The Village Voice has a compelling report written by Kristen Lombardi documenting the abuses of Avorhom Mondrowitz, the hasidic psychologist and radio show host is is accused of abusing dozens of young boys in Brooklyn until he fled arrest for israel in 1985. New victims have come forward after reading about the Mondrowitz case in New York Magazine. Charles Hynes, Brooklyn's DA since 1990, has steadfastly refused to press for extradition, just as he has allegedly protected other haredi abusers, preferring to allow haredi rabbis to police their own. The reason for Hynes' largesse? Haredi block-voting under the control of those same "self-policing" rabbis, the same ones that "self-policed" Rabbi Yehuda Kolko as he continued to abuse dozens of young boys.
Perhaps the best point in the whole article is made – unintentionally – by Aron Twerski, the dean of Hofstra Law School, haredi rabbi and self-proclaimed advocate against haredi sex abuse. Twerski most recently surfaced in an attempt to protect Rabbi Lipa Margulies and his yeshiva from fallout over the Kolko scandal. Margulies by many accounts knew of Kolko's abuse yet kept him employed as a teacher of young boys and defended him from victims and their advocates. Lombardi writes:
Twerski, of Hofstra, advocates "zero tolerance" in the community for sexual abuse. But when told about the newly vocal Mondrowitz victim and his desire to reopen the case, Twerski replies, "I don't know what to say about that. That's an old, old case and I'm not going to comment on it."
Another interesting point, this one with a Chabad connection:
Hynes has worked hard to court the community over the years. In 1990, he became the first D.A. in the city to convene a Jewish advisory council, which kept leaders abreast of cases involving Jewish defendants or complainants. The council is now defunct, says Schmetterer, replaced by the office's full-time liaison to the Hasidic community, Henna White, herself a Lubavitcher. (He refused to let the Voice interview White for this article, saying, "It wouldn't be her place to talk about this case.")
Of course it would not be her place to talk – she can't violate the haredi Omerta.
The New York Post's coverage is here.