Rockland County Judges Give Child Rapist, Child Sex Abuser No-Prison Plea Deals
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Two haredim in bedroom suburbs of New York City got sweetheart plea deals earlier this week from judges in Rockland County.
Both haredim pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse charges – one of them involving anal rape.
But even though one of those cases involves repeated anal rape of the child, neither haredi man will serve any time in prison.
Despite this bizarre agreement, Rockland County prosecutors are trumpeting the plea deals as major successes, the Journal News reported.
Rabbi Moishe Turner – described as 58-year-old “heavy-set man with a long beard streaked with gray” who prayed before the court session started (does he really think God is listening to his prayers?) and whose English is so poor he needed a Yiddish translator to understand what was happening around him – admitted Friday that he had anal sex with a boy that he knew was only 14-years-old and who was therefore unable to legally consent to sex – a felony.
But Turner’s admission only came after the judge promised to give him a sentence of 10 years of probation without any prison time, supposedly to spare the child – whose family had been harassed by haredi community activists – from having to testify against Turner.
Turner could have been sentenced to up to seven years in state prison.
Herschel Taubenfeld, 33, who taught for years in Skvere hasidic schools in New Square, earlier in the week pleaded guilty to forcibly touching a young boy in 2011. His admission of guilt came after he was promised a sentence of six years of probation. Taubenfeld was originally charged with 10 counts of forcible touching, 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and 10 counts of third-degree sex abuse. All those charges are misdemeanors.
Because of that seeming undercharging of the crimes, Taubenfeld would not be registered as a sex offender on state or national registries. However, Prosecutors allegedly promised that Taubenfeld will be registered as a sex offender on the state registry. It is unclear whether or not this is enforceable, however.
His case was adjudicated in New Square Justice Court.
Another Rockland County haredi man, Dovid Kohn of Monsey, 59, still faces 40 criminal counts of having oral sex with a girl beginning when she was 12-years-old and ending when she was 15.
Kohn is reportedly currently challenging telephone conversations between him and the girl and recorded by police. Kohn is reportedly claiming the recordings are inaudible.
The alleged victim, now in her early 20s, is also a witness in the case.
Another hasidic man, Shmuel Dym, 32, of Monsey, is fighting to have his guilty plea to sexually abusing a young boy withdrawn. Dym’s request to withdraw that guilty plea has twice been rejected by New York State Supreme Court Justice William Kelly.
"The epidemic of child-molestation threatens an entire generation of children, Many of these molesters are arrogant, narcissistic, deceptive, and downright evil. Even though some of them appear unable to control themselves, that is because of choices they repeatedly and intentionally made,” Rabbi Noson Leiter, founder of Help Rescue Our Children and a leader of Torah Jews for Decency in Monsey told the Journal News, calling Taubenfeld’s guilty plea, “a trail-blazing case — the first in which a survivor from within New Square prosecuted a molester within the community.…Taubenfeld’s own admission to molestation charges also confirms that current New Square leadership who clearly failed to stop this vile, manipulative ‘educator’ and is unqualified to deal with the molestation crisis,” he reportedly said.
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe told the paper that historically, the major issue for law enforcement in dealing with haredi child sexual abuse was that the haredi “insular community often protected the accused at the expense of the victims.”
But Zugibe – who is often criticized by anti-abuse activists for what is perceived to be his weak enforcement of the law, also said that he was encouraged by the result of the Taubenfeld case.
“[Haredi families have] recognized finally that if you protect the victims all you are doing is creating a new generation of offenders and victims. In the latest cases, particularly Taubenfeld, I have to credit the community for being more forthcoming. We have a long way to go. I am hopeful this is a new trend,” Zugibe said.
Prosecutor Jennifer Parietti said Friday in court that Zugibe had personally approved the no-prison sentence for child rapist Moishe Turner.
“The victim is under tremendous pressure [from his community. This plea will relieve that,” Parietti reportedly told the court.
Haredi families who report child sexual abuse to police regularly face extreme harassment from their communities – a fact prosecutors openly admit but allegedly have done nothing to try to stop.
