Explaining his decision to acquit [Daniel "Gug"] Hayman, Magistrate David Williams cited a legal "absurdity" whereby he was bound to retrospectively apply an old law in place at the time of the incident. It ruled if there was any possibility the incident constituted the more serious crime of indecent assault, the accused must be acquitted of the less serious charge of committing an indecent act. "It is an oddity of the law, putting it in the mildest of terms," Mr Williams said.
Above: Daniel "Gug" Hayman
Originally published at 11:49 pm CDT 5-15-2014
Chabad pedophile Daniel "Gug" Hayman pleaded guilty earlier this week to one charge of aggravated indecent assault by a person of authority for sexually abusing a boy at a Chabad camp in Sydney, Australia. (Hayman was also on Chabad's board of directors there.)
Several other charges against Hayman were then dropped, and one charge – committing one act of indecency against a person under 16 – was set for trial Thursday.
An Australian judge acquitted Hayman – but not because he thought Hayman was innocent. Instead, he acquitted Hayman because he thought Hayman should have been charged with a more serious crime.
And under Australian law, that dichotomy – which arguably did not actually exist – allowed Hayman to escape punishment for allegedly sexually abusing a teenage girl.
Another black eye for an Australian legal system that for decades has enabled criminals of all types and persecuted victims.
Australia's News Nine reports:
Legal oddity results in indecency aquittal
Daniel Hayman, 49, pleaded not guilty to committing one act of indecency against a person under 16 at his Bondi Junction home in Sydney's east in late 1989.
Downing Centre Local Court heard on Thursday that Hayman knew his alleged victim through Bondi's Jewish Yeshiva Centre, where he was a member and sometimes supervised youths while doing volunteer work.
The girl's family lived in Brisbane but she was boarding at Hayman's family home while she attended Yeshiva Ladies College at the centre.
The crown alleged that during the early hours of one morning Hayman, then 25, crept completely naked into his living room where the girl was sleeping on the sofa bed.
He then allegedly sat down on the adjoining couch, leaned towards her and touched the quilt she was sleeping under.
The alleged victim, now 37, described how she "wrapped herself up really tight" inside the quilt after she was woken by Hayman and felt a hand touch her somewhere.
After he left the room, she dressed quickly in her school uniform and left at about 4.30am.
"I was scared. I just wanted to get away from him," she said.
From a phone booth she rang a friend from the Yeshiva Centre, Michael Berkowitz, to tell him what had happened before calling her parents.
That morning she recounted the incident to Rabbi Baruch Lesches at the Yeshiva Centre.
The incident went unreported until the alleged victim contacted police in August 2013.
In a police interview recorded after his November arrest, Hayman said he didn't recall the girl living at his home.
Explaining his decision to acquit Hayman, Magistrate David Williams cited a legal "absurdity" whereby he was bound to retrospectively apply an old law in place at the time of the incident.
It ruled if there was any possibility the incident constituted the more serious crime of indecent assault, the accused must be acquitted of the less serious charge of committing an indecent act.
"It is an oddity of the law, putting it in the mildest of terms," Mr Williams said.
Also note that the alleged victim's testimony contradicts what Rabbi Baruch Lesches claimed when this case was first made public last year – that he had no idea the alleged assault had taken place until he found out about it when the story broke in 2013.
That story includes a tape of Lesches saying that these victims of child sex abuse at the hands of Hayman may have asked for and wanted the abuse to take place. In the same tape he also claims "goyyim" have sex with dogs.
Lesches is still a Chabad rabbi and leads a Chaabd community in Monsey, New York.
Related Posts:
Chabad pedophile Daniel "Gug" Hayman Pleads Guilty.
Rabbi Baruch Lesches: Child Victims May Have Wanted Sex Abuse To Happen, Goyyim Have Sex With Dogs.