Kiryas Joel, NY – More than one week after video of a Kiryas Joel school principal allegedly seen kissing a young boy as he held him tightly in his office surfaced on social media, a statement by United Talmudical academy officlas has been released saying that no criminal activity is evident in the footage.
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At least two videos were leaked, with an overhead camera showing the principal sitting at his desk embracing a young boy between his legs, and kissing him repeatedly.
In one of the videos which runs for over 12 minutes, the student can be seen trying unsuccessfully to pull away from the principal. During another encounter, the principal can be seen rewarding the boy with candy from his desk.
An official press release by the the school serving thousands of KJ Satmar students on Tuesday by the board of directors of United Talmudical Academy of Kiryas Joel denies any wrongdoing.
The statement, whose authenticity was confirmed by a Kiryas Joel official, said that the individual seen in the video is a senior school principal with an “unblemished professional record” who is “a respected Rabbi in our community with over 30 years experience in religious instruction and administration.”
According to the statement, the school principal is said to have earned the respect and support of two generations of UTA students.
The statement said that the videos have been incorrectly categorized as evidence of child abuse by both the media and critics of Kiryas Joel and defended the principal’s actions as part of a normal interaction with students sent to his office for behavioral issues.
“While this type of restraint may be unacceptable to some viewers, it in no way rises to the level of criminal assault.”
The statement also acknowledged that the videos in question were sent to state and county officials over seven months ago, with both the school and the principal cooperating with members of law enforcement in connection with the investigation. Major Joseph A. Tripodo, commander of Troop F of the New York State Police at Middletown, declined to share any information about that investigation.
Touting the school’s program as a “healthy and rigorous learning environment,” the statement noted that inappropriate conduct between staff members and students was not to be tolerated.
“Child abuse, in any form, is unacceptable. The evidence in this particular case in no way supports this accusation. We stand with our parents, students and staff at this time in defense of our institution and the reputation of our school principal.”
Major Tripodo said that a police hotline received a phone call on May 2nd tipping them off to possible child abuse in Kiryas Joel. A joint investigation based on that phone call has been convened by the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Monroe, the Orange County Child Abuse Unit and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
“There is an active investigation ongoing which includes reviewing videos that have surfaced and they can share no details of that including just how long the investigation might take because of the sensitive nature of the case,” Major Tripodo told VIN News.
Major Tripodo noted that despite the letter released by the school, the investigation into the incidents is continuing.
What was the principal trying to do. It seems, from the article “While this type of restraint may be unacceptable to some viewers, …” Was this excessive kissing a form of punishment ? ?
So let me see if I understand this. The video clip from an overhead camera – showing the principal sitting at his desk embracing a young boy between his legs, and kissing him repeatedly and the student can be seen trying unsuccessfully to pull away from the principal – this is NOT sexual abuse???? Are these Satmar people nuts??? This the same Satmar community that stood behind an abuser named Weberman and look how that brilliant decision turned out.
I have seen the full video and i personally know that principal (having been myself a student of his) all i can say is that this has been outrageously blown out of context… That principal is an extremely warm individual from a previous generation, all i saw, is him being his typical self, by warmly embracing that kid and talking to him from his heart .. as only he can…. No criminal activity whatsoever.
Whoever leaked this video and made this into the nightmare it is, should burn in hell for eternity.
This is a plot by the state of Israel to defame satmar
What part of the word “abuse” don’t they understand? If I saw my little boy being “punished” by being between a ruv’s legs next to his genitals, my son would be pulled out immediately.
רבותיי is this type of restraint acceptable by anyone in the Klal?
Would any of you want your son to experience רחמנא ליצלןthis type of restraint ?
This should be invastigated to the fullest
I was kissed and hugged by my Rebbaim and i appreciated and was encouraged to continue striving and learning.
What kind of SICK world do we live in that Rebaim cant show love and concern to their talmiddim !!!
Let’s give the benefit of the doubt to the ruv. That being said, even if he is from “a past generation”, he knows enough that something like this does not look good. I’m sure after this media frenzy the ruv won’t touch another student with a ten foot pole.
Where’s the kissing part? I see him holding the hands of a little boy, perhaps a playground bully, snarling a psak.