Turner had previously been accused of raping boys. But the crimes were not reported to police. Instead, they were reported to the local leaders of the hasidic sect Turrner belongs to. Those leaders allegedly stopped parents from reporting Turner to police. Turner went on to rape again, resulting in the charge he pleaded guilty to Friday.
*******************************************************************
New Square Hasid Charged With Child Sex Abuse
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Rabbi Moshe Menachem Taubenfeld, a 55-year-old teacher in the Skvere hasidic village of New Square, New York, has been indicted on charges of sexually abusing a pre-teen boy over a five-year period from 2001 to 2006, the Journal News reported tonight.
Taubenfeld – who is the brother of convicted pedophile Herschel Taubenfeld – is charged with charge of second-degree course of sexual conduct, a felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
He was arrested on January 17.
It is unclear when Taubenfeld was indicted or why the indictment may have taken so long to be filed.
The alleged victim, identified only as Laiby, told the Journal News the abuse started on September 11, 2001 and continued until he turned 13 in 2006.
He said he and his family reported the abuse to New Square’s rabbinic leaders about – including the Skvere Rebbe David Twersky – about six years ago. Twersky allegedly forbid the family from reporting the abuse to police or the DA.
Tersky should be prosecuted for obstructing justice - of course he would just get a suspended sentence, but it's a start.
Taubenfeld's attorney, Gerard Damiani, reportedly said his client denies the charges.
The sexual contact allegedly took place in Taubenfeld's home, at first on a monthly basis. But as time went on the abuse became weekly and the almost daily.
"The victim was a young child when the defendant first began subjecting him to what would become a five-year nightmare of sexual abuse. His depraved actions changed the victim's life forever by robbing him of his innocence. Such alleged conduct can not go unpunished,” District Attorney Thomas Zugibe reportedly said.
Similar crimes have been charged in other New York jurisdictions in ways that have seen maximum possible sentences be far longer than the maximum of seven years Taubenfeld faces, and Zugibe’s record of prosecuting hasidic sex offenders is considered poor.
The Journal News reports that Taubenfeld has been released from custody pending a future court date.
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Two haredim in bedroom suburbs of New York City got sweetheart plea deals earlier this week from judges in Rockland County.
Both haredim pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse charges – one of them involving anal rape.
But even though one of those cases involves repeated anal rape of the child, neither haredi man will serve any time in prison.
Despite this bizarre agreement, Rockland County prosecutors are trumpeting the plea deals as major successes, the Journal News reported.
Rabbi Moishe Turner – described as 58-year-old “heavy-set man with a long beard streaked with gray” who prayed before the court session started (does he really think God is listening to his prayers?) and whose English is so poor he needed a Yiddish translator to understand what was happening around him – admitted Friday that he had anal sex with a boy that he knew was only 14-years-old and who was therefore unable to legally consent to sex – a felony.
But Turner’s admission only came after the judge promised to give him a sentence of 10 years of probation without any prison time, supposedly to spare the child – whose family had been harassed by haredi community activists – from having to testify against Turner.
Turner could have been sentenced to up to seven years in state prison.
Herschel Taubenfeld, 33, who taught for years in Skvere hasidic schools in New Square, earlier in the week pleaded guilty to forcibly touching a young boy in 2011. His admission of guilt came after he was promised a sentence of six years of probation. Taubenfeld was originally charged with 10 counts of forcible touching, 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and 10 counts of third-degree sex abuse. All those charges are misdemeanors.
 |
| Herschel Taubenfeld |
Because of that seeming undercharging of the crimes, Taubenfeld would not be registered as a sex offender on state or national registries. However, Prosecutors allegedly promised that Taubenfeld will be registered as a sex offender on the state registry. It is unclear whether or not this is enforceable, however.
His case was adjudicated in New Square Justice Court.
Another Rockland County haredi man, Dovid Kohn of Monsey, 59, still faces 40 criminal counts of having oral sex with a girl beginning when she was 12-years-old and ending when she was 15.
Kohn is reportedly currently challenging telephone conversations between him and the girl and recorded by police. Kohn is reportedly claiming the recordings are inaudible.
The alleged victim, now in her early 20s, is also a witness in the case.
