The Awareness Center closed. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes.
We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.
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.
Zelig (not his real name), a man in his 20′s, arrived to his therapy appointment with me yesterday with tears streaming down his cheeks. He was clearly in distress. At the age of twelve Zelig was molested by a teacher, a rabbi who was giving him “special” attention at the yeshiva he was attending at the time. Zelig had been groomed by this man for close to a year before anything happened.
“For a long time he gave me little presents like chocolate or a rubber ball” and “ he told me to tell my parents that he was teaching me so that I could be the smartest kid in his class. My parents never questioned why, they just thought he was being super nice to me. Maybe they were even flattered by it.” The actual touching did not begin until this teacher was hired by Zelig’s parents to give bar-mitzvah lessons to Zelig. Once the touching started it quickly progressed to penetration. Zelig was told by the man that if Zelig ever told anyone about it his parents would both die. He was also told that it was “so pleasurable that such pleasures were meant to be kept a secret between us because that is the way G-d wants it.”
Zelig told me the details of his abuse at the hands of this teacher several months ago. These memories were not the cause for his tears yesterday. The cause was an article he read in the American paper the Jewish Press written by a Rabbi William Handler. The article entitled Molestation cases must be handled by g’dolim, not by experts, begins with a diatribe that says that there is “a new danger: the existence of a clique of pseudo-experts who are working among us in the field of “Criminal Molestation.”’ He goes on to state that g’dolim are better equipped to evaluate and perhaps even adjudicate these cases than the “so-called experts” and professionals who operate in the secular realm. It is an argument that even the editors of the paper indicate, is not well made and in my estimation it is not even an argument worthy of being made by a reasonable individual.
Zelig’s response was to tell me yet again that when he turned 16 and told his principal what his abuser had done he was warned that if he did not put it in the past he would “ruin all my chances and my sister’s chances for getting married or getting into the right schools.” Zelig asked me, rhetorically, “And these are the people that should be trusted to take care of the problem? My principal is considered a gadol. See how he took care of it! What would happen if they had such power to take care of things?”
Zelig went on “And it’s not just him. There is an even bigger gadol who wrote a letter saying that the rabbi in Lakewood who just admitted in open court that he abused someone – that gadol Rabbi who wrote the letter claims that he did an investigation and there was no abuse. The authorities investigated. The authorities did what had to be done and the ba_ _ _ _ _ admitted he was an abuser. That someone who is seen as a gadol can write a letter to the public the charges against the abuser are not true – this is worse than blaming the victims it is re-abusing them.”
Zelig was feeling a very palpable sense of being re-abused by what he read and was then recounting to me and we had to use the session for the sole purpose of helping him regain his composure and focus - but he was absolutely correct. The article in the Jewish Press is one level of absurdity and illogic but if it is true that a gadol sent out a letter denying charges proven and admitted to in court that casts an entirely new light on how the leadership views cases of reported abuse. Blaming victims is horrible and still so common. It is however, even worse to deny that abuse exists and then to turn the powers of investigations, prosecution, even validation over to the hands of individuals who feign knowledge but have none, using their status to intimidate and dismiss people with problems that these leaders are not willing to acknowledge exist in their communities. We are only beginning to address the problem. We need forward moving leaders to help us uproot the abusers, not seek excuses or ways to protect them allowing them to continue and re-abuse.
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(AKA: Larry L. Dudovitz, Larry Dudovitz, Aryeh Leib Dudovitz)
Chicago Police Dept. / May 26, 2013
The Moshiach Center of Chicago - (West Rogers Park) Chicago, IL Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivas Chabad "Zichron Aliza" - (West Rogers Park) Chicago, IL (1994 - 2003) Rabbi Chabad of Northwest Indiana - Munster, IN
Aryeh Leib Dudovitz was convicted of sexually assaulting a boy and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
The Awareness Center wants to thank the survivor in this case for his bravery and tenacity to have this case prosecuted, along with his family for showing him all the love and support needed.
