Case of Shmuel Dym

Case of Shmuel Dym
(AKA: Samuel Dym, Sammy Dym, Tiger Dym)

Monsey, NY
Spring Valley, NY
Monroe, NY

Convicted sex offender, who admitted in court that he improperly touched an 8-year-old boy between May 2010 and July 2011, and a 6-year-old between September 2010 and July  2011.

Please note that there is more then one person who goes by the name of Shmuel Dym and Sam Dym.  The individual mentioned on this page was born on June 2, 1980.
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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents: 


2010

1. First allegations made that Shmuel Dym touched a boy (05/01/2010)

2011

1. Probe begins into Shmuel Dym's behavior (08/01/2011)

2012

1. Man, 31, admits molesting boys (06/15/2012)
2. Monsey man pleads guilty to child sex abuse (06/16/2012)
3. Monsey Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Abuse, Gets No Jail Time (06/21/2012)
4. Abuse suspect tries to void plea (07/21/2012)

2013

1. Guilty pleas in Orthodox sex cases offer hope  (01/20/2013)
2. Monsey man gets probation for sex abuse of 2 boys (02/07/2013)
3. Monsey man sentenced to 10 years' probation for sexually abusing 2 boys (02/08/2013)
4. Monsey sex offender accused of probation violations (05/08/2013)
5. Shmuel Dym of Monsey violates child sex abuse probation, officials say (05/08/2013)
6. Monsey Man Charged with Probation Violation (05/08/2013)
7. New York State Sex Offender Registry (12/31/2013)

Also see

1. The Case of Kenneth Gribetz 

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Man, 31, admits molesting boys
By Steve Lieberman
The Journal News - June 15, 2012

MONSEY —A 31-year-old man pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually molesting two young 

brothers, accepting an offer for a probationary sentence and joining his brother on the state 

registry of sex offenders.

Shmul Dym, of Monsey, pleaded guilty as a state Supreme Court jury in New City sat ready to hear evidence he improperly touched the young boys, ages 7 and 9.

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said he approved the plea agreement at 

the behest of the boys’ parents, who wanted to spare their children from testifying.

Zugibe said the family had withstood pressure from some leaders in their ultra-Orthodox 

Jewish community to refrain from cooperating in Dym’s prosecution.

Other community religious urged them to cooperate, he said.

“I commend the victims’ family for withstanding community pressure and cooperating 

throughout the process,” Zugibe said. “They were concerned about their sons having to 

testify. In the end, we went with the family’s wishes.”

Zugibe said his only regret was Dym would not be sentenced to state prison. The felony sex 

charge carries a sentence of probation to seven years in state prison.

Prosecutor Patricia Gunning offered Dym 10 years’ probation for his guilty plea to two counts of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a felony, and charges of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Dym admitted to improperly touching the boys multiple times in a three-month period.

Justice William A. Kelly accepted the guilty plea before scheduling Dym’s sentencing for Aug. 20.

Dym’s lawyer, Deborah Wolikow Loewenberg, accepted the plea offer. She and co-counsel 

Kenneth Gribetz had helped choose a jury for trial.

“We were grateful they (prosecution) reinstated their offer,” Loewenberg said.

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Monsey man pleads guilty to child sex abuse
Mid Hudson News - June 16, 2012

NEW CITY – A Monsey man faces a sentence of from probation to seven years in state prison after he pled guilty in Rockland County Court to sexually abusing a child.

Shmuel Dym, 32, of 4 Hadassah Lane in Monsey pled guilty to two felony counts of course of sexual conduct against a child and two misdemeanors of endangering the welfare of a child.  He admitted to improperly touching two young brothers, ages seven and eight, several times during a three month period.

“This guilty plea will spare the victims from the emotional trauma of testifying at trial,” Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said. “It also is a guarantee that the defendant will live with the knowledge of what he has done and the pain he has caused the victims and their entire family.”

Dym will have to register as a sex offender.

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Monsey Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Abuse, Gets No Jail Time
Rockland Times - June 21, 2012

Shmuel Dym, 31, formerly of 4 Hadassah Lane, Monsey has pled guilty to two counts of course of sexual conduct against a child in the second degree, class “D” Felonies and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a class “A” misdemeanor. He will now join his brother on the sex offender registry and is expected to serve approximately 10 years probation, but no jail time. The official sentence will not be handed down until August.

Dym admitted to improperly touching two young brothers, ages seven and eight, multiple times during a three-month period. The defendant pleaded guilty as a jury prepared to hear evidence in the child molestation case. The charges against him did not include oral sex or “intercourse.”

