Brooklyn, NY – An influential rabbi came last summer to the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, with a message: his ultra-Orthodox advocacy group was instructing adherent Jews that they could report allegations of child sexual abuse to district attorneys or the police only if a rabbi first determined that the suspicions were credible.
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The pronouncement was a blunt challenge to Mr. Hynes’s authority. But the district attorney “expressed no opposition or objection,” the rabbi, Chaim Dovid Zweibel, recalled.
In fact, when Mr. Hynes held a Hanukkah party at his office in December, he invited many ultra-Orthodox rabbis affiliated with the advocacy group, Agudath Israel of America. He even chose Rabbi Zweibel, the group’s executive vice president, as keynote speaker at the party.
Mr. Hynes has won election six times as district attorney thanks in part to support from ultra-Orthodox rabbis, who lead growing communities in neighborhoods like Borough Park and Crown Heights. But in recent years, as allegations of child sexual abuse have shaken the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, victims’ rights groups have expressed concern that he is not vigorously pursuing these cases because of his deep ties to the rabbis.
Many of the rabbis consider sexual abuse accusations to be community matters best handled by rabbinical authorities, who often do not report their conclusions to the police.
Below video: Dec. 2001 DA Hynes spoke to Shimon Gifter on this issue.
In 2009, as criticism of his record mounted, Mr. Hynes set up a program to reach out to ultra-Orthodox victims of child sexual abuse. Called Kol Tzedek (Voice of Justice in Hebrew), the program is intended to “ensure safety in the community and to fully support those affected by abuse,” his office said.
In recent months, Mr. Hynes and his aides have said the program has contributed to an effective crackdown on child sexual abuse among ultra-Orthodox Jews, saying it had led to 95 arrests involving more than 120 victims.
But Mr. Hynes has taken the highly unusual step of declining to publicize the names of defendants prosecuted under the program — even those convicted. At the same time, he continues to publicize allegations of child sexual abuse against defendants who are not ultra-Orthodox Jews.
This policy of shielding defendants’ names because of their religious status is not followed by the other four district attorneys in New York City, and has rarely, if ever, been adopted by prosecutors around the country.
Some sex-crime experts and former prosecutors said the policy contributed to a culture of secrecy in ultra-Orthodox communities, which made it harder to curb sexual abuse.
Mr. Hynes, through a spokesman, said he would not publicize information about specific accusations because he did not want to discourage victims from coming forward. But at least one ultra-Orthodox rabbi acknowledged asking him not to publicize these cases and said other rabbis had as well.
The number of sexual abuse cases involving children being prosecuted by Mr. Hynes’s office is up sharply. But an examination by The New York Times shows that some of Mr. Hynes’s claims about the Kol Tzedek program appear to be inflated.
Through an extensive search of court and other public records, The Times determined the names of suspects and other details in 47 of the 95 cases attributed to the Kol Tzedek program. More than half of the 47 seemed to have little to do with the program, according to the court records and interviews.
Some did not involve ultra-Orthodox victims, which the program is specifically intended to help. More than one-third involved arrests before the program began, as early as 2007. Many came in through standard reporting channels, like calls to the police.
While the 47 cases did include charges against camp counselors, yeshiva teachers and rabbis, they also included cases like that of a Borough Park cafe owner who was convicted of molesting a female Hispanic immigrant who worked for him.
At least three others were of ultra-Orthodox defendants who groped women on public transportation, including one Borough Park resident accused of placing his penis on a woman’s shoulder. The woman immediately called the transit police.
Isn’t there a law saying that the community must be told if a someone convicted of a sexual crime lives in the neighborhood? (Megan’s law)
what the N.Y. Times has to say i take with a grain of salt.
I am definitely not saying that this is right and hope it isn’t true, however The Times seems to be having a field day lately about orthodox jews. I think discrimination is involved here. People that sexually abuse should be locked up or live in a treatment facility where they can not harm anyone again.
this story and others always leave out or they do not know who the main culprits are, the robonum who are pulling the strings. They are the ones people need to be mad at, and who need to be publicized so they can explain publicly their stance and not hide
Then let people decide to follow them or not. a rebbie is great not because he was born to a rebbie but because of his actions
Why am I seeing so many New York times articles published here about this. everybody knows you can’t just trust a word of their radical left anti-Semitic agenda.
Reply to #3
“But Mr. Hynes has taken the highly unusual step of declining to publicize the names of defendants prosecuted under the program — even those convicted. “
As long as everyone goes to citifield everything is OK. We will take care of all these problems in citifield
After reading the enitre New York Times article my blood boils. What a shanda, a terrible scandal. Time for the DA to retire, this is not a monarchy and there should be term limits for the DA as this is for mayor. No one voted for Chaim Dovid Zweibel to be my spokesperson and I will not vote for this shyster DA if he runs again!