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:
2001
Rabbi Aryeh Dudovitz (03/06/2001)
2002
List of Companies with principals that go by the name of Rabbi Aryeh Dudovitz (10/02/2002)
2003
Northwest Indiana Gets New Chabad Representatives (12/08/2003)
2013
Aryeh Dudovitz on Facebook (05/24/2013)
West Rogers Park man charged in sexual assault (05/26/2013)
Rabbi charged with criminal sexual assault of teen (05/26/2013)
Chabad House of Northwest Indiana (05/27/2013)
Rabbi charged in 2006 sex assault of 15-year-old boy (05/27/2013)
Rabbi Aryeh Dudovitz (AKA: Larry Dudovitz) Pleads Guilty to Child Molestation Charges (05/27/2013)
Report: Rabbi charged in sex assault of 15-year-old boy (05/27/2013)
Rabbi Arrested, Charged With Sexual Assault (05/27/2013)
Chicago rabbi arrested on sex abuse charges (05/28/2013)
Chicago rabbi accused of 2006 sexual assault (05/28/2013)
Rabbi's Alleged Sex Assault Victim Speaks Out: I Saw Him as Father Figure (06/14/2013)
Rabbi Accused of 2006 Rogers Park Sex Assault Enters Not-Guilty Plea (07/10/2013)
2015
Rabbi Guilty of Sexually Assaulting 15-Year-Old Boy, Judge Rules (11/16/2015)
Rabbi convicted of sexually assaulting boy nine years ago
(11/16/2015)
Chicago rabbi convicted of sexually assaulting boy 9 years ago(11/17/2015)
Rabbi convicted of sexually assaulting teenage boy 9 years ago(11/17/2015)
Chicago Orthodox Rabbi Found Guilty of Sexually Assaulting 15-year-old Boy(11/18/2015)
2016
West Rogers Park rabbi gets 8 years for sexually assaulting teen (01/06/2016)
Rabbi Sentenced to 8 years for sexually assaulting teen boy(01/07/2016)
Chicago rabbi gets 8-year prison sentence for sex assault(01/07/2016)
Rabbi Aryeh Dudovitz and his wife began their shlichus in Munster, Indiana six years ago at the end of Sivan 5754, after receiving abracha from the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach. They discovered a warm Jewish community
Northwest Indiana Gets New Chabad Representatives Munster IN - December 8, 2003
Rabbi Eliezer and Chanie Zalmanov, and their six-week old daughter Shayna Mushka, have recently arrived in the region to reestablish the Chabad-Lubavitch Center of Northwest Indiana, serving the entire Jewish community. The Zalmanovs replace Rabbi Aryeh and (NAME REMOVED) Dudovitz, the directors of Chabad from 1995 to 2003, who have since relocated to Chicago.
Rabbi Zalmanov is a graduate of the Central Lubavitch Yeshivah in Brooklyn, NY and Mrs. Zalmanov, an Indianapolis native and the daughter of Rabbi Avraham and Nini Grossbaum of Indianapolis, graduated from the Beth Chana Teachers’ Seminary in Safed, Israel.
Both Rabbi and Mrs. Zalmanov have been involved in community outreach around the globe, from Europe to South America, before choosing Northwest Indiana as their new home. They both have extensive experience in educational and religious activities.
The Zalmanovs are available for classes with Jews interested in studying about their heritage, as well as to answer questions about anything in Judaism. The new Chabad representatives are planning to launch a series of educational holiday programs for children and the elderly, and will introduce the full gamut of Chabad House programs and services for the benefit of Northwest Indiana’s Jewish population.
West Rogers Park man charged in sexual assault By Carlos Sadovi Chicago Tribune - May 26, 2013
A 45-year-old West Rogers Park man was charged with sexually assaulting a youth nearly seven years ago, police said. Larry Dudovitz of the 6400 block of North Albany Avenue was charged with criminal sexual assault of a victim between the ages of 13 and 17, police said.
The incident happened in October 2006, police said.
Dudovitz was ordered held in bond court today in lieu of $100,000 bail according to court records.
Rabbi charged with criminal sexual assault of teen
Chicago Sun Times - May 26, 2013
A rabbi from West Rogers Park was arrested Saturday in the alleged sexual molestation of a teenage boy in 2006 — even though prosecutors say authorities were told at the time, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Larry L. Dudovitz, 45, of the 6400 block of North Albany, was charged with one count of criminal sexual assault, prosecutors said. Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil shot down a request that he be held without bail and ordered him held in lieu of $100,000. She also grilled a prosecutor about the six-year delay.
"Now it's 2013 and we're charging him?" Kuriakos Ciesil said.
A prosecutor said the family of the victim — who was 15 at the time — was originally unsure about whether they wanted to proceed criminally.
Dudovitz is accused of trying to assault the victim while the boy was sleeping in his home in October 2006, court records show.
Chabad Messianist Rabbi Arrested For Alleged Child Sexual Abuse
By Shmayra Rosenberg
Failed Messiah Blog - May 27, 2013
Rabbis Aryeh Dudovitz and Eli Turin
Rabbi Aryeh Leib “Larry” Dodovitz, 45-year-old messianist Chabad rabbi from the Chicago suburb of West Rogers Park, was arrested over the weekend and charged with sexually assaulting a child six years ago, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Dudovitz was charged with criminal sexual assault of a victim between the ages of 13 and 17, police said.
He was remanded to custody until he meets a $100,000 bail requirement.
