Video: Rockland County Judges Give Child Rapist, Child Sex Abuser No-Prison Plea Deals
Two haredim in bedroom suburbs of New York City got sweetheart plea deals earlier this week from judges in Rockland County. Both haredim pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse charges – one of them involving anal rape. But even though one of those cases involves repeated anal rape of the child, neither haredi man will serve a day in prison.
Moishe Turner, right; Herschel Taubenfeld, left.
Rockland County Judges Give Child Rapist, Child Sex Abuser No-Prison Plea Deals
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Two haredim in bedroom suburbs of New York City got sweetheart plea deals earlier this week from judges in Rockland County.
Both haredim pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse charges – one of them involving anal rape.
But even though one of those cases involves repeated anal rape of the child, neither haredi man will serve any time in prison.
Despite this bizarre agreement, Rockland County prosecutors are trumpeting the plea deals as major successes, the Journal News reported.
Rabbi Moishe Turner – described as 58-year-old “heavy-set man with a long beard streaked with gray” who prayed before the court session started and whose English is so poor he needed a Yiddish translator to understand what happening around him – admitted Friday that he had anal sex with a boy that he knew was only 14-years-old and who was therefore unable to legally consent to sex – a felony.
But Turner’s admission only came after the judge promised to give him a sentence of 10 years of probation without any prison time, supposedly to spare the child – whose family had been harassed by haredi community activists – from having to testify against Turner.
Turner could have been sentenced to up to seven years in state prison.
Herschel Taubenfeld, 33, who taught for years in Skvere hasidic schools in New Square, earlier in the week pleaded guilty to forcibly touching a young boy in 2011. His admission of guilt came after he was promised a sentence of six years of probation. Taubenfeld was originally with with 10 counts of forcible touching, 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and 10 counts of third-degree sex abuse. All those charges are misdemeanors.
Because of that seeming undercharging of the crimes, Taubenfeld would not be registered as a sex offender on state or national registries. However, Prosecutors allegedly promised that Taubenfeld will be registered as a sex offender on the state registry. It is unclear whether or not this is enforcable, however.
His case was adjudicated in New Square Justice Court.
Another Rockland County haredi man, Dovid Kohn of Monsey, 59, still faces 40 criminal counts of having oral sex with a girl beginning when she was 12-years-old and ending when she was 15.
Kohn is reportedly currently challenging telephone conversations between him and the girl and recorded by police. Kohn is reportedly claiming the recordings are inaudible.
The alleged victim, now in her early 20s, is also a witness in the case.
Another hasidic man, Shmuel Dym, 32, of Monsey, is fighting to have his guilty plea to sexually abusing a young boy withdrawn. Dym’s request to withdraw that guilty plea has twice been rejected by New York State Supreme Court Justice William Kelly.
"The epidemic of child-molestation threatens an entire generation of children, Many of these molesters are arrogant, narcissistic, deceptive, and downright evil. Even though some of them appear unable to control themselves, that is because of choices they repeatedly and intentionally made,” Rabbi Noson Leiter, founder of Help Rescue Our Children and a leader of Torah Jews for Decency in Monsey told the Journal News, calling Taubenfeld’s guilty plea, “a trail-blazing case — the first in which a survivor from within New Square prosecuted a molester within the community.…Taubenfeld’s own admission to molestation charges also confirms that current New Square leadership who clearly failed to stop this vile, manipulative ‘educator’ and is unqualified to deal with the molestation crisis,” he reportedly said.
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe told the paper that historically, the major issue for law enforcement in dealing with haredi child sexual abuse was that the haredi “insular community often protected the accused at the expense of the victims.”
But Zugibe – who is often criticized by anti-abuse activists for what is perceived to be his weak enforcement of the law, also said that he was encouraged by the result of the Taubenfeld case.
“[Haredi families have] recognized finally that if you protect the victims all you are doing is creating a new generation of offenders and victims. In the latest cases, particularly Taubenfeld, I have to credit the community for being more forthcoming. We have a long way to go. I am hopeful this is a new trend,” Zugibe said.
Prosecutor Jennifer Parietti said Friday in court that Zugibe had personally approved the no-prison sentence for child rapist Moishe Turner.
“The victim is under tremendous pressure [from his community. This plea will relieve that,” Parietti reportedly told the court.
Haredi families who report child sexual abuse to police regularly face extreme harassment from their communities – a fact prosecutors openly admit but allegedly have done nothing to try to stop.
Turner had previously been accused of raping boys. But the crimes were not reported to police. Instead, they were reported to the local leaders of the hasidic sect Turrner belongs to. Those leaders allegedly stopped parents from reporting Turner to police. Turner went on to rape again, resulting in the charge he pleaded guilty to Friday.
In video made by News 7 after Turner was arrested, haredi PR flack Yossie Gestetner falsely claims that Turner is not a rabbi:
So they are free to rape again, and again, thanks to St. Lawrence.
Posted by: Devorah | January 19, 2013 at 06:34 PM
My information is that Taubenfeld's plea deal includes being placed on the sex offender registry. To be determined is whether it will be as a level 1, 2, or 3 offender which each entail different restrictions but all are open ly listed on the web accessible registry.
Posted by: Yerachmiel Lopin | January 19, 2013 at 06:34 PM
Posted by: Yerachmiel Lopin | January 19, 2013 at 06:34 PM
Charges less than a felony are not put on the registry.
