Case of Samuel Erlanger

Case of Samuel Erlanger

Divrei Chaim Synagogue - Golders Green, London, England

Stamford Hill, London, England

Arrested on charges witness tampering .  The alleged sex offender in this case is Rabbi Chaim Halpern.
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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

1. Second man set for harassment trial linked to rabbi Chaim Halpern investigation  (05/21/2013)
2. Pair deny harrassment charges in Divrei Chaim Synagogue sex abuse probe in Golders Green (05/22/2013)

Also see: 

1. Policies For inclusion on The Awareness Center's Sex Offender's Registry
2. Listing Alleged and Convicted Sex Offenders
3. Case of Shlomo Feldman
4. Case of Rabbi Chaim Halpern

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Second man set for harassment trial linked to rabbi Chaim Halpern investigation
By Tim Landen
Ham High - May 21, 2013

A second man charged with harassment in relation to police investigations into a Temple Fortune rabbi will stand trial in July.

Shlomo Feldman, 28, will appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court for trial on July 26 as part of ongoing investigations into orthodox rabbi Chaim Halpern, 54, leader of Divrei Chaim Synagogue in Bridge Lane, Temple Fortune.

Mr Feldman, of Lynmouth Road, Stamford Hill, denied three charges of harassment without violence at Hendon Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

He was bailed on the condition he does not contact any witnesses in the case.

Another man, Samuel Erlanger, 37, of Powis Gardens, Golders Green, denied one charge of harassment without violence earlier this month in relation to the investigation into Rabbi Halpern and will appear for trial at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on July 11.

Rabbi Halpern was arrested and questioned in February on suspicion of sexual assault and perverting the course of justice. He is due to return to police in July.

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Pair deny harrassment charges in Divrei Chaim Synagogue sex abuse probe in Golders Green

By Chris Hewett

(London) Times - May 22, 2013

Two men arrested as part of an investigation into sex abuse allegations at an orthodox Jewish synagogue have denied charges of harassment.

Shlomo Feldman and Samuel Erlanger were both detained by police probing allegations of sex abuse at the Divrei Chaim Synagogue, in Bridge Lane, Temple Fortune.

Detectives arrested the synagogue’s rabbi Chaim Halpern in February on suspicion of sexual assault and perverting the course of justice. He is due to answer bail in July.

Mr Feldman, 29, of Lynmouth Road, Stamford Hill, appeared at Hendon Magistrate’s Court on Monday where he pleaded not guilty to three charges of harassment without violence.

Mr Erlanger, 37, of Powis Gardens, Golders Green, denied one count of the same charge earlier this month and was bailed to appear at the same court on July 11.  He was bailed to appear at Willesden Magistrate’s Court on July 26.

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FAIR USE NOTICE

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  --  Margaret Mead

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Job for the cops, not the rabbis

Job for the cops, not the rabbis

By Miriam Shaviv 

Jewish Chronice - January 11, 2013

How should the Orthodox community handle allegations of sexual abuse? The scandal currently rocking London's Charedi world provides a classic example of how not to do it.

Last year, senior rabbi Chaim Halpern was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards around 30 women who had come to him for counselling. While the exact allegations have never been made public, it is hard to overstate the impact on the Charedim of Golders Green - where the rabbi lives - and Stamford Hill, where the alleged victims came from. Rabbi Halpern belongs to one of the most influential rabbinic families in London, and was himself a religious judge for the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. 

In Golders Green, local rabbis examined the evidence together with several dayanim of the London Beth Din, and Rabbi Halpern resigned from all public positions other than his synagogue. When his shul continued to attract worshippers, the examining rabbis published an open letter claiming that he was "not fit and proper to act in any rabbinic capacity".

Under pressure, the Union announced that it would set up its own religious court to issue judgment, a move some Golders Green residents have taken as an insult to their own rabbis. Eventually, the Union expelled Halpern's shul, but bizarrely retracted the edict within 24 hours following a confrontation with Halpern's brother.

There has been no justice for the women

The whole episode has turned from tragedy into farce. And yet no one seems to have reached the obvious conclusion: that this case proves the Orthodox community is unable to deal with allegations of this nature internally, and that such cases must be turned over, immediately, to the police.

Unlike in America (and Stamford Hill), the Golders Green rabbis cannot be accused of trying to sweep problems under the carpet. Charedi rabbis Shimon Weingarten and Berel Knopfler, and London Beth Din dayanim Chanoch Ehrentreu, Menachem Gelley and Yonason Abraham deserve utmost respect for their refusal to shield their colleague.

But even they must recognise that their efforts have failed. There has been no justice for the women, whose plight has been forgotten as the drama unfolds. The rabbis' good intentions have been stymied at every turn by the personal and political considerations of those with the interests of the Union and the Halpern family at heart - not those of the alleged victims.

While a beth din can handle issues of divorce, conversion and certain arbitrations, rabbis should not be handling potentially criminal cases. They do not have the jurisdiction, the capabilities or the process. They are not experts on the subject of abuse and cannot gather or evaluate evidence like a secular court, nor protect witnesses or enforce judgment. For that matter, should the rabbi be found guilty of taking sexual advantage of women, what punishment could they possibly impose that would be appropriate?