Dudovitz serves as the assistant rabbi of a Chabad messianist synagogue in the Chicago area and has taught in a Chabad girls school in the Chicago area, as well.
Dudovitz was also the rosh yeshiva (dean) of the messianist Chabad yeshiva Yeshivas Chabad “Zichron Aliza” in Chicago.
He was previously the rabbi of Chabad House of Northwest Indiana.
In 2006, Dudovitz led a farbrengen, hasidic gathering, for children in the home of fellow messianist rabbi Eli Turin in the Chicago area.
Rabbi charged in 2006 sex assault of 15-year-old boy
ABC News - May 27 2013
May 27, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A rabbi from Chicago is accused of molesting a teenage boy. Prosecutors say that attack happened in 2006.
Larry Dudovitz, 45, of West Rogers Park, was arrested on Saturday. He is charged with one count of criminal sexual assault.
Court records show Dudovitz is accused of trying to assault a 15-year-old boy while he was sleeping in his home in October of 2006. At a hearing over the weekend, a judge grilled the prosecutor for the 6-year delay in filing a charge.
Prosecutors say the family of the victim was unsure about whether they wanted to proceed with criminal charges.
Saturday, May 25 -- Rabbi Aryeh Dudovitz (AKA: Larry Dudovitz) was arrested on charges of molesting a teenage boy back in 2006.
This is a case in which took nearly six years for this convicted sex offender to be prosecuted due to pressure from various rabbonim in Chicago. It is important to note a select few were instrumental in having this case prosecuted. In the Jewish orthodox world instead of calling the police immediate when there are allegations of sex crimes, it is common place to contact a local orthodox rabbi for advice in how to proceed.
The Rabbinical Chicago Rabbinical Council created the Ad Hoc Bait Din of Chicago, which is a special religious court to handle such cases. This special Beis Din was aware of the allegations against Dudovitz for nearly six years, yet according to reports the rabbonim never done anything to warn parents living within the orthodox Jewish community of any potential dangers Rabbi Aryeh Dudovitz posed to children he came in contact with.
Back in 2000, the Ad Hoc Beit Din of Chicago set up guidelines aimed at protecting children, stating that no perpetrator was allowed to teach or tutor children, nor enter any school building at any time. It also stated that offenders were allowed to enter any mikvah (ritual bath) anywhere in the world at any time, enter a Jewish Community Center (JCC) building, attend celebrations. Even though the Ad Hoc Hoc Bet Din was aware of the allegations, many community member felt that this special religious court violated their own guidelines regarding the Dudovitz case.
A spokes person from The Awareness Center, which is the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Assault; stated that the organization wanted to thank the survivor in this case for his bravery and tenacity for coming forward to have this case prosecuted, along with his family and friends for showing him all the love and support needed.
Prior to working in Chicago Rabbi Aryeh Dudovitz was the director of the Chabad of Northwest Indiana, located in Munster, IN for several years.
If you or someone you know was sexually abused by Rabbi Larry Dudovitz or any other , it is asked that you call The Child Advocacy Center in Chicago immediately at: 312-492-3700
WEST RIDGE — A West Rogers Park man was arrested Saturday evening and charged with criminal sexual assault of a minor, police said.
Larry Dudovitz, 45, was arrested at his home in the 6400 block of North Albany Avenue, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a police spokesman.
Dudovitz allegedly assaulted a minor between the ages of 13 and 17 years old in October 2006, Estrada said. He faces one felony count of criminal sexual assault.
Dudovitz, a rabbi, appeared in bond court Sunday.
Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered the 45-year-old held on $100,000 bond, according to the Sun-Times.
(JTA) — Chicago Rabbi Larry Dudovitz was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2006.
Dudovitz, 45, was arrested Saturday, the Chicago Tribune reported, and is being held on $100,000 bail.
Dudovitz, who is also known by his Hebrew name Aryeh, is a follower of the late Chabad leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and was formerly a rabbi at the Chabad House of Northwest Indiana. But a spokesperson for a Chabad rabbinic association in Illinois told JTA that Dudovitz has had no official role in the movement since he arrived in Chicago.
According to authorities, the alleged assault occurred at the victim’s home on Oct. 26, 2006 in the West Rogers Park neighborhood.
Rabbi's Alleged Sex Assault Victim Speaks Out: I Saw Him as Father Figure
By Benjamin Woodard
DNAinfo - June 14, 2013
WEST ROGERS PARK — A West Rogers Park rabbi charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2006 wasn't arrested until late last month, despite the fact a state agency substantiated abuse allegations involving the boy and seven other victims in 2007.
Police say they couldn't get cooperation from witnesses at the time, and it wasn't until recently that the boy, now 22, came forward to detectives to seek the prosecution of his alleged attacker.