Another hasidic man, Shmuel Dym, 32, of Monsey, is fighting to have his guilty plea to sexually abusing a young boy withdrawn. Dym’s request to withdraw that guilty plea has twice been rejected by New York State Supreme Court Justice William Kelly.
"The epidemic of child-molestation threatens an entire generation of children, Many of these molesters are arrogant, narcissistic, deceptive, and downright evil. Even though some of them appear unable to control themselves, that is because of choices they repeatedly and intentionally made,” Rabbi Noson Leiter, founder of Help Rescue Our Children and a leader of Torah Jews for Decency in Monsey told the Journal News, calling Taubenfeld’s guilty plea, “a trail-blazing case — the first in which a survivor from within New Square prosecuted a molester within the community.…Taubenfeld’s own admission to molestation charges also confirms that current New Square leadership who clearly failed to stop this vile, manipulative ‘educator’ and is unqualified to deal with the molestation crisis,” he reportedly said.
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe told the paper that historically, the major issue for law enforcement in dealing with haredi child sexual abuse was that the haredi “insular community often protected the accused at the expense of the victims.”
But Zugibe – who is often criticized by anti-abuse activists for what is perceived to be his weak enforcement of the law, also said that he was encouraged by the result of the Taubenfeld case.
“[Haredi families have] recognized finally that if you protect the victims all you are doing is creating a new generation of offenders and victims. In the latest cases, particularly Taubenfeld, I have to credit the community for being more forthcoming. We have a long way to go. I am hopeful this is a new trend,” Zugibe said.
Prosecutor Jennifer Parietti said Friday in court that Zugibe had personally approved the no-prison sentence for child rapist Moishe Turner.
“The victim is under tremendous pressure [from his community. This plea will relieve that,” Parietti reportedly told the court.
Haredi families who report child sexual abuse to police regularly face extreme harassment from their communities – a fact prosecutors openly admit but allegedly have done nothing to try to stop.
Turner had previously been accused of raping boys. But the crimes were not reported to police. Instead, they were reported to the local leaders of the hasidic sect Turrner belongs to. Those leaders allegedly stopped parents from reporting Turner to police. Turner went on to rape again, resulting in the charge he pleaded guilty to Friday.
*******************************************************************
New Square Hasid Charged With Child Sex Abuse
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Rabbi Moshe Menachem Taubenfeld, a 55-year-old teacher in the Skvere hasidic village of New Square, New York, has been indicted on charges of sexually abusing a pre-teen boy over a five-year period from 2001 to 2006, the Journal News reported tonight.
Taubenfeld – who is the brother of convicted pedophile Herschel Taubenfeld – is charged with charge of second-degree course of sexual conduct, a felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
 |
| Rabbi Moshe Menachem Taubenfeld, brother of Hershel |
He was arrested on January 17.
It is unclear when Taubenfeld was indicted or why the indictment may have taken so long to be filed.
The alleged victim, identified only as Laiby, told the Journal News the abuse started on September 11, 2001 and continued until he turned 13 in 2006.
He said he and his family reported the abuse to New Square’s rabbinic leaders about – including the Skvere Rebbe David Twersky – about six years ago. Twersky allegedly forbid the family from reporting the abuse to police or the DA.
Tersky should be prosecuted for obstructing justice - of course he would just get a suspended sentence, but it's a start.
Taubenfeld's attorney, Gerard Damiani, reportedly said his client denies the charges.
The sexual contact allegedly took place in Taubenfeld's home, at first on a monthly basis. But as time went on the abuse became weekly and the almost daily.
"The victim was a young child when the defendant first began subjecting him to what would become a five-year nightmare of sexual abuse. His depraved actions changed the victim's life forever by robbing him of his innocence. Such alleged conduct can not go unpunished,” District Attorney Thomas Zugibe reportedly said.
Similar crimes have been charged in other New York jurisdictions in ways that have seen maximum possible sentences be far longer than the maximum of seven years Taubenfeld faces, and Zugibe’s record of prosecuting hasidic sex offenders is considered poor.
The Journal News reports that Taubenfeld has been released from custody pending a future court date.
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