Case of Jacek Marczsewski

Case of Jacek Marczsewski

Custodian - Congregation Kehilas Jacob (The While Shul), Far Rockaway, NY
New York, NY
Makawao, HI

Convicted sex offender.  According to court records, Marcszewski reached down into the pants of a an unidentified youth, and fondled him on several occasions between September of 2006 and July of 2008.

In 2011 Marczsewski plead guilty to charges of reckless endangerment stemming from the crime. Marczewski then sued both the publisher and author of a news report for defamation and punitive damages over the stories they wrote on his charges and subsequent trial proceedings. Queens County Judge Sidney F. Strauss decided there was no merit to the case.

As of January 18, 2014 Marczsewski does NOT appear on the New York Sex Offender's Registry, nor does it appear he is still living in the United States

There are several people who go by the name of Jacek Marczsewski.  The individual discussed on this page was born around 1965.  If you have any more information about this case, please forward it to The Awareness Center.

If anyone has a photograph of Jacek Marczsewski, please forward it to The Awareness Center.

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Table of Contents:

2008

1. Synagogue Shocker: Custodian Nabbed For Molesting Young Boy (09/19/2008)
2. Charge of abuse at shul in Far Rockaway (09/26/2008)

2010

1. Press Release: District Attorney Queens County (10/04/2010)

2011

1. Perv Pleads Guilty (07/01/2011)

2013

1. Case Dismissed - Jacek Marczewski v. Wave Publishing Co and Howard Schwach (03/15/2013)
2. Judge rules N.Y. newspaper protected by fair report privilege (04/26/2013)

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Synagogue Shocker: Custodian Nabbed For Molesting Young Boy

By Howard Schwach

The Wave - September 19, 2008

The custodian at a Far Rockaway synagogue was arrested last week for molesting the son of a congregant in the house of worship's basement over a two-year period, police officials say.

Officials identify the man as Jacek Marczewski, 46, who worked at the Congregation Kehelas Jacob at 821 Roosevelt Court in Far Rockaway. That address is also listed as Marczewski's home address.

According to court papers, Marczewski reached down into the pants of the unidentified youth, who is now ten years old, and fondled him on several occasions between September of 2006 and July of this year.

Sources say that the boy finally got up the nerve to tell his parents about the abuse and they reported it to the police.

The arrest last week was made by Detective Cecilia Papaleo of the Queens Special Victims Squad.

Marczewski was arraigned on September 10, charged with first degree sexual abuse, a course of sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

Bail was set at $25,000 and his next court date was set for September 29.

Should he be convicted of the top offense of the charges, Marczewski could serve up to seven years in prison.

Calls to Congregation Kehelas Jacob for comment went unreturned.
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Charge of abuse at shul in Far Rockaway

By Michael Orbach

Jewish Star - September  26, 2008

A man who lived on the grounds of a Far Rockaway shul has a hearing on Sept. 29 on charges that he abused a child during davening.

The case was first reported last week in The Wave, a Far Rockaway newspaper, which incorrectly identified Jacek Marczsewski, 46, as a custodian at Congregation Kehilas Jacob.

Marczsewski was arraigned September 10th and charged with first-degree sexual abuse, a course of sexual conduct against a child, and endangering the welfare of a child. He could face up to seven years in jail if convicted.

The report in The Wave said the boy had been molested repeatedly over a period of two years beginning in 2006, ending in July, but a source tells The Jewish Star that only a single episode of abuse is now believed to have occurred.

The child, who reportedly has been diagnosed as autistic, is said to be at the center of a custody dispute between his parents.

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Press Release: District Attorney Queens County
October 4, 2010

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Perv Pleads Guilty

By Howard Schwarch

The Wave - July 1, 2011

The former custodian at a Far Rockaway synagogue, who was arrested in September of 2008 for molesting the son of a congregant in the house of worship’s basement over a two-year period, pled guilty to the crime in Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Court officials identify the man as Jacek Marczsewski, 46, who worked at the Congregation Kehelas Jacob at 821 Roosevelt Court in Far Rockaway. That address was also listed as Marczsewski’s home address at the time of the crime. According to court papers, Marcszewski reached down into the pants of the unidentified youth, who is now twelve years old, and fondled him on several occasions between September of 2006 and July of 2008.

Sources say that the boy finally got up the nerve to tell his parents about the abuse and they reported it to the police.

The 2008 arrest was made by Detective Cecilia Papaleo of the Queens Special Victims Squad.

Marczsewski was arraigned on September 10, 2008 charged with first degree sexual abuse, a course of sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

Bail was set at $25,000 and he has been free on bail since that time.

Marczsewski could serve up to seven years in prison after his sentencing on August 1.

As part of the plea deal, Marczsewski must register as a sex offender, court sources say.

Calls to Congregation Kehelas Jacob for comment went unreturned

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Judge rules N.Y. newspaper protected by fair report privilege

By Jack Komperda

Reporters Committee - April 26, 2013

A New York trial court judge dismissed a defamation claim brought by a convicted sex offender against a local newspaper that reported on his arrest and guilty plea. 

Queens County Judge Sidney F. Strauss concluded this week that Wave Publishing Co., publishers of the weekly newspaper The Wave in Rockaway Beach, were protected by the state’s fair report privilege for a 2008 story concerning the criminal charges brought by local authorities against Jacek Marczewski, the custodian of a synagogue in Far Rockaway, Queens. 

Statements made by others in certain settings and in official government documents are often granted either a conditional or total privilege by laws in many states if the reporter, in good faith, accurately reports information of public interest. This privilege usually applies to material from official meetings such as judicial proceedings, legislative hearings, city council meetings and grand jury deliberations. Reports of this nature must be accurate and fair in order for the reporter to invoke the fair report privilege. 

Under New York Civil Rights Law Section 74, "fair and true" reports of such such proceedings are granted a complete immunity from defamation claims. 

Marczewski was accused of molesting a child in the basement of the synagogue over a two-year period and ultimately pleaded guilty to charges of reckless endangerment stemming from the crime. Marczewski then sued both the publisher and author of the news report for defamation and punitive damages over the stories they wrote on his charges and subsequent trial proceedings. 

Judge Strauss flatly noted in an opinion released on Tuesday that “fair and true” accounts in news reports receive an absolute privilege from libel claims brought by the subjects of those news reports. 

“The purpose of (New York’s fair report privilege) is to protect reporting of matters which are in the public interest, as in this instance,” Judge Strauss wrote in the three-page opinion. “Accordingly, courts routinely construe the standard of ‘fair and true’ with wide latitude.” 

Strauss seemed satisfied that the local newspaper fairly and accurately reported the incidents leading up to Marczewski’s ultimate conviction. 

“No matter how the plaintiff attempts to couch the terms of his ultimate plea agreement, the facts underlying both the plea and the defendants’ reporting remain the same,” Strauss wrote, “both arise out of a criminal prosecution for fondling of the genitals of a minor.” 

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