Corrupt DA, Hasidim power play, or extortion?

[Buzzard]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/nyreg ... rc=me&_r=0

This is a pretty long article but a very interesting one. We've discussed multiple times the power the Hasidim seem to have in Brooklyn. I personally was quite proud of Charles Hynes and his seeming willingness to challenge them and out the sexual abuse in the community, but that appears to be a farce.

According to the article:

District Attorney Charles J. Hynes has shown great deference to the politically powerful Hasidic community over the years, and it has rewarded him with large margins on election days. Even his heralded crackdown on Hasidic sexual abuse was a velvet glove wrapped around a velvet fist, as he took the unusual step of refusing to publicize the names of defendants — even the convicted.

A DA refusing to name the people that molest children? Thats absolutely unheard of!

Now, back to the point of the article. It seems that a Hasidic cantor molested the 16 year old son of Sam Kellner. Kellner went on a mission to find other victims of this man and of the community as a whole. He was shunned and his life crumbled - yet Hynes was able to convict Baruch Lebovits of the molestation... then turned around and indicted Kellner... for extortion???

It seems that some Satmar supporters of Lebovits allege that Kellner offered to sink the case in exchange for money.

“We allege that Kellner sent emissaries to Lebovits’s family telling them that he controlled the witnesses against Baruch Lebovits,†the district attorney said at a 2011 news conference, “and that in return for $400,000, he would ensure that the witnesses would not testify.â€

This indictment stunned the small, embattled community of Hasidic whistle-blowers. Mr. Kellner, to their view, took enormous risks in a righteous fight. That he could sit in the dock next month is a message not lost on anyone.

So, wait... the DA is alleging that a man who lost his business, his community, and essentially his life is willing to sell it under the table for 400k? Yeah, you see, that wouldnt stop the DA from going forward based upon prior testimony and statements. Has someone offered to get a witness to shut up in the past? Sure, but in this case its a ridiculous proposition.

Mr. Kellner posted $25,000 bail. And to pile legal insult atop injury, Mr. Lebovits’s lawyers used his indictment and other technicalities to persuade a state appeals court to overturn his conviction.

I'd like to know what the "other technicalities" are, please.

I talked with Brooklyn prosecutors about the case against Mr. Kellner. By way of throat-clearing, the prosecutor Nicholas J. Batsidis demanded to know if I’d read the indictment. As it was five pages long and contained little detail, I allowed that I had managed to stumble through.

He pointed to the key evidence, a secretly taped, rambling and excited conversation between Mr. Kellner and Meyer Lebovits, the cantor’s son. Mr. Kellner is also accused of paying witnesses to testify against Mr. Lebovits. “When you have an audiotape where Kellner is warning him that he’s going to bring other victims, it speaks for itself,†Mr. Batsidis said.

That explanation sounds better than the tape itself. The transcript reveals a conversation soaked in ambiguity, and rendered in overwrought language. It depicts Mr. Kellner as a tortured father trying to find justice. The younger Mr. Lebovits at times seems to accept that his father committed some acts of abuse.

Sounds like a real strong case when you cant find evidence in the indictment...

So, in the end. A child molester is free and the man who exposed him faces jail time. The comments on the article are really interesting, almost exclusively criticizing the prosecution and the DA (who has a tv show now).

Am I missing something? I dont know, but my prosecutor "bullshit" sensor is tingling... this reeks of a political do over.

[France Nolan]

You're not missing anything. I'm tired of the way politicians kowtow to fundies (Christian, Jewish, whatever) in an effort to get votes. I'm tired of religious leaders being given carte blanche to abuse children. I'm tired of the abusers being protected. It's epic bullshit.

[Arete]

They don't seem to have power, they HAVE power. Different fundies, same shit. If you want elected office in Brooklyn, you do not mess with the Satmars. They are the largest Hasidic community in Brooklyn and they are kingmakers. Whistleblowers in that community are punished, and punished severely. Social ostracism in that insular a community is a living death.

[2xx1xy1JD]

While I don't know anything about this particular case, I did find this article about Hynes giving a warning - belatedly - to the Agudath Israel about their policy that rabbinic permission was needed before reported cases of suspected child abuse, including sexual abuse:

http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new-y ... use-policy

Here are two of my blog posts, explaining the Agudath policy and just how bad it is:

http://jrkmommy-personalandpolitical.bl ... abuse.html

http://jrkmommy-personalandpolitical.bl ... on-on.html

Agudath Israel is an umbrella organization for Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews.

This isn't an issue about a few deviants abusing children. It's an issue about official organizations in a religious community coming out with formal positions that conflict with mandated reporting requirements. It's an issue that it took the DA months to make a statement against this organization, and that the DA apparently hasn't been able to get the policy reversed. It's an issue about the many factors that make children in this community so much more vulnerable to sexual abuse, such as:

1. Not receiving comprehensive sex ed at a young age

2. Religious rules against saying anything bad about a religious scholar

3. Not attending public school (where this topic would be covered, and teachers are mandated reporters)

4. Religious rules against gossip, and saying anything bad about another Jew

5. Religious rules against going to secular authorities/courts and being an "informer"

6. Being part of an extremely insular community, where doing anything that would result in disapproval is unthinkable and would result in harassment and possible loss of livelihood.

[hoipolloi]

In many ways this is very much like the sex abuse scandal engulfing Sovereign Grace Ministries and its hierarchy.

Plus ca change and all that.

[Buzzard]

They don't seem to have power, they HAVE power. Different fundies, same shit. If you want elected office in Brooklyn, you do not mess with the Satmars. They are the largest Hasidic community in Brooklyn and they are kingmakers. Whistleblowers in that community are punished, and punished severely. Social ostracism in that insular a community is a living death.

This really should be looked at by the Feds as a civil rights violation, as well as a violation of oath by the da.

Anyone have connections in the southern district of ny? I'm sure I could find a name, but a direct connection is better. US attorneys tend to have less tolerance for political bullshit.

[France Nolan]

I'm pretty sure that Brooklyn is in the Eastern District.

https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/

(Not breaking link because it's government)

I could ask around. Most of my attorney friends practice on the county level.