEIR COMMUNITY , in the city . they enjoy dating NON CHABAD men and 'go out ' with them before settling with a bachur yeshiva .

the chabad lubavitch girl that i 'm thinking about now is a beth rivka educated and raised in crown heights . she lives RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM BETH RIVKA SCHOOL on crown street . she lived
for 4 years with a porto rican , then broke with him . she now lives in ohio .

[Maskil]

"Mezuza stores": Hamafitz Stam, Merkaz Stam

[Shmarya]

"Mezuza stores": Hamafitz Stam, Merkaz Stam

Posted by: Maskil | June 03, 2012 at 07:27 AM

Duh.

The point, which you miss, is that they do not pepper the neighborhood and that no one in any language calls them "mezzuza stores." They're Judaica stores or a Sofrut store.

[Jack]

Crownheights.info is most certainly not a "public messianist" site. You may be confusing it for Chabad.info.

[Ex-Chabad]

Lubavitch girls are dishonest . do not trust them

Were you burned by Chabad buddy?

[Chutzpah]

I truly believe she did not know how to think for herself or protect herself because she was an obedient and compliant CHILD. When the wrong people threatened her and told her to be compliant, she was because she was never taught to speak up or think for herself when she was in Gan. I wish I could help her or adopt her. If anybody knows of an organization that is trying to support her, please let me know.

[grandpa]

The way things are going in the frum world, even is this 13 year old chassidic girl was forced into prostitution by a two headed dwarf possessed by demons who was being blackmailed by President Obama as he was really an illegal alien wanted for possession of kryptonite - I would believe it.

Posted by: Steven | June 03, 201
Since when is possession of kryptonite illegal. I am sure President Obama legalized it when he came into office. In any case I am glad that the true culprit was finally named. It took a lot of courage but then again you are going to be referred to as a racist by the Association of Dwarfs (both one and 2 headed) and I am sure a lot of other organizations will jump on the band wagon to wrongfully discredit you.

[Anony]

her name should be released immediately. she is clearly a reverse predator, a precocious danger to unsuspecting men who are at risk for unfounded rape/sex offense charges if her identity is not revealed. caveat emptor!

[Steven]

Little do you know about kryptonite, it's illegal in New Jersey.

http://www.chacha.com/question/is-kryptonite-illegal-in-new-jersey

Presidents only legalize things when they leave office, like pardoning mates from heinous crimes etc, not when they come into office.

And there is not Association of Two Headed Dwarfs as the only potential member is currently possessed by shaidim and thinks he is a Translyvanian vampire. Thanks for dinner.

[grandpa]

And there is not Association of Two Headed Dwarfs as the only potential member is currently possessed by shaidim and thinks he is a Translyvanian vampire. Thanks for dinner.

Last I heard they are lobbying for their own organization. At present they are still a part of the Organization for 0ne headed dwarves.
I didn't know it was illegal in NJ. Do you think that it has anything to do with why they had the asifa there??

[Simple Jew]

B"H

Statutory rape charge should apply no matter what.

A 13 year old is not able to consent to the act even if the are not forced.

[Yochanan Lavie]

This reminds me of something from Jewish history that is not well known. In the early 20th century, "marriage brokers" would recruit girls from Poland, from good and even frum homes, for "marriage" to young Jewish men in Buenos Aires. When they got off the boat, they sometimes underwent a fake chuppah, with a fake rabbi, to seal the deal. Then, they were forced to work in brothels for many years. The established Jewish community wanted nothing to do with them, but eventually they had their own synagogue, cemetery, and nursing home. The women tried to keep as many mitzvot as they could, but most never married and were treated as lepers. This is not the kind of uplifting story you usually read about.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/argentina-jewish-white-slavery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwi_Migdal

[mimi]

13 year olds are incapable of consent. Yochanan, that historical info was disturbing and creepy.

[ruthie]

yochanan,
i believe this.
how very sad.

[ruthie]

their parents consented...
and the girls were lost

[mimi]

Ruthie, If I was in Poland in the 1930's it would be a desperate choice to get my daughter out of there as soon as possible. I would surely be tempted to send my girl away from there, especially since the US closed her borders shut from the 20's to the 60's.

[A. Nuran]

This is why we have Police and Courts, to figure out what happened and apply the Law.

[TheRealJoe]

@Shmarya

I don't get you, you fight day night about the abuse going unreported in the frum community,yet here where even the NY Times not exactly a frum loving publication reports on a horrible story, you go out of your way to turn this into a clinical study focusing on the unimportant details like website affiliation and local patrols.

[ruthie]

Ruthie, If I was in Poland in the 1930's it would be a desperate choice to get my daughter out of there as soon as possible. I would surely be tempted to send my girl away from there, especially since the US closed her borders shut from the 20's to the 60's.

Posted by: mimi | June 03, 2012 at 07:13 PM

i know mimi...you're right :(

[S]

Thhe police were probably clients of these scumbags.

[boston born]

you all do not know much about sex trafficking. the intimidation, threats, brain washing, violence, makes a women side with her assailant like the stockholm syndrome. She was used, abused and defiled. how could she reach out or go back. She had was used like property.

it still is child abuse and sex offenses. There is a unit in Manhattan of Detectives who deal exclusively with sex trafficking, mostly NYers and white middle class women. they are sensitive to the issues and do not blame the victim but help them

this young woman needs an organization like GEMS to help her get out of the life and on with her life

[Shmuly]

Crown Heights dot info tries to position itself between the two factions.

Again, the Times is clueless.

How about: Again, Shmarya is clueless!

Crown Heights dot info is openly anti-messianist!