Now the accuser says he is frustrated and embittered by the slow road to justice in the case. He said he spoke to authorities at the time, although he acknowledged his family did not call police immediately.
He's also upset with members of the Orthodox Jewish community, who he said pushed him not to pursue formal charges. He and his father said community leaders allowed Rabbi Aryeh "Larry" Dudovitz, 45, to remain at a West Rogers Park synagogue and continue working with Jewish families.
"Everyone told me to back off: 'You’re not going to get anything done. It’s just going to stress you out. It’s going to complicate things. It could turn against you,' " the man said in an interview with DNAinfo.com Chicago. "I just want to know the truth — who doesn’t want to know the truth?"
In 2006, the accuser, then 15 years old, and his family worshipped with Dudovitz at a small storefront synagogue, the Moshiach Center, in West Rogers Park. The center adheres to Chabad messianism, a controversial belief that late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994, was the messiah, or savior, of the Jewish people.
The accuser looked up to Dudovitz, who he said mentored him before his Bar Mitzvah, and the two spent lots of time together.
"I didn’t have a really close relationship with my father, and you know, [Dudovitz] was always there," he said.
One night in October 2006, Dudovitz came back with the family to their West Rogers Park home after celebrating the Jewish holiday Sukkot at a mutual friend's home.
The accuser said he and Dudovitz went to the teen's basement room, where they drank beer. At some point, he said he felt sick and planned to go to bed, and he told Dudovitz to sleep on a couch.
But after falling asleep, the accuser said he was awakened by Dudovitz. Court documents allege Dudovitz gave "the victim oral copulation while the victim was sleeping."
'I felt like I was at fault'
Afterward, the accuser said he felt he was to blame for the incident, thinking, how could his rabbi do something wrong? Initially, he didn't tell anyone about what had happened.
"I felt like I was at fault and did something inappropriate in front of my rabbi," he said. "I looked up to him like a father figure. He took advantage of that. I guess that was the hardest thing."
Dudovitz remained close with the teen's family, and for months after the incident, the accuser said the rabbi continued to make advances toward him. Dudovitz allegedly did so again three months later just before the teen left Chicago to attend a Jewish high school in Muenster, N.Y.
"He was standing in front of the bed where it happened," said the accuser, recounting the last interaction he allegedly had with the rabbi. "He was really antsy. As soon as I got down [to the basement bedroom] he just started grabbing me, and, you know, he was telling me how much he loved me, and how much he was going to miss me when I was at school."
The accuser said he pushed Dudovitz away and ran upstairs to his mother. Dudovitz followed, but left the house.
"She cornered me and made me tell her everything," he said of his mother.
Dudovitz, who is out of jail after posting 10 percent of a $100,000 bail, could not be reached for comment. Messages left at Dudovitz's home in the 6400 block of North Albany went unreturned. Dudovitz's lawyer, Richard Kling, declined to comment.
Dudovitz appeared in court Friday, and prosecutors revealed that a grand jury has indicted him on the charges. He is scheduled to be arraigned July 5.
The accuser said his father wanted to call the police at the time of the abuse, but his mother decided to call a rabbi at the boy's school first. His mother didn't return calls requesting a comment.
"Then everything went to s---," he said. "We should have called the cops [immediately] — should've listened to my dad and called the cops."
DCFS investigates
But authorities did learn of accusations against Dudovitz. The Department of Children and Family Services received a call on its hotline in December 2006 and concluded an investigation on Oct. 5, 2007, that substantiated one serious allegation and seven lesser allegations of abuse involving other children, said spokesman David Clarkin.
Clarkin said he could not release the identities of Dudovitz's alleged victims or provide additional details on the specific allegations. DCFS, however, does pass on its findings to law enforcement.
Police then launched an investigation in 2007, but the accuser's parents "refused to cooperate" with detectives, Chicago Police Department spokesman Adam Collins said last week. Collins said it wasn't until the accuser came forward as an adult that a case could be made to charge Dudovitz late last month.
The police investigation only involved a single victim, Collins said.
The accuser and his father denied the family wouldn't cooperate in the police investigation six years ago. The accuser said he recalls talking to a detective as a teen, and his father said his wife "spent months trying to get the detective to respond to her calls."
Members of the Orthodox Jewish community also were aware of the allegations, the accuser and his father said.
Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz
The accuser said he met one-on-one with Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, the "chief rabbi" of Chicago's Beth Din, a local Jewish rabbinical court, and outlined the allegations against Dudovitz. He said he also met with other high-ranking rabbis on the council.
Schwartz didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.
Rabbi Moshe Kushner
Rabbi Moshe Kushner, executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, which administers Chicago's Beth Din, initially denied Dudovitz came before the Beth Din, which is supposed to deal with issues of Jewish law and conversions, its website says. The website makes no mention of investigating serious allegations of abuse.
