Teshuvos on Rabbi Mordecai Tendler

Case of David Kohn

Case of David Kohn
(AKA: Avraham Perl, Dovid Kohn)

Monsey, NY
Israel

Convicted sex offender.  Sent to prison relating to 40 sex charges involving 12-year-old girl.  He also is likely to be deported following his sentence, as he’d overstayed his immigration VISA.

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Table of Contents:

2012

1. Monsey man Charged with Sex Attack (03/30/2012)
2. Monsey man faces 40 counts of criminal sexual acts (03/30/2012)
3. Monsey man jailed on 40 sex charges involving girl (03/31/2012)

2013

1. Kohn Receives Justice (01/31/2013)

Also see:

1. Case of Kenneth Gribetz

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Monsey man Charged with Sex Attack
Rockland Times - March 30, 2012

Town of Ramapo Police arrested a Monsey man Friday on charges of sexual abuse.

The man, Dovid Kohn, 59, of Monsey, also know as Avraham Perl, is being charged with 40 counts of a criminal sex act in the second degree for engaging in sexual conduct with a person younger than 15 years old, a class D felony. Kohn is also facing one count of sexual conduct with a child in the first degree, a class B felony, police said.

According to police, a female victim went to them about Kohn on March 19. Following an investigation they found Kohn had abused the victim over several years when she was between the ages of 12 and 15.

Town Justice R. Shoenberger arraigned Kohn and set bail at $1 million. Kohn is currently incarcerated at Rockland County Jail.

Police are encouraging any other victims to contact the Ramapo Police Detective Bureau.

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Monsey man faces 40 counts of criminal sexual acts
News 12 - March 30, 2012

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Monsey man jailed on 40 sex charges involving girl
LoHud - March 31, 2012

RAMAPO — A 59-year-old Monsey man has been charged with 40 counts accusing him of having oral sex with a girl when she was between the ages of 12 and 15, police said Friday.

Dovid Kohn, also known as Avraham Perl, is being held on $1 million cash bail in the county jail in New City on 40 counts of second-degree criminal sex act and first-degree sexual conduct against a child.


The girl is now in her mid-20s, Ramapo Detective Lt. Mark Emma said Friday.
The woman came forward March 19 to file a complaint against Kohn, who runs a video business in Monsey that covers events for businesses.

“This happened over three years when she was between 12 and 15,” Emma said. “I wouldn’t question the motive of any victim who decides to come forward.”

Emma said there is no statute of limitations on sex crimes. The sexual-conduct charge is applied when the alleged abuse lasts at least three months.

Authorities would not say how the suspect and the woman knew each other.

The reason for the high bail from Justice Rhoda Schoenberger was because he uses two names, police said. The judge set bail at $5 million bond or $1 million cash.

His legal name is Avraham Perl and he has lived in the Monsey community for 30 years, said his lawyer, Kenneth Gribetz. He is married with three adult children.

Gribetz said his client will plead not guilty and will provide the court with documentation showing his legal identity.

“We will review the facts and circumstances of the case when the police and District Attorney’s Office provide us with the details,” Gribetz said.
Emma said anyone with information can call the Ramapo Police Department at 845-357-2400 and ask for the detective bureau.

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Kohn Receives Justice

Rockland County Times - January 31, 2013

After a series of religious Jews charged with sex abuse crimes evaded prison time, law enforcement finally appears to be turning the corner in the effort to provide equal protection to children of the community. 

David Kohn of Monsey pled guilty on Monday of performing oral sex on a then 12-year-old girl who was friends with his daughter. The 60-year-old Israeli-national is expected to face a sentence of eight years in state prison, 10 years probation and placement of the sex offenders registry. He also is likely to be deported following his sentence, as he’d overstayed his immigration VISA.

Kohn admitted to Judge William Nelson