Baltimore, MD – A news report that appeared here yesterday on VIN News described a letter circulated by Rabbi Moshe Hauer, Rabbi of Shaarei Zion of Baltimore. According to the news report, which was reprinted from the website Examiner.com and was written by Vicky Polin, Rabbi Hauer wrote and circulated a letter throughout Baltimore’s Jewish community, discussing a general policy for dealing with alleged child abuser Rabbi Stanley Levitt.
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Efforts by VIN News to obtain a copy of this letter proved to be unsuccessful, leading VIN News to question the credibility of the original news report. VIN News has since confirmed that no such letter was sent out by Rabbi Hauer and, therefore, the story is being retracted and no further comments will be accepted, until future investigation proves otherwise.
This is a very good thing. Any community’s first duty is to protect its children. Rabbi Hauer is serving his community and generations of Jews as yet unborn.
What happened to “innocent until proven guilty” I understand this treatment if he is convicted, this is שפיכת דמים,
Too little too late
In the Chareidi kehillos, child molestors seem to be welcomed with open arms….even when there is substantial evidence and multiple allegations from reliable witnesses, there is still a level of denial. WHY would Levitt be allowed in any shul, even with monitoring? What is there that makes these perverts so immune to isolation??
If he wants the secular court to intervene then he needs to respect the democratic court system, I don’t care who the rabbi is but he is certanly not above chazal or our jury system in his case. I understand u need to have a open eye on the accused but let justice take its course, the sanhedrin didn’t pasken dinei nfushos without having the full investigation and that were 70 men and not by a single rabbis opinion or even 10 rabbis.
While what the Rabbi si doing is proper, VIN should not post it..
Wonder if there is a statute of limitations. 30 years ago is a long time. Can he still be legally prosecuted?
a child molester has the din of a rodeph – (says R’ moshe Feinstein) as such please don’t cry for the molester
Kudos to Rabbi Hauer for doing the right thing. Kudos to Penn State for firing everyone that stood by in silence. Kudos to the Rabbi from crown heights who blasted the judge that gave a lenient sentance to an admitted offender last week.
I have to call Mr. Raglayim Ldovor organization and see where they stand.
I’d like to start my comment that yes its bold brave and this is the right step towards cleaning our community, however I have a problem with this particular story we have an accused mollester that has accused victem’s claiming they were mollested 30 years ago NOW 30 years is a long long time a usual preditor doesn’t hit once and stops a sicko goes after victims time and time again, this is a known fact and if all we have on him is a 30 year old accusation my personal opinion is that no he shouldn’t be humiliated like this and no this shouldn’t be posted all over the new sites we need to start using commen sense !!!
This warning by the rabbi is NOT based on 30-year old allegations- it’s based on current knowledge of recent actions by this guy.
They may not be actionable in court (yet) but that doesn’t mean they’re not facts.
I’m in chinuch and I can name child molesters from every Jewish community. Most cases couldn’t be prosecuted, for various reasons, but whenever posijble, safeguards were employed to keep the guy from striking again.
I don’t know who decided to publicize this warning by R Hauer, but it’s nothing new.
The naysayers will criticize regardless. Either the rabbis are bad because they ‘do nothing’. Or they’re bad because they do something. I know all about due process, but let’s not kid ourselves- we know who many of our molesters are.
I grew up in Torah Temimah and it was no secret that Kolko had his ‘pets’- and his pets got petted. As my brother always said “thank god I wasn’t a cute kid”.
At least let the guy say kaddish. But really, its good that they can limit his exposure.
What happened to “innocent until proven guilty” I understand this treatment if he is convicted, this is שפיכת דמים,
To all of you who say Vin should not post it, wake up and smell the roses. I wish every molester’s picture would be posted here. If the court ordered that he stay away from kids even during the trial isn’t that enough for you???? Do we have to wait till chas v’shulem another kid gets ruined for life????
why Rabbi Moshe Haue did what he did maybe because of this or maybe he knows of other recent cases but people do not want to come forward. He must know something to take such actions.
In addition it is already public knowledge since it was in many papers.
