Another Chabad Molestation Case

Claude Neufeld allegedly abused an 8-year-old boy over a 21 month period at the Chabad Lubavitch of Staten Island center, according to court papers.

 

Staten Island man accused of molesting boy inside religious center
Frank Donnelly • Staten Island Advance

A 64-year-old Willowbrook man turned a haven into a horror, molesting an 8-year-old boy 10 times over 20 months inside a Jewish center in Meiers Corners, prosecutors allege.

Claude Neufeld, a French native, abused the boy between Jan. 14, 2011, and Sept. 21 of this year inside the Chabad Lubavitch of Staten Island center, according to court papers.

Those documents said Neufeld touched the victim's genitals over his clothes on 10 occasions.

A law enforcement source said the incidents occurred in an upstairs room in the two-story building at 289 Harold St.

Neufeld is an occasional congregant at the center, where congregants come to pray, reflect and learn, said the source.

The source said the boy recently informed his parents of the incidents. They told a rabbi at the center who advised them to contact police, said the source.

When cops went to arrest Neufeld at his home on the 800 block of Willowbrook Road on Wednesday, they found a loaded .22 caliber revolver in the bedroom, said court papers. Neufeld told officers he also had two rifles in the closet.

Cops seized two .22 caliber long gun rifles for which Neufeld could not provide a registration certificate, said court documents.

"I don't have a license for them," court records quote him as saying.

Neufeld was expected to be arraigned Friday in Stapleton Criminal Court on a felony count of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan. He's also accused of misdemeanor counts of endangering a child's welfare and criminal weapon possession.

A woman who answered the door at Neufeld's home Friday afternoon declined comment on the allegations.

A man who answered the door at Chabad Lubavitch said no one was there who had authority to speak on the case.

A message left at the center was not immediately answered.

[Hat Tip: Barry.]

Comments

[seymour]

sad, but the good news is

The source said the boy recently informed his parents of the incidents. They told a rabbi at the center who advised them to contact police, said the source.

[Yossel]

The way I heard it, they askedthe CHABAD Rabbi and he advised them to go to the police.Good on him. More should do teh same. As a Chabad Rabbi (who does not subscribe to the looneys or to the trolls as you call them) myself, I would not hesitateto call the police, FBI, DA whomever I could.

[dh]

Going to the rabbi first should NOT be the first stop. Ever.

[seymour]

Posted by: dh | October 07, 2012 at 10:41 AM

true but this is a start in the right direction

[Jerry]

The source said the boy recently informed his parents of the incidents. They told a rabbi at the center who advised them to contact police, said the source.

And if the Rabbi told them not to go to the police would they have kept silent?

[seymour]

Posted by: Jerry | October 07, 2012 at 10:43 AM

in 99% of cases

yes

[seymour]

Neufeld is an occasional congregant at the center

I wonder if he would have been a regular would he have told the parents to go to the police

sounds like the abuser was an outsider

[Fleishike Kishke]

The alleged was an outsider and his name was "Claude." That means he likely wasn't an insider Frumma. So this example says nothing about Chabad policy on going to the cops re child molestation. To my knowledge, the Chabad have not gone to the cops about any of the Haredi molesters teaching (or who taught) in their flagship Brooklyn schools. The actions of the Chabad in Australia are much more indicative of Chabad culture regarding child molestation.

[Blima]

Another Chabad Molestation Case

I wasn't aware that the Chabad Lubavitch of Staten Island center has another molestation case pending. I always viewed Willowbrook as a rather quiet community not a hotbed of sexual abuse.

[Milhouse]

And if the Rabbi told them not to go to the police would they have kept silent?

Of course. Most people are sheep.

[R. Wisler]

Yossel,
Kudos to you for doing the right thing. Also, I take the actions of this Chabad center at face value. They did a good thing and did NOT have any hesitation about calling the police. I believe that Chabad in L.A. did the right thing when they had a molestation issue a few years ago. Perhaps the hareidi world is emerging into the light from darkness.

[dd]

chabad did call the police , bc neufeld is NOT ONE OF THEM . that's why .
do not expect chabad to call the police in every case . they won't .

if the molester is one of them , they won't .

[Reese]

Well over the Verazano Bridge in Brighton Beach a different Chabad rabbi went with a convicted Registered Sex Offender who is a member of the congregation to Court to VOUCH for him. As reported here on FM the judge ruled against the duos attempt at ending the 10 year probabtion of the serial offender. What FM did not mention in the story is that the shul also houses a HEADSTART program in the same building. What parent would want their kids in the same building with a known pervert?

[Predjudiced Perhaps?]

But you write: "ANOTHER Chabad Molestation Case" (emphasis mine) as if to infer that this is somehow similar to the one in Australia?
How is that?
In Australia, the popular discussion is that there was a cover-up. Here, the rabbi referred the parents to authorities..

You are not happy with that, Shaya?

[Steven]

http://m.theage.com.au/victoria/police-slam-catholic-church-20121010-27dr2.html