On April 28 of last year, I wrote a post titled, "How Mondrowitz Escaped Justice." In it, I claimed…
…COJO Borough Park (the Council of Jewish Organizations of Borough Park), then headed by a Gerrer hasid, Rabbi Elimelech Naiman, had probably played a key role in Avrohom Mondrowitz's escape from justice.
Naiman was later convicted of bribing New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind. Hikind himself was bizarrely acquitted of accepting those bribes.
Last week, Zev Brenner interviewed Rabbi Yakov Horowitz about the pending Mondrowitz extradition. In that interview, Brenner told Horowitz that he got credible reports of Mondrowitz's molestation while Mondrowitz was still in Brooklyn. Brenner went to unnamed Orthodox Jewish community leaders and told them.
Brenner asked if he should call police.
The unnamed leaders told Brenner to stay silent. Don't worry, these Orthodox leaders told Brenner, we will handle it.
Two weeks later, Mondrowitz was living free in israel, a fugitive from American justice.
This morning, VIN interviewed Brenner and Brenner named those Orthodox Jewish leaders who told him to not call police: COJO Borough Park and Rabbi Elimelech Naiman.
Israel itself claims American haredi rabbis told Mondrowitz to flee to Israel.
Both Naiman and Mondrowitz are Gerrer hasidim. Mondrowitz lived safely in Israel under the protection of various Gerrer rebbes for more than 20 years.
Israel's Supreme Court is currently deciding whether Israel will extradite Mondrowitz so he can finally stand trial in Brooklyn.
Not surprisingly, chief among those working to keep Mondrowitz in Israel are senior Gerrer hasidim.
[Hat Tips for VIN's report: DRF, Sam.]