Nothing wrong with this clip, we sould just ignore this sico’s, dont be smarter the the DA.
This video shows how possesive this rabbi is, he with his manner of physical contact with the child is giving the signal that he is in tottal charge and he is sort of a god in this yeshiva, he feels like he can take the child physically and do with him whatever he desires its a form of tottal domination,this rabbi is a repugnant person should never be allowed to teach or come in contact with kids.
He knew there’s a camera recording his every move, so I doubt he would do something unacceptable.
while this type of “restraint ” , is a bit outdated and no longer suitable when dealing with children in 2016 , I did not see anything criminal/ sexual abuse ,
what you see one these video is the scenario of a menahl or rebbe giving a serious mussur shmuis or tongue lashing to a child who most probably wasn’t behaving , yes the child was a bit to close for comfort , but the whole time you see the body language of both in the video clearly not in a position as one can expect in the alleged “crime” , the hands and body of both in video were never in a position where one might expect them to be in such a situation ,it is possible after this very long tough talk the teacher gave to the student the child may have already been crying and that is why you will see the pat on the face or the candy at end to comfort him .
if it can be proven that there is pattern with this teacher , yes the full law should come down on him , but it is sad to see everyone jumping conclusion the minute there is a chusid invloved
Now the rabbonim will go after whoever placed the camera there, calling them a moser, fire them, and treat them as outcasts!
i am sure the rebbe means well and his method worked well too as some of you have stated. However there is a responsibility for those involved in chinuch to understand that times have changed. They might wear the garb of a 19th century Polish prince but educational expectations have moved on.
The boys dont sleep on benches, get kest, and shouldn’t be subject to this kind of “love”
from what i see i would say the following:
Manivolim (degenerate’s) will call it child abuse.And sane modes people will call it a non-story.
Having said, i wonder if after all this years being a principle if there is ONE person that will say that he was abused by this principle. Usually an abuser was always an abuser. So lets see
These same ignorant savage barbarians tried to cover up and supported the child rapist Nechemia Weberman
I’m the first person to say put away all of the abusers and report them immediately. At the same time, we have to be careful about getting too out of hand with calling every single touch and kiss by an adult as abuse. I have seen the video (available on you tube….just search United Talmudical Academy Abuse) and I would say that the video is concerning enough to investigate further, BUT it is not enough to say that the man is an abuser and should be thrown in jail. It is enough to say that we need to keep a close watch on him going forward. The two main concerning things on the video are 1) length of time he continued to grasp, touch and kiss the boy and 2) the position – between his legs.
Let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s stay level headed and investigate / watch this man further. I can’t say I would be able to be level headed if it were my own kid, but speaking rationally it makes the most sense and is only fair. I hope we can all agree and live in peace.
A little boy never belongs between a rabbi’s legs while the rabbi kisses him for 20 minutes!?! Are you people all creeps??? The rabbi was linking this poor tot.
What does the boy say happened? If he hasnt said anything, what does someone who claims to speak on behalf of the boy claim happened?
Theese hassidishe rebbes are so out of touch with their own feelings they are like robots who cannot act different then the way they were programmed truly roboticized in their thinking,many of those who defend him are of similar makeup unable to understand how a human being in todays world is supposed to behave,tragic as it is lets hope now that there are so many ways to bring this out to the rest of the world things will change for the better.
If I ever saw an old man sticking his tongue down my little boy’s mouth, I don’t know what I would do, but it certainly would involve calling the police and trying to have the school closed. This same fondling and french kissing happened in another earlier video. And we wonder why our kids go otd!!!!
Mishkav Zuchur is wrong and punishable by death.
If not for the fact that children are being molested, I would argue that KJ deserves it, based on their inaction and always take the side of the predator.
After watching the UNEDITED version of this video, one would be very hard pressed indeed to come to any conclusion other than this child was being molested. Would you want YOUR child treated this way?
i just watched it, and it was very disturbing. This is very sexual in nature. Disgusting. If this was my child G-d forbid, I would immediately demand the principal be fired and an investigation occur. It seems taht someone knew their were issues, hence the camera.
This may not be prosecutable per se from the video, but this “principal ” needs to be kept away from children, period.