Meilich Spitzer, the principal of Satmar's United Talmudical Academy in Spring Valley, allegedly beat a 10-year-old boy, repeatedly slapping him strongly across the face and head two weeks ago. Spitzer was arrested and indicted on assault charges, but the boy's family is refusing to cooperate with the DA, causing the DA to say that he will drop the charges if a witness to the crime doesn't come forward within 60 days of the arrest.
Meilich Spitzer, the principal of Satmar's United Talmudical Academy in Spring Valley, allegedly beat a 10-year-old boy, repeatedly slapping him strongly across the face and head two weeks ago. Spitzer was arrested and indicted on assault charges, but the boy's family is refusing to cooperate with the DA, causing the DA to say that he will drop the charges if a witness to the crime doesn't come forward within 60 days of the arrest.
This News 12 report on this development posted below is shameful.
Why?
1. News 12 identified PR hack Yossi Gestetner as a journalist – but he isn't one. He runs a PR company and small haredi PAC.
2. The DA Thomas Zugibe says that without a firsthand witness, there is nothing he can do. If the boys family doesn't cooperate within 60 days, he claims, he'll have to drop the charges. But this is false. The DA can compel the boy and his parents to testify and treat them as hostile witnesses. The charges do not need to be dropped. News 12 might know this if they actually picked up a phone and called a legal expert or did other similar reporting. But News 12 – whose reporter cannot pronounce the word "Talmudical" – didn't do that.
3. The News 12 anchor claimed there is no evidence of threats against the family or the boy from Satmar or other parts of the haredi community. However, while the family may not be complaining to police about threats, that doesn't mean they are not getting threats, and that was not really made clear by the anchor.
4. The DA has never prosecuted haredim for witness intimidation and obstruction of justice – two crimes that are frequently committed in that community. News 12 did not ask the DA about that, or ask if he would prosecute haredim caught harassing or intimidating the boy or his family.
5. Haredi crime flourishes in part because the media so often does a poor job of covering it. In the case of News 12, that poor job descended into an awful job, one that is truly inexcusable.
[Hat Tip: Burich.]