Chaim Levin was awarded $3.5 million yesterday for child sexual abuse suffered at the hands of a cousin, Sholom Eichler. Eichler fled to Israel before the case got to court, and it is unclear if Levin will ever get any of the court judgment.
Sholom Eichler
Anti-child-sexual-abuse activist Chaim Levin was awarded $3.5 million yesterday for child sexual abuse suffered at the hands of a cousin, Sholom Eichler. Eichler fled to Israel before the case got to court, and it is unclear if Levin will ever get any of the court judgment.
The abuse occurred at Eichler’s home on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and the Vishnitz Synagogue (which is populated by Chabad-Lubavitch hasidim), on Montgomery St. in Crown Heights.
“It was pretty brutal. It was killing me, but I was too afraid to tell anyone,” Levin told the NY Daily News regarding the sodomy and forced oral sex that took place when he was 6- to 10-years-old.
Eichler has also been questioned by police in Israel regarding sexual abuse against Levin that took place on family vacations to Israel.
Eichler's immediate family owns a large Judaica store in Brooklyn bearing the family name. His cousin, shared with Levin, is United Torah Judaism Member of Knesset Rabbi Yisroel Eichler.