District Attorney Thomas Zugibe acknowledged to the Journal News daily newspaper that community pressure was a factor in the settlement, as many leaders in the Orthodox community were pressuring the victim’s family to drop the case. Zugibe also acknowledged that many others in the religious community were supportive of Dym’s victims.

Zugibe said, “This guilty plea will spare the victims from the emotional trauma of testifying at trial. It also is a guarantee that the defendant will live with the knowledge of what he has done and the pain he has caused the victims and their entire family.”

A probe into Dym’s inappropriate behavior was launched by Ramapo Police in August of 2011 following a complaint of sexual abuse from a member of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

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Abuse suspect tries to void plea

By Steve Liberman

The Journal News - July 21, 2012

NEW CITY — A 21-year-old Monsey man apparently wants to withdraw his guilty plea to felony charges of sexually molesting two young brothers, a request Rockland prosecutors say they will oppose in court when the case is scheduled on Wednesday.

Shmul Dym admitted in court in June that he touched boys multiple times in their private areas. He admitted he improperly touched the 8-year-old boy between May 2010 and July 2011 and the 6-year-old between September 2010 and July 2011, according to minutes of his guilty plea.

Dym, who knew the boys and their family, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and two misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child.

Dym faced a maximum of 14 years in prison.

To spare the children from testifying at the behest of their parents, prosecutors said they offered Dym a non-prison sentence. Dym first rejected the offer but he pleaded guilty June 14 after a jury had been selected.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors and the judge promised Dym 10 years’ probation. His name also would be added to the state sex registry, joining his younger brother, Betzalel, a Level 2 moderate risk sex offender convicted of sexually abusing a young boy multiple times in early 2006.

Shmul Dym has decided he wants to withdraw his plea and go to trial on the charges, according to his lawyers.

His lawyers, Kenneth Gribetz and Deborah Wolikow Loewenberg, said in a statement that Dym will be getting a lawyer from Maryland. Gribetz is a former county district attorney, while Loewenberg is a former prosecutor.

“Prior to opening statements, our client entered a guilty plea to the entire indictment in exchange for a promise that he would be sentenced to probation,” Loewenberg said. “He subsequently notified us that he would be seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and was retaining new counsel.”

Loewenberg said she and Gribetz asked state Supreme Court Justice William A. Kelly to take them off the case on July 17. Kelly told them to wait until Dym had a new lawyer representing him in court.

Loewenberg said she and Gribetz were prohibited from commenting on any reasons behind Dym’s decision.

Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said his prosecutor, Senior Assistant District Attorney Patricia Gunning, will oppose Dym’s request when the case comes back before Kelly. Both the prosecution and defense would file legal papers on the issue.

Dym will have to meet a high standard to withdraw his plea, including showing Kelly that he didn’t make a voluntary decision, Zugibe said. Dym told the judge in June that he was pleading guilty on his own accord and because he had committed the crimes, he said.

Zugibe said he was confident Gunning would get a jury conviction against Dym at trial but they wanted to protect the boys and their family from having to testify.

The boys’ parents were pressured by some rabbinical leaders to not pursue the sexual abuse charges against Dym, Zugibe said. The family faced being ostracized from their religious community for cooperating, he said.

“It would be a travesty to put the victims and their families through this emotional roller coaster, again,” Zugibe said. “They were intimidated not to cooperate and they did cooperate. We’re going to vigorously oppose letting him withdraw his plea.”

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Guilty pleas in Orthodox sex cases offer hope
 2 from Jewish community admit to abusing boys
By Steve Lieberman
The Journal News - January 20, 2013

 NEW CITY — Two members of Rockland’s Orthodox Jewish community recently pleaded guilty to charges of sexually abusing children, heartening children protection advocates who have been pushing for increased awareness and prosecutions of such cases. A third man is facing pre-trial hearings in County Court.

A 58-year-old Monsey man admitted in court Friday that he had anal sex with a 14-year-old boy.

The admission came after a judge promised the man a sentence of 10 years’ probation to spare the child from having to testify.

Moishe Turner of 5 Dana Road, a heavy-set man with a long beard streaked with gray, had been accused of having anal and oral sex with the boy on seven occasions during July 2011.

Turner was the second person who avoided incarceration last week by pleading guilty to a sexual crime involving a child. He has been free on $75,000 bail and awaits sentencing March 19.

Herschel Taubenfeld, 33, once a teacher in the New Square Hasidic community, admitted to forcible touching of a young boy in 2011. The admission came in exchange for six years’ probation on a misdemeanor charge handled in New Square Justice Court.