"He had nothing to do with us," Kushner said of Dudovitz.
However, Kushner said Dudovitz's case might have been heard by an independent Beth Din that hears more serious cases, especially those regarding sexual abuse.
But he said Schwartz would be the only rabbi at the council who could answer questions about the Beth Din.
Lynn Schollett
It's unclear if the rabbis ever communicated with authorities or took any action regarding the case. The rabbis, like counselors and school teachers, would be considered mandated reporters of child abuse under state law, said Lyn Schollett, an attorney with the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
The accuser said he wasn't aware of any action being taken.
"They do their own thing. It’s a problem, especially when it comes to these types of cases in the community. They still feel like Jews are living in the citadels," said the accuser, referring to fortifications in ancient Jerusalem.
"Maybe they felt like they didn’t have responsibility to handle the Dudovitz case. It hurts my tongue to say that. That’s why I want to get to the bottom of it."
The accuser and his father have been told Dudovitz was still a rabbi at the Moshiach Center, an Orthodox synagogue in a storefront at 6738 N. California Ave., at the time of his arrest, but his status there remains unclear. Messages left at the synagogue were unreturned.
Vicki Polin, MA, LCPC
Vicki Polin, who runs a nonprofit called The Awareness Center that advocates for victims of sexual abuse in the Jewish community, said she had been in touch with the accuser since he first reached out to her when he was 16, when he found her website. She said the family was conflicted and under a lot of pressure to keep the incident quiet.
"What rabbis usually tell parents in cases like this is, it's better for the kids to go to school and not open any wounds," she said.
Rabbi Moshe Soloveichick
Chicago Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, who advocates against the insular practice of not reporting sex crimes within Orthodox communities, said a woman who didn't identify herself called him about seven years ago and told him about Dudovitz.
Soloveichik said the woman contacted him anonymously for advice about whether or not to report the abuse — and said that her son had been acting aggressively after an alleged attack.
'If you don't cooperate, you better watch out'
"In this community," he said, "there is to some degree an implicit reign of terror that if you don’t cooperate [with religious leaders], you better watch out."
Soloveichik said the rabbis of the Beth Din, when it comes to sex crimes, "do not handle it properly.
"The best way to handle it is when a parent feels sure, or even relatively sure, that the child was molested, the parents should call up the authorities," Solveichik said.
But often the pressure from the community, he said, forces the abused to stay silent.
The accuser said when he was 18, he started using drugs to deal with emotional pain. Shortly after, he went into rehab, and then a halfway home.
"I was violated, but I was violated by someone that I put all my trust into," he said.
"It was hurtin’ me. Emotionally, I was a wreck. I mean, I was so young — and I had thoughts of doing, you know, suicide. I won’t forget to this day what I wanted to do."
In May 2012, the accuser said he returned from Israel where he served a year in the Israeli Defense Forces. He is now back living at home in West Rogers Park, and worked at a restaurant until he was involved in an accident while riding his bicycle.
It was during his time in Israel, he said, that he found the "courage" to reconnect with Polin, the advocate, and push the police department to restart its investigation.
"I came back, and I just wanted to correct things," said the accuser, who no longer considers himself religious. "We got it done."
Added his father: "It was a bad situation, and hopefully he’ll be brought to justice and it will be over."
Chicago Reporter/Producer Erin Meyer contributed to this report.
Rabbi Accused of 2006 Rogers Park Sex Assault Enters Not-Guilty Plea
By Benjamin Woodward
DNAinfo Chicago - July 10, 2013
WEST ROGERS PARK — A rabbi charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2006 has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Cook County Criminal Court.
Aryeh "Larry" Dudovitz, 45, entered the plea last week.
Dudovitz, who has been free on bond, is scheduled to appear back in court on Aug. 22.
His lawyer, Richard Kling, didn't immediately return a request for comment.
Police say they couldn't get cooperation from witnesses at the time, and it wasn't until recently that the boy, now 22, came forward to detectives to seek the prosecution of his alleged attacker.
Meanwhile, Vicki Polin, who runs a nonprofit called The Awareness Center that advocates for victims of sexual abuse in the Jewish community, has launched an online fundraiser for the alleged victim.
She said she was working "to find more people who are willing to help survivors" of sexual abuse.
Dudovitz's accuser injured his knee in a bicycle accident and has been living at home.
Any money raised would go toward living expenses.
"He needs to live on his own," Polin said.
The accuser said Tuesday that his knee had "gotten a lot better," but he hadn't been able to find employment since he had to stop working a job at a restaurant.
The fundraising, he said, "helps me out tremendously."