Even if he voluntarily agrees to be put on, he could have his name removed by his own choice at any time.
Posted by: Shmarya | January 19, 2013 at 06:37 PM
Maybe. Jusy MAYBE the charges were just not as truthful as the ACTIVIST make them and the Judge just saw throyugh them.
Like I said. MAYBE. MAYBE.
Posted by: Not all people are as guilable | January 19, 2013 at 06:48 PM
... and somewhere (Sing Sing, Attica etc.) a marijuana dealer or grower sits in a cell, keeping our streets safe from crime.
Posted by: danny | January 19, 2013 at 06:54 PM
turner is most certainly NOT a rabbi.
Why are you always claiming that people with beards are "rabbis"?
Posted by: steven k | January 19, 2013 at 08:03 PM
turner is most certainly NOT a rabbi.
Why are you always claiming that people with beards are "rabbis"?
Posted by: steven k | January 19, 2013 at 08:03 PM
He actually claimed for years to be a rabbi and was addressed as such by his community.
Posted by: Shmarya | January 19, 2013 at 08:24 PM
No, his brother is a Rabbi. The asshole in the article should be castrated and fed his own testicles - Chasidishe shechita of course.
Posted by: Mr. Nowhere | January 19, 2013 at 08:35 PM
In the Journal News article it states, "Turner's lawyer former District Atty. Kenneth Gribetz said after court that he's not aware of any Rabbi or religious community leader putting pressure on the boy or his family". He also states, "our hope is the victim can go on with his life". Sure Kenny!!!
Posted by: yehudis | January 19, 2013 at 08:36 PM
What color dress was Kenny wearing? His business is booming these days with all the pedofiles in Rockland.
Posted by: Devorah | January 19, 2013 at 08:57 PM
The Journal News article does not call Turner a Rabbi, yet you call Gestetner a liar for agreeing with the journal news.
Posted by: BigMouth | January 19, 2013 at 10:07 PM
Shmarya,
Nobody in his community considers him a rabbi.
Try and be accurate in your reporting:Almost all chasidic groups in Brooklyn and Rockland and worldwide have beards and sidelocks, most are laymen. So is Turner.Beards in the chasidic movement are not a sign of being a member of the clergy
Posted by: steven k | January 20, 2013 at 12:07 AM
monsey is so corrupt.
the worst thing that ever happened to my yiddishkeit was moving to monsey.
not the pure yiddishkeit i saw at home with my parents who were from poland.
day and night difference.
my son is going out with a non jew. after living in monsey for so long....i welcome her.
monsey is ...bullshit.
sadly
Posted by: ruthie | January 20, 2013 at 03:56 AM
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
The prick turner gets probation!!
OMG he has been mpolesting kids as young as 9 years old in boro park and williamsburg.
What a travisty of justice
Posted by: put a square into a hole | January 20, 2013 at 09:07 AM
His case was adjudicated in New Square Justice Court.
Pretty much says it all.
Posted by: flatearth | January 20, 2013 at 09:48 AM
So if you intimidate the victim you get a lighter sentence? Something is very wrong here Mr. DA ! Both should be clearly imprisoned and then made to register, all to protect the kinder from their sick and vile ways. Will there be a welcome home luncheon sponsored and promoted by the ever so illiterate PR dude? This is truly disgusting and actually helps promote this evil crime. The community harasses the victim and evil doer gets gets a slap on the wrist and a luncheon. Sad and sick ! Luke
Posted by: Luke | January 20, 2013 at 01:07 PM
To Luke
The problem is that Turner got caught in Rockland county.
He has been molesting kids in NYC for the past 30years.
If he were to be caught in boro park he would be in jail with weberman for a LONG time. Thank God for Joe Heiyns
Posted by: put a square into a hole | January 20, 2013 at 02:01 PM
Wondering out loud. Has Mr. Gestetner every met a pedophile he did not believe? Just saying........ Luke
Posted by: Luke | January 20, 2013 at 02:05 PM
Put A Square:
There have been rumors circulating in Monsey for years about him and others. Even his former one time shul sent him packing. It just destroys me that the power brokers in our community expend so much effort in creating spin, deception and lies to protect these $@&)?@ while debating whether one is a rev or not. Here you have three men all in the news in one day (two plead guilty) and all that undereducated fool (YG) has to say is it is an insult to our community to call him a rabbi. H$ll, he called himself one. Sad. Luke
Posted by: Luke | January 20, 2013 at 02:47 PM
Ruthie:
So sorry. Monsey is not what it once was. Neither is the heredi life that my grandparents had in Brooklyn that included arts and culture, and living communally among others. It all has changed, and not for the better. Sad. Luke.
Posted by: Luke | January 20, 2013 at 03:54 PM
These men should be hanged over a slow fire until they slowly roast to death.
Posted by: A. Nuran | January 20, 2013 at 06:37 PM
It seems that the same circles for whom one glance at the internet is a heinous sin, find child abuse, homosexual activity with a minor and rape and seduction of a minor to be crimes too petty to be treated seriously! For not coming to the holy Square Rabbi a person is to be sentenced to death by fire at the hands of the valet, and for capital offenses a little probation is enough. What kind of brain distortion chemicals are they putting in the New Square milk?
Posted by: Andrea | January 20, 2013 at 07:18 PM