Corruption from top to bottom. When the DA’s liaison to the Jewish community is MARRIED to a lawyer who defends rapists SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN BROOKLY.
We should NOT be protecting monsters who terrorize children, and punish the victims. Complaining about the NY Times and holding anti-Internet actions is not going to change that.
Instead of blaming the Times we should blame blame those in our our communities and it the so called leaders who have habitually covered up child molestation and allowed our children to be put in harm’s way so that some rav’s kavod could be protected. What about our children’s protection?????
That’s why we all have to attend to this great event. On Sunday, May 20th, 2012, thousands are expected to gather in Citi Field to rally against the perceived evils of the internet. Join us for a massive rally to bring awareness to a far bigger problem in the Charedi (ultra-orthodox Jewish) community: keeping our children safe.
We are fed up with rabbinical leaders’ dismissive attitude towards sexual and physical violence against children.
This is NOT an anti-religious protest. We are ultra-Orthodox, Modern Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, secular, male, female, young and old. This is not an ideological issue. This is not an issue only for “insiders.” When it comes to the safety of our children, we must be united and unabashed in our actions.
Thank you NYTimes for publicizing this, maybe with busha will come a kaparah and some change. Can’t believe these sects that go crazy over splits in their dynasty and fight over buildings let their kids get abused like this. At least take care of the aggressors privately. Why all of a sudden are they all being dan l’kaf zechus, they don’t do that in other areas. A new Kol kore comes out evern monday and thursday without any due diligence as to the actual facts.
To withold names after conviction seems criminal to me. If the other four DA’s publicize the names, it seems Hynes has been compromised by the so-called frum politicians and rabbis. I think there should be an independent iinvestiagtion of his office.
I am very happy that the NEW YORK TIMES is exposing this filth. SUNLIGHT IS THE BEST DISINFECTANT!
It’s high time we purge ourselves from Molesters and their protecters, even if these protecters call themselves Rabbis! Enough is enough!
As a woman who likes to ride public transportation with nothing on my shoulder but my clothing and my purse, can I say ewwww to the last paragraph. Seriously? If anyone, I don’t care who they are, green, purple, black, hispanic, chasidishe put their private parts on my shoulder he would have way bigger problems to deal with than his name being published.
Stop bashing the Times our community gave them the story on a silver platter!
Nebech, WE HAVE NO LEADERS!!!!! Bring the Mashiach Now!!!!!
As a victim of sexual abuse i certainly agree that the frum public has no idea as to the mental damage caused to the victim of sexual abuse. I believe this is the root cause why offenders are alloud to roam free and attend our shuls where it is just a matter of time before they damge another innocent soul for life!
I don’t believe that rabis are malliciosly defending offenders, but there is desperate need for education on what happens to the child after even one sexual incounter!!!
amazing how we can get 40,000 of our brethren to show up and oppose the so called cause of children at risk yet these same leaders silence anyone that tries to deal with an issue that results in the majority of at risk youth situations.
The emperor truely has no clothes!
A sad day for kellal yisroel
When someone comes to a Rabbi with a complaint against one of his followers, the Rebbi’s objective is to resolve the matter in the most respectable manner possible, coordinating between the two parties and coming to an understanding without the involvement of outside authority.
This system still works for many.
The problem is where this is a complaint of sexual abuse. Most rabbis have no clue of the severe damage caused to the victim and since the complainers is usually a child who is embarrassed of the incident and is not interested in discussing this with the rabbi or even their own parent! let alone he will most likely not understand the actual damage caused to him or her until years later, the rabbi treats this as a problem of no significance.
It is treated with the same severity as a complaint of a neighbor that keeps on blocking his driveway. Instead it should be treated as if the offender took a knife and chopped off the tip of your child’s nose!
Imagine people expressing, “big deal, he still has a nose, he can still breath, as long as he doesn’t look in the mirror he’s fine”!
How many times have you heard people say, “big deal, so he was molested, let him get over it. Move on!
Although no physical damage appears on a child of sexual abuse, he or she will have extensive difficult for the rest of their life, depression, anxiety, especially after marriage where a lot of these problems surface and cause other problems.
As a victim who has never discussed this with anyone, I hope with my post I can educate some non believers on how severe this issue is, and maybe explain the pain and anger of all the victims and their families.
Once DA Hynes decided to have a separate set of rules for Chasidic Sex Offenders it was only a matter of time before the genie would get out of the bottle. The New York Times has now put this story out in the open. This story is not going to go away despite the wishes of the CH and BP community and machors. The non Jews rightfully have a very strong case to be against this policy. This story is here to stay.
Who appointed Agudah and Zweible to speak in our behalf and on the behalf of all the children who are being molested, and all the families who a suffering. If it would happen to one of theirs how fast would they change their opinion and they would go straight to police. The Gedolim have to be human, ethical and not political to make sure their “man” gets elected .; Hynes has been messing things like this up for a while, let’s clean house