DNAinfo.com Reporter/Producer Erin Meyer contributed to this report. _________________________________________________________________________________ Rabbi Guilty of Sexually Assaulting 15-Year-Old Boy, Judge Rules By Erica Demarest DNAInfo - November 16, 2015
Rabbi Aryeh "Larry" Dudovitz (l.) in court with his attorney, Richard Kling.
According
to court testimony, Rabbi Aryeh "Larry" Dudovitz, 48, was a mentor to
the teenage victim. In October 2006, Dudovitz went home with the boy and
his family after celebrating the Jewish holiday Sukkot.
Dudovitz
and the victim drank alcohol, prosecutors alleged, and the 15-year-old
boy fell asleep. He was awakened by Dudovitz, who gave "the victim oral
copulation while the victim was sleeping," court records show.
After
the attack, Dudovitz admitted to several people — including rabbis and a
mental-health counselor — that he sexually assaulted the boy while the
victim slept, according to court testimony.
Dudovitz "absolutely held
a position of trust and authority," Assistant State's Attorney Tracy
Senica said during Dudovitz's bench trial Monday. "He took advantage of
the entire family." Cook County Judge Evelyn Clay found Dudovitz guilty after roughly two hours of testimony. Clay ordered
electronic monitoring for Dudovitz pending sentencing. She also said
Dudovitz is required to surrender his passport. Post-trial motions,
which could include sentencing, are slated for mid-December.
Dudovitz, of the 6400 block of North Albany Avenue, was charged in May 2013 with criminal sexual assault of a minor.
In
2006, the then-15-year-old victim and his family worshipped with
Dudovitz at a small storefront synagogue, the Moshiach Center, in West
Rogers Park, the victim told DNAinfo Chicago in 2013.
The accuser looked up to Dudovitz, who he said mentored him before his Bar Mitzvah, and the two spent lots of time together.
"I didn’t have a really close relationship with my father," he said, "and you know, [Dudovitz] was always there."
"I felt like I was at fault and did something inappropriate in front of my rabbi," he said. "I looked up to him like a father figure. He took advantage of that. I guess that was the hardest thing."
Though
the victim initially reported the incident in 2006 and a state
agency substantiated abuse allegations involving the boy and seven other
victims in 2007, prosecutors didn't move forward with charges until
2013. Police at the time said witnesses didn't cooperate
following the assault, but that the victim got the ball rolling when he
reached out to detectives in 2013 to pursue prosecution.
After the trial Monday,
the victim's older sister, who asked not to be named, said her family
thought "with time, it would heal, but it was getting worse." She said
her brother still had a lot of "anger and pain" before he pursued
charges and thought a conviction could start to provide closure. _________________________________________________________________________________
Rabbi convicted of sexually assaulting boy nine years ago By Steve Schmadeke Chicago Tribune - November 16, 2015
When her 15-year-old son began to question the Orthodox Jewish
faith he was raised in, his mother turned to a trusted rabbi from their
West Rogers Park community for help.
But Aryeh "Larry" Dudovitz
instead betrayed the family's trust by sexually assaulting the boy
during a Jewish holiday nine years ago, a Cook County judge found
Monday.
His bench trial Monday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building
offered a glimpse into the sometimes-insular Orthodox community. Several
prominent rabbis testified that they responded to a report of the abuse
by convening a special session of a religious court.
The assault
took place in October 2006, but it wasn't until May 2013 that criminal
charges were brought against Dudovitz. The victim's family said that
part of the reason for the delay was because relatives wanted the victim
to first receive counseling to be better prepared for the emotional
strain of a trial.
During the two-hour trial, Dudovitz, now 48, sat slumped in his seat
at the defense table in a long black coat and a black yarmulke. He
showed little reaction when the judge ruled. The married father of nine
had rejected a plea deal that called for five years in prison and now
faces up to 15 years in prison at sentencing.
The boy, now 24,
testified Monday that he had begun feeling strange around Dudovitz, who
frequently pressured him to go a bath house with him for a ritual
purification before prayers. But no sexual wrongdoing occurred until
Dudovitz came to the family's home for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, he
said.
After singing, dancing and talking for hours with the boy and his
family, the night ended with Dudovitz alone with the boy, plying him
with beer and vodka until the teen became ill in the sukkah, a hut set
up for the festival in the boy's backyard.
The boy testified he
went to his bedroom, fell asleep and awoke to find Dudovitz performing a
sex act on him. Dudovitz returned to the home the next day to
apologize, but the victim said he didn't understand what had happened.
"I
grew up with no sexual education at all — none whatsoever," he
testified. "... It wasn't spoken of and, unfortunately, it still isn't."
But
when Dudovitz returned to the house the following December while the
teen was again home from school for Hanukkah, the teen realized the
rabbi was taking advantage of him.