Taubenfeld originally had been charged in December 2011 with 10 counts of forcible touching, 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and 10 counts of third-degree sex abuse, all misdemeanors.

Another man, Dovid Kohn, 59, of Monsey, faces 40 criminal counts of having oral sex with a girl when she was between 12 and 15. Kohn is challenging telephone conversations between him and the girl taped by police as inaudible at pretrial hearings in Rockland County Court. Prosecutors and Ramapo police said the girl, now in her 20s, remains a witness in the case.

Shmuel Dym, 32, of Monsey is fighting his guilty plea to sexually molesting a boy. Supreme Court Justice William Kelly has twice turned down Dym’s request to withdraw his guilty plea.

The increased prosecution of sex attacks on children within the Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox community has been welcomed by advocates for children. The advocates said police and prosecutors are just skimming the surface, arguing there are unreported sexual attacks on children.

“The epidemic of child-molestation threatens an entire generation of children,” said Monsey-based Rabbi Noson Leiter, founder of Help Rescue Our 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.”

Leiter, a leader of Torah Jews for Decency in Monsey, said Taubenfeld’s guilty plea “is a trail-blazing case — the first in which a survivor from within New Square prosecuted a molester within the community.”

He said he hopes other families will find the strength to come forward and fight off community pressure not to report sexual abuse. He praised the Ramapo police for their efforts when told about children being abused.

“Taubenfeld’s own admission to molestation charges also confirms that current New Square leadership clearly failed to stop this vile, manipulative ‘educator’ and is unqualified to deal with the molestation crisis,” Leiter said.

Rockland District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe said the religious community has been more open with police and prosecutors. He said historically the major issue confronting law enforcement was the “insular community often protected the accused at the expense of the victims.”

Zugibe said he was encouraged by the Taubenfeld case. He said families in the religious community 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,” Zugibe said. “We have a long way to go. I am hopeful this is a new trend.”

Families face being kicked out of the religious community and having their children denied schooling and services.

The family of the boy abused by Turner faced pressure from the community leaders to drop out of the case, authorities said.

Prosecutor Jennifer Parietti said Friday in court that Zugibe approved the no-prison sentence for Turner.

Turner faced seven years in state prison under the felony charge. The case was down for a pretrial hearing with Ramapo Detectives Peg Braddock and Robert Fitzgerald ready to testify.

She told Kelly that she supported the sentence “to spare this victim the difficulties of the trial.”

“The victim is under tremendous pressure,” she said. “This plea will relieve that.”

Turner admitted he had anal sex with the boy under questioning from Parietti in July 2011. He admitted he knew the boy was 14, making him incapable of consent under the law.

Turner’s lawyer, former District Attorney Kenneth Gribetz, said after court that he’s not aware of any rabbi or religious community leader putting pressure of the boy or his family.

Turner, who prayed before court, doesn’t speak fluent English. He speaks Yiddish and needed a translator to tell him what was discussed in court and for his responses.

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Monsey man gets probation for sex abuse of 2 boys
By Steve Lieberman
LoHud - February 7, 2013

  

 A 32-year-old Monsey man will face a sex offender classification hearing next month, after being sentenced Thursday to 10 years’ probation for sexually abusing two young boys.

Shmuel Dym is appealing a guilty plea to two felony sex-abuse charges.

Dym originally accepted a no-jail sentence offered after the family came under pressure from local rabbis and other members of the religious community not to testify, prosecutor Patricia Gunning told the judge during sentencing in the Rockland County Courthouse in New City.

“The parents of the two boys in this case — ages 8 and 9 — urged us to recommend this disposition,” Gunning said of the probationary sentence, “to spare their sons from ... testifying ... and to alleviate the pressure on the family.”

Dym declined to speak during the sentencing or afterward, at his lawyer’s request.

The Hasidic Jewish culture has become an issue in sex-abuse cases across New York City and suburbs like Rockland County, specifically since many Orthodox Jews believe they can’t testify against members of their community and could be ostracized for doing so. Several sex offenders have recently been prosecuted in Rockland and have received prison sentences, while others have gotten probationary sentences.

Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe has said the family of the two boys withstood pressure from some leaders in their ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and spoke to Ramapo police and investigators. Other community religious members urged them to cooperate, he said.

Dym pleaded guilty June 14, 2011, to two counts of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a felony, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

He admitted in court that he improperly touched an 8-year-old boy between May 2010 and July 2011, and a 6-year-old between September 2010 and July 2011. He was represented by Kenneth Gribetz and Deborah Wolikow Loewenberg.

