Brooklyn, NY – The embattled Orthodox Jewish father of a sexual abuse victim, who saw the conviction of his son’s abuser overturned after he, himself, was charged with extortion, says he continues to move forward in his search for the “truth,” but wonders what his future holds even if he succeeds in proving his innocence.
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In profiling the five-year legal journey of Sam Kellner, the NEW YORK TIMES (http://bit.ly/16DQhlv) takes an in-depth look at chronology of his struggles, which began with his controversial decision to assist authorities in prosecuting a prominent Hasidic cantor, all the way up to his current status, which has him preparing to defend himself against charges brought by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ office.
Kellner comes across as, more or less, a “pawn” caught in a political chess match between the political power-wielding factions of Hasidic hierarchy and members of the Monsey rabbinical court who express a deep commitment in defending the rights of sexual abuse victims.
And at the heart of the matter lies a controversial tape recording, which prosecutors allege clearly proves “witness tampering” by Kellner, but which advocates for Kellner say is “ambiguous” at best.
One of Kellner’s main advocates continues to be Rabbi Cheskel Gold, a member of the rabbinical court of Monsey, the authority that originally granted Kellner permission to assist authorities in the first place.
Rabbi Gold warns that a Kellner conviction could have serious long term ramifications in the fight against child sexual abuse.
“If he’s convicted, no one will ever come forward again,” said Gold. “No one.”
“If he’s convicted, no one will ever come forward again,” said Gold. “No one.”
Why? His coming forward was not the crime he was charged for. The charges are for extortion, having allegedly interfered with the process to force a conviction. Why should this stop anyone from reporting a crime of molestation? I’m missing something here.
Brooklyn, NY – The embattled Orthodox Jewish father of a sexual abuse victim, who saw the conviction of his son’s abuser overturned .
last i saw we do live in a country with laws and there is nothing we can do about that . however as my late father and mother used to say. were there is smoke , there is fire and no yeshiva should hire this person until he is checked out properly
yeshivas should have cameras all over. The limit might be on how much data can be stored and for how long but the cameras could themselves be a deterrent unless someone knows which are not being recorded.
I hate to take a stand on delicate issues like these but something stinks big time.
I will say it only in ambiguous language.
The character of a witness and an accuser needs to be taken into account.
There are huge problems with how some so called anti-abuse activists do their work.
They took a sensitive issue and use it to their agenda which is to bring down orthodx Jews by defaming them in the secular media.
Some of the activist really do mean well.But some are so mean and i hate saying it they are delighted when they hear of another child molestation case.
I know of one activist that each time he hears of a case he tells it to everyone giggling and laughing saying:”see i told you whats going on in the community”
And this my friends is at heart with almost all cases.WE just don’t want to be lead by people like theses and we will fight them tooth and nail.
Poor father. Speaking the truth and fighting the good fight, led to financial ruins.
The money and the monsters protecting Lebovic, knew they can use that to turn the tables, and turn the tables they did. We now have, a guilty man overturning his conviction and a truly innocent man facing charges. How sad.
From what I understand these case is two fold, first are the charges of abuse of which
was made, the second is the tampering of Mr. Kellner. Does not mean the “cantor” was not guilty, to me it means that Mr. Kellner felt he had to go to certain lengths in order to prove it. He was wrong, but isn’t it terrible that a father has to do something like that.
From personal correspondence with activists, I am led to a conclusion backing Mavin. I am sorry that this is the state of affairs.
A) There is no difference between 1) being a victim of such a terrible act or 2).being falsely accused and/or convicted of such terrible act.
B) To an observant Jew, a conviction by a secular court does not by any means indicate whether someone is guilty or not. Based on Jewish law of לשון הרע we are prohibited from believing that someone is guilty even if they have been “convicted” by secular court.
C) Only a competent Rabbi who’s committed to uphold the rules set by Shulchon Aruch” is authorized to rule if one is permitted to report something to the authorities.
Sorry, Torah Rules are still the same as in 5773 as in year 2448 when we received it from Hashem.