According to the Pennsylvania Judicial System over the last ten years there have been several charges filed against Levitt including Indecent Assault, Endangering the Welfare of Children, Corrupting Minor, Indecent Exposure and Unlawful Restraint. As of today Stanley Z. Levitt has never been found guilty of sex crime in which he would be placed on the sex offender registry.
since i posted this I am anti-religious to some
If he’s suspected of killing some people 30 years ago and attempting murder recentlynobody would have any hesitation from keeping this man away so let’s stop playing games. If the Rabbi made this notice public it means there are some serious “raglayim ldavar”
here in London UK he would be more then welcome in any Shul, In fact in London UK its the victims that have a problem going to shuls, Getting alliyas, being invited to simchas etc
Liebi Kletzky hy’d Do we need to say anymore
To # 1 and # 15:
You are confused. “Innocent until proven guilty” is a maxim of criminal law — the State has the burden of proving the defendant guilty of committing a crime before it can punish him — and the proof has to be beyond reasonable doubt.
That does NOT mean that if, in the meantime, there is reason to suspect that the person is a danger to others, that the State cannot order protection for those the person might victimize. The standard of proof for that is much less — it is a civil matter.
(Even if someone is acquitted, all that means is that he is not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The State can still seek civil sanctions against him. For example, a policeman engages in misconduct. He might be prosecuted if serious. Even if he is acquitted, he can still be fired for the same misconduct, since losing your job is only a civil matter, and the State has a duty to make sure its police officers are not abusing their position.)
There clearly is strong reason to believe the man is a danger to children, and that means he needs to be closely monitored. This is child molestation we are talking about — a sick perversion that is hard to control.
Rabbi Hauer is very respected in this community. He is a normal orthodox Rabbi and I would like to have an explanation of labeling his chareidi
“WHY would Levitt be allowed in any shul, even with monitoring? What is there that makes these perverts so immune to isolation??”
Because, although he is a sinner and one who appears to have harmed many innocent children, that is not license to read him out of the Jewish people. Most child molestors are interested in children, not adults, that is the whole point of the sickness. If he is closely monitored, why should he not be allowed in a shul (and note that it is only one shul in city) to say kaddish? (But as I said before, if there is any doubt, then you have to err on the side of more protection of the children, not helping him.)
“If he wants the secular court to intervene then he needs to respect the democratic court system, I don’t care who the rabbi is but he is certanly not above chazal or our jury system in his case. I understand u need to have a open eye on the accused but let justice take its course, the sanhedrin didn’t pasken dinei nfushos without having the full investigation and that were 70 men and not by a single rabbis opinion or even 10 rabbis.” — No. 10.
First of all , dinei nefashos is decided by a beis din of 23, not 70. And a beis din of 3 can give malkos.
Second, none of that matters. No one is putting him to death nor whipping him. They are instituting protection of innocent children against someone that there is strong reason to believe has harmed children in the past and has a sickness that will make harm them in the future. The rabbonim are OBLIGATED to take action to protect others from harm, and they don’t have to wait for either the Sanhedrin nor the secular courts.
While The government and the court system has their way of doing things and we must respect it, there is no rights in Jewish Halacha to be mevayesh someone for what he 30 years ago if he stoped doing it
His blood is hefker.
If we’ll take the law into our own hands now, the next pedophile won’t do these crimes so quickly….
Hey, all you naysayers, if this were your child, sister, brother or any other family member would you still feel the same way???? I know what your answer is without hearing it!!!
where’s an updated picture of this Levitt? If he’s 63 now he doesn’t look like the young picture…maybe, the older man above it Levitt today?
If every Rov would do the same thing in their community, this issue would be gone overnight! Child molesters will have no choice but leave our community’s and our children will be safe, end of story! Something to think about…
to anyone defending this guy and falling back on “innocent until proven guilty:” you are at best fools. at worst, you enjoy the same lifestyle (G-d forbid) and are defending one of your own.
l.ife is not like a TV show where innocent people are arrested and brought to court. cops and prosecutors and court officials go over massive amounts of evidence and need to make a good case or someone, somewhere will have their hides. pleading no contest is a guilty plea, folks. try reading a law book sometime.
PS- to the “rabbi” who allows him to daven in his shul: see above.