Dym decided to recant his admissions and wanted a trial. He retained attorneys Thomas Pavlinic of Maryland and Patrick J. Jennings of New Jersey, who contended there might be evidence clearing Dym that he didn’t know about when he pleaded guilty.

Supreme Court Justice William Kelly ruled Dym voluntarily pleaded guilty after being told of his constitutional rights.

Jennings said Thursday that Dym “continues to maintain his innocence.”

Jennings said an appeal would soon be filed with the state Appellate Division.

Dym could be classified as one of three sex-offender levels following a March 11 hearing. A Level 3 means one is considered a high risk to repeat the sexual offense, compared to a moderate risk of Level 2 and low risk of Level 1.

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Monsey man sentenced to 10 years' probation for sexually abusing 2 boys
WCRC 1300 - February 8, 2013

A Monsey man was sentenced to 10 years’ probation for sexually abusing two young boys. Shmuel Dym, 32, is appealing a guilty plea to two felony sex-abuse charges, after he originally accepted a no-jail sentence offered after the family came under alleged pressure from local rabbis and the ulta-Orthodox community. Dym pled guilty June 14, 2011 to two counts of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Next month, Dym will face a sex offender classification hearing.

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Monsey sex offender accused of probation violations
By Steve Lieberman
LoHud - May 8, 2013

A convicted sex offender from Monsey has been returned to the county jail on charges he violated the conditions of his probation.

Shmuel Dym, 33, who is appealing his guilty-plea conviction, violated eight conditions of probationary sentence, officials said Wednesday. The violations included his refusal to attend sex offender treatment and violating his curfew.

Dym has been classified as a Level 2 sex offender based up his admission in court that he improperly touched an 8-year-old boy between May 2010 and July 2011, and a 6-year-old between September 2010 and July 2011.

He pleaded guilty June 14 to two counts of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a felony, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

He later recanted his guilty plea, fired his local lawyers and hired two new attorneys.

Patricia Gunning, a county prosecutor, said Dym’s guilty plea to the two felony counts could lead to 14 years if he is found to have violated probation.

In September, state Supreme Court Justice William Kelly, after a hearing and reading court motions, declined to allow Dym to withdraw his guilty plea. Kelly found Dym understood his rights and didn’t plead guilty under duress.

Dym originally accepted a no-jail sentence after the children’s family came under pressure not to testify against him by local rabbis and other members of the religious community, Gunning said at the sentencing in the Rockland County Courthouse in New City.

Dym’s lawyer, Patrick Jennings of New Jersey, didn’t return a telephone message left at his office Wednesday.

Jennings has said Dym maintains his innocence and will appeal the judge’s decision.

The Sheriff Office arrested Dym on Friday at his home, 22 Brewer Road.

He is being held in the county jail on $100,000 bond or $50,000 cash.

Dym joined his younger brother, Betzalel, a Level 2 moderate risk sex offender convicted of abusing a young boy multiple times in early 2006.

He was convicted in August 2006 of first-degree sex abuse for having sex with a then-10-year-old Monsey boy five times between January and May 2006.

Betzalel Dym became involved in a lawsuit in which Kelly ruled unconstitutional a county law establishing where sex offenders can live and congregate.

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Shmuel Dym of Monsey violates child sex abuse probation, officials say

By Ron Bittner

Newsday - May 8, 2013

A Monsey man whose plea deal kept him out of prison after he sexually abused two young brothers was in Rockland County Jail on Wednesday, charged with probation violations in the case.

Shmuel Dym, 32, was picked up Friday at his Brewer Road home, the Rockland County Sheriff's Department said Wednesday.

The probation violation complaint covers eight allegations, according to Rockland Senior Assistant District Attorney Patricia Gunning of the Special Victims Unit. Gunning, who prosecuted the original case against Dym, declined to specify what the allegations were.

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Monsey Man Charged with Probation Violation

Rockland County Sheriff's Department arrests 33-year-old man at his home

By William Demarest

Nyack-Piermont Patch - May 10, 2013

A Monsey man has been arrested on a warrant accusing him with a violation of probation in connection with charges of endangering the welfare of a child and course of sexual conduct against a child, according to the Rockland County Sheriff's Department.

Shmuel Dym, 33, was arrested Friday at 5:15 p.m. at his 22 Brewer Road home in Monsey after a warrant had been issued by Judge William Kelly in Rockland County Court in New City.

Dym was ordered held in the Rockland County Correctional Facility in New City pending a County Court hearing.

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New York State Sex Offender Registry
December 31, 2013

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