Sex Abuse lawsuit Against Yeshiva University Thrown Out Of Court

A $380 million lawsuit against Yeshiva University’s all-boys Manhattan high school, the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy, for allegedly covering up widespread sexual abuse was thrown out of court today by a federal judge.

 

Sex Abuse lawsuit Against Yeshiva University Thrown Out Of Court
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

A $380 million lawsuit against Yeshiva University’s all-boys Manhattan high school, the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy, for allegedly covering up widespread sexual abuse was thrown out of court today by a federal judge.

Judge John Koeltl reportedly said the victims — who range in age from late-30s to early-60s – waited too long to come forward.

“Statutes of limitations strike a balance between providing a reasonable time for victims to bring their claims while assuring that defendants have a fair opportunity to defend themselves before evidence is lost or memories fade. In this case, the statutes of limitations have expired decades ago, and no exceptions apply,” Koeltl reportedly wrote in a 52-page decision.

Kevin Mulhearn, who represented the 34 former students who filed the suit, reportedly called Koeltl’s ruling an “abomination and a disgrace.” Mulhearn said plans to appeal. “The court has stood up and said to Yeshiva University, ‘Congratulations, you have succeeded in your cover-up of the sex abuse! The court has set an impossible standard in dealing with a cover-up situation. I think this decision is intellectually dishonest, wrongheaded and potentially dangerous by giving schools incentives to cover up the sexual abuse of their employees,” he added.

Comments

[HavaMina]

'די געזעץ איז די געזעץ

[percherondad]

There is so much sexual abuse in the frum community I wonder what's going on .. Could it be that such repression that is mandated by the powers that be lead to this kind of abuse.. In addition most of the teachers aren't teachers.... This could never happen in the public school system... Parents take your children out of these awful cesspools that parade as educational institutions

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Yes, the majority of jewish studies "teachers" are not qualified teachers. But that is another story...

I did not know there was a statute of limitations for sexual abuse crimes - however it may be different for a civil case rather than a criminal case.

[S M L]

That would appear to be the logical - civil vs. criminal. Anybody know for certain?

[S M L]

"be logical". Sorry.

[HavaMina]

Statutes of limitations vary depending on the jurisdiction. However, its essentially universal for jurisdictions in the US have statutes of limitations for both civil and criminal cases being filed for every crime except homicide and treason. For sex crimes it depends on the age of the victim and the specific charge. For forcible rape (1st degree) the average statute of limitations in the US for criminal charges is 10-15 years; however, if the victim was underage the clock usually doesn't start ticking until they attain their majority (which serves as an extension). "Lesser" sex crimes usually have a criminal statute of limitations of 5-10 years.

[ah-pee-chorus]

I'm sure it will never happen, but if this ruling becomes final after all appeals are exhausted, it would be a nice gesture if YU gave each victim some money for their suffering. they could put a sum they could live with in a fund, and then have reps for the victims work out who gets how much.
That would be the moral and probably halachic way to handle it.

[Abracadabra]

APC - Were you ever able to get any info on that (more recent) abuse case in HANC that allegedly got covered up and was recently exposed?

[Robert J. Barron, Attorney-at-Law]

@Havamina- What you are saying sounds about right to me. I have not done criminal defense in almost 10 years, and civil suits aren't the type of civil litigation that I do.

At the same time...hopefully this is a warning to this community that victims are finally speaking up and seeking legal counsel.

I have learned from this site that Hasidic/Frum Jewry does not have a "Command Central" the way the Catholic Church does, but my viewpoint is, once that community sees schools/institutions/individuals being sued successfully for that kind of behavior, you'll see a change start to take place.

....well, one can always hope!

[ah-pee-chorus]

Abra-

from what i hear, no more victims came forward and i dont see the case on the docket so maybe all charges were dropped. i think the schools would be pretty lucky if so.

[Jake]

Abra,
There are victims waiting on the side line to sue.

One of my two abusers was not mentioned in the case.

There are other abusers who have not been mentioned.

One issue is that YU has a list of abusers that they are not revealing, even though Richard Joel had said they would.

The statue of limitations is whatever the state says it will be.
Maryland does not have a statute of limitations fr criminal prosecution of sex abuse. However they do have a statute of limitation for filing a civil suite.

If this would have been in Maryland people involved in this affair would be going to jail.

Now is the time for Yeshiva University to do the right thing and release the name of the abusers to the community.

Until then wipe out the names of Joel, schachter and most especialy rabbi Blau who holds the keys to the kingdom of what goes on in Yeshiva University. Blau knows about my abuser and I am waiting for him to come forward and warn people. ( peope in the abusers community know about him and e is being watched.).

[Yochanan Lavie]

The law is what it is. But personally, I would have loved to see Gordon's head roll (if indeed he was guilty, of course). His haskafa is reasonable, but he is not a nice man.

[!]

To Jake : I am so sorry for what happened to you. I don't understand why YU is waiting to release the names of the additional abusers (or maybe I can guess) not just do it yourself?

Also, while I don't think this decision is fair and agree it would be very nice for YU to offer a settlement as a kind gesture, I am sort of conflicted. The reason this happened is that the culture at the time made it harder for victims to come forward and be believed so they missed the statute of limitations. This happened in the secular world as well as at YU. Now that things are changing and people are finally and thankfully coming forward, can we say we understand...culture so ignore the stature of limitations but not also say that the standard (culture) for institutions at that time (secular as well as YU) was to look away and/or cover up and/ or just fire the abuser? Not sure.

Unfortunately for you and others over 30, you were the transition generation.

On the other hand, the criminal statute of limitations for the abuser should definitely be extended. This would address the possibility/probability of ongoing abuse that could be stopped as well as provide some closure for the victims and may even include financial awards.

[Sodom and Gemorah]

Dear !,

Your reasoning sounds faulty from a moral perspective. The fact that I humane behavior is accepted as part of the historic norms of a given culture does not make it less wrong. Slavery was such an example and it was wrong. Genocide has been accepted in many cultures as has suicide bombing, honor killing, etc. The perpetrators deserve to be brought to justice and the victims deserve reparations.

It was shocking to hear Rabbi Lamm offer the excuse that back then child sexual abse did not have the same "notoriety " it currently does?

Umm, Rabbi, did you guys think it was a good thing? Did you think it was good for children to be abused and sodomized? Did you think it was appropriate behavior for Rabbis?

Or back then, did you think you would never be caught?

Shame on the whole generation of Rabbis and leaders. They should all be fired andade to give public apologies.