Perhaps "community policing" was suitable in 17th-century Poland. But this country has a respectable legal system. To pretend that allegations of sexual misconduct should be judged by rabbis rather than by the secular authorities is to advance the folly that frum Jews are somehow above the law.

Waiting for the rabbis' resolution, the women involved have not co-operated with the Metropolitan Police, which is still assessing whether Rabbi Halpern has a criminal case to answer. The rabbis must actively encourage them to come forward; disclose any evidence they may hold, and, with a long-term view, start fostering an atmosphere where going to the authorities is not a betrayal, but the only option.

The choice is not between handling abuse accusations discreetly within the community, or embarrassingly in public. The choice is between dealing with them through the state - or not having them dealt with properly at all.

Case of Moshe Reichman

Case of Moshe Reichman

(Golders Green) - London, England

Vinstz Synagogue - (Stamford Hill) London, England

Arrested and charged with raping a boy in a synagogue men's room. Moshe Reichman is from Golders Green, North-West London. He is accused of four offences which allegedly took place four years ago.

There are several individuals with the name of Moshe Reichman. The individual discussed on this page was born around 1984 in Great Britain.  

If you have more information about this case, please forward it to The Awareness Center

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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:

1. How a puncture on the A40 caught a rapist on the run (06/06/2008) 
2. Man is accused of child rape (06/13/2008)

Also see:

1. Case of Nachman Stal

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How a puncture on the A40 caught a rapist on the run

By Candice Krieger

Jewish Chronical - June 6, 2008

A convicted rapist who fled Israel before he could be jailed for a sex attack on an underage boy was caught last week when police stopped to help him change a wheel on a busy road.

Nachman Stal, 37, is understood to have been living in secret among the Charedi community of Stamford Hill, North London, since skipping the country two years ago.

But he was recaptured last Wednesday when his car had a puncture on the Westway stretch of the A40 in Ladbroke Grove, West London.

Mr Stal, rumoured to be working as a driver in the London area and using a false passport, had pulled over to change the tyre when police in a passing patrol car stopped to help. He was arrested on a provisional extradition warrant after a routine check of police records revealed the driver to be the fugitive Stal.

On Wednesday he appeared at Westminster extradition court via video-link from Wandsworth Prison, where he is being held in custody.

Stal, a Ger Chasid, was convicted of raping a boy under the age of 16 in Tel Aviv between April and May 1998 and indecently assaulting a boy under the age of 16 in Tel Aviv between December 1998 and February 1999.

The incidents allegedly took place in his car. He was convicted in 2006 but fled the jurisdiction — not the first time he had gone missing.

Stal, who used to live in Kiryat Sefer, east of Tel Aviv, was first indicted in 2000 but did not turn up for the trial hearing, and the indictment was cancelled.

It was thought he had fled to Britain. The charges were renewed in September 2004 when he returned to Israel. He was convicted in 2006 but managed to escape for a second time, fleeing the jurisdiction, even though police were holding his passport.

A new remand hearing, again via video-link, will take place on June 25 at Westminster extradition court.

A spokesperson from the Israeli Embassy said: "The Israeli Embassy only knows about such cases when the Israeli citizen involved chooses to notify us and in this case he hasn't.'"

Stamford Hill's Rabbi Avraham Pinter said he was not aware of Stal or that he had been hiding in London.

- A Charedi man was due to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court today (Friday) accused of raping a 12-year-old boy in a London synagogue toilet.

Moshe Reichman, 24, was charged under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

The rape is alleged to have taken place at the Vinstz Synagogue in Stamford Hill, home to Europe's largest Charedi population.

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Man is accused of child rape

By Dana Gloger

Jewish Chronical - June 13, 2008

A man has been charged with raping a boy in a synagogue men's room.

Moshe Reichman, 23, a father of two from Golders Green, North-West London, is accused of four offences which allegedly took place four years ago.

The boy, who is also Jewish and who was 11 or 12 years old at the time, cannot be named. He had left his family home on the day of the alleged incident to buy milk for his mother in nearby Stamford Hill.

Prosecutors say the boy was approached in the street by the defendant, who allegedly asked him to show him where a particular synagogue was.

Once there, Mr Reichman allegedly pulled the complainant inside and into a cubicle in the male toilets, where it is claimed he performed an indecent act on the boy before raping him.

The boy only complained to police this February and Mr Reichman was arrested on March 3. He was remanded in custody and twice refused bail.

But at Snaresbrook Crown Court last week, his barrister Gary Grant made a bail application with strict conditions, to which Judge Timothy King agreed.

The package included a £50,000 surety from the defendant's rabbi, Leone Rabinowitz, and a 24-hour curfew at the Stamford Hill address of a fellow community member. Mr Reichman, who had to have the court proceedings translated into Yiddish, will be allowed to leave this address only if accompanied by one of six chaperones, who are rabbis and senior members of the Charedi community.

A trial date has been set for January 26 next year.

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FAIR USE NOTICE

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever –– Margaret Mead

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