Dudovitz, wearing a prayer
shawl, came into the teen's bedroom and began to embrace him and kiss
his neck, the man testified. He kicked Dudovitz out of the house and
told his mother what had happened.
"He said, 'Don't ever let
(Dudovitz) in our home or near any of the kids again,' " his mother
testified Monday about her son. "He was crying ... and he started to
tell me what happened."
At a hearing organized by the Chicago
Rabbinical Council, rabbis Zev Cohen and Shmuel Fuerst testified that
Dudovitz admitted performing the sex act on the teen.
An
investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services, tipped to the abuse by a psychologist who attended the
rabbinical hearing, testified that Dudovitz admitted sexually assaulting
the teen to her as well.
The rabbis set up guidelines for
Dudovitz to follow, including a ban on being around minors, but
prosecutors and one witness said that he didn't follow through. The
victim's family said Dudovitz by then was affiliated with a small
offshoot of the Orthodox faith in Chicago.
Ruling from the bench
after hearing two hours of evidence and argument Monday, Judge Evelyn
Clay found Dudovitz guilty of aggravated criminal sexual assault and
ordered him taken into custody until he turns over his passport. Clay
said she would then release him on electronic monitoring until his
sentencing. _________________________________________________________________________________
Chicago rabbi convicted of sexually assaulting boy 9 years ago WGN-TV - November 17, 2015
CHICAGO — A jury convicted a rabbi from Chicago of sexually assaulting a boy nine years ago. It took just two hours of testimony to convince jurors that Aryeh “Larry” Dudovitz was guilty. The victim, now 24, says Dudovitz was mentoring him; he visited the
boy’s home in 2006, got him drunk, waited for him to pass out, and
performed a sex act on him.
Rabbi convicted of sexually assaulting teenage boy 9 years ago Fox News - November 17, 2015
CHICAGO (STMW) - A West Rogers Park rabbi has been convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in his home nine years ago.
Aryeh
“Larry” Dudovitz, 45, was found guilty Monday of criminal sexual
assault by Judge Evelyn Clay, according to Cook County court records.
Dudovitz,
of the 6400 block of North Albany, was charged in 2013 with the
assault, which happened while the boy was sleeping in the rabbi’s home
in October 2006, authorities said.
Prosecutors
said the family of the victim, who was 15 at the time of the assault,
was originally unsure about whether they wanted to proceed criminally.
Dudovitz faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 16.
_________________________________________________________________________________ Chicago Orthodox Rabbi Found Guilty of Sexually Assaulting 15-year-old Boy JTA and Haaretz - November 18, 2015
Aryeh “Larry” Dudovitz was found guilty by a Chicago court after nearly two hours of testimony, for assaulting the boy in his home on the Sukkot festival in 2006.
A Chicago rabbi was found guilty on Monday of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2006.
Rabbi Aryeh “Larry” Dudovitz assaulted the boy when he was supposed to be counseling the teenager for questioning his Orthodox Jewish faith, Cook County Judge Evelyn Clay ruled Monday in the bench trial, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Judge Clay found Dudovitz guilty "after roughly two hours of testimony," DNAinfo reported, and "ordered electronic monitoring for Dudovitz pending sentencing." She also said Dudovitz is required to surrender his passport. Post-trial motions, which could include sentencing, are slated for mid-December.
The boy, now 22, had seen Dudovitz as a father figure, he said in 2013. He was initially reluctant to come forward due to, he says, his Orthodox community.
He told that court "I grew up with no sexual education at all — none whatsoever," he testified of his insular Orthodox community, which did not urge him to come forward with allegations of abuse. "... It wasn't spoken of and, unfortunately, it still isn't," the Chicago Tribune reported.
Dudovitz, 48, the married father of nine, had rejected a plea deal that called for five years in prison, and now faces up to 15 years in prison, according to the newspaper. He was ordered taken into custody until he turned over his passport, after which he would be released to electronic monitoring until sentencing.
The assault occurred at the victim’s home in Chicago’s West Rogers Park in 2006. Criminal charges were brought against Dudovitz in 2013 after the teen sought counseling in the wake of the incident.
DNAinfo, a local news source, reported the story:
"In October 2006, Dudovitz went home with the boy and his family after celebrating the Jewish holiday Sukkot.
Dudovitz and the victim drank alcohol, prosecutors alleged, and the 15-year-old boy fell asleep. He was awakened by Dudovitz, who gave "the victim oral copulation while the victim was sleeping," court records show.
After the attack, Dudovitz admitted to several people — including rabbis and a mental-health counselor — that he sexually assaulted the boy while the victim slept, according to court testimony.
