Details:
Rabbi rape charge dropped
30 January 2009
A STUDENT rabbi charged with raping a boy in a synagogue toilet has had his case thrown out of court.
Moshe Reichman, 24, from Golders Green, was accused of four offences which it was claimed occurred five years ago.
But he walked free from court on Monday after the prosecution admitted it could offer no evidence. Mr Reichman had always denied the charges.
Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how the boy was in Israel and would not be returning to stand in the witness box. This gave the judge, Mr Justice Birts, no option but to dismiss the rape case.
Defence barrister Jonathan Goldberg QC said his client was a relieved man. "Mr Reichman always maintained complete innocence and if the boy had appeared to give evidence there was a long history of disturbed anti-social behaviour on which he would have been cross-examined," he said.