Dudovitz 'absolutely held a position of trust and authority,' Assistant State's Attorney Tracy Senica said during Dudovitz's bench trial Monday. 'He took advantage of the entire family.'"
At a hearing organized by the Chicago Rabbinical Council, rabbis Zev Cohen and Shmuel Fuerst, who sit on the only permanent Bet Din, jewish rabbinical court, for sexual assault, testified that Dudovitz admitted performing the sex act on the teen, the Tribune wrote.
After he confesses, the rabbis established guidelines for Dudovitz to follow, much like in the recent case with Elimelech Meisels, an Israeli seminary rabbi who sexually assaulted his Jewish students, including a ban on being around minors.
But prosecutors and one witness said that Dudovitz didn’t keep to the guidelines, as was reported in the Tribune.
West Rogers Park rabbi gets 8 years for sexually assaulting teen
Fox News - January 6, 2016
CHICAGO (STMW) - A man who
was sexually assaulted by a West Rogers Park rabbi when he was a
teenager told a Cook County judge Wednesday that his emotional pain has
been so debilitating, his relationship with his family suffered and he
cannot hold a full-time job.
“I am almost constantly afraid, feel
alone, scared, angry, anxious, feeling useless, unwanted and unworthy of
love,” the man said before Judge Evelyn Clay sentenced Rabbi Aryeh
“Larry” Dudovitz to eight years in prison for the October 2006 incident,
the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
“I
carry shame, which makes loving another very difficult. I feel
voiceless, not heard, unworthy of speaking, being heard or spoken to.”
Dudovitz said he hopes the victim recovers from the lingering trauma.
Dudovitz’s
lawyer, Richard Kling, said his client, a married 48-year-old father of
nine, is someone who has struggled with “fighting homosexual urges —
not sexual predator urges.”
But Assistant State’s Attorney Tracy
Senica called Dudovitz “a sexual predator of the worst kind” because the
victim and his family saw him as a “spiritual leader and moral
compass.”
Dudovitz attacked the victim, then 15, at the boy’s home after they celebrated the Jewish holiday Sukkot.
The
teenager had been drinking, as per custom, but after the boy’s father
and siblings went to sleep, Dudovitz gave him additional vodka shots
while the two were in a sukkah, or hut, that is constructed for the
religious festival, prosecutors said.
The victim eventually went inside the home and to his downstairs bedroom.
Dudovitz said he was leaving. But the boy woke up to Dudovitz performing a sex act on him.
The victim, now 24, said he has sought the help of a trauma psychotherapist and many other mental health professionals.
His
depression kept him from finishing high school, and he landed in rehab
twice after he started self-medicating with drugs and alcohol.
“I
never thought I would have a future. I always thought that I would be
looked on as someone less than, or worse than the next,” the man said.
“With
this sentencing, I can clearly put my hopes and dreams in front of me
and know that there is hope in my present life and future to come.”
Outside court, the victim said he was relieved to see this chapter in his life come to a close.
A few feet away, Dudovitz’s wife sobbed.
Dudovitz, of the 6400 block of North Albany, was arrested and charged in 2013 with criminal sexual assault.
At
the time of the incident, the victim’s family was initially unsure
about whether they wanted to proceed criminally, prosecutors have said. _________________________________________________________________________________
Rabbi Sentenced to 8 years for sexually assaulting teen boy ABC 7 News - January 7, 2016
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Chicago rabbi has been sentenced for sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
Aryeh "Larry" Dudovitz will spend eight years in prison. The victim was 15-years-old at the time of the assault.
Prosecutors
say the boy and his family were sleeping over at the rabbi's home
during a Jewish holiday in 2006 when the attack happened.
The rabbi was accused of giving the boy alcohol before assaulting him after his family went to sleep.
Dudovitz, a married father of nine children, was a rabbi at a West Rogers Park synagogue at the time of the assault.
Chicago rabbi gets 8-year prison sentence for sex assault
Associated Press - January 7, 2016
CHICAGO -- An eight-year prison sentence has been handed a Chicago rabbi convicted of sexually assaulting a teenager in 2006.
The victim on Wednesday told Cook
County Circuit Judge Evelyn Clay the assault by Aryeh Dudovitz left him
so emotionally debilitated that his relationship with his family
suffered and he cannot hold a full-time job.
Prosecutors say Dudovitz attacked
the victim, then 15, at the boy's home after they celebrated the Jewish
holiday Sukkot. The attack occurred after Dudovitz plied him with vodka
and the teen's father and siblings went to sleep.
Defense attorney Richard Kling
said his client, a married 48-year-old father of nine, has struggled
with "fighting homosexual urges."
But Assistant State's Attorney
Tracy Senica called Dudovitz "a sexual predator of the worst kind"
because the victim and his family saw him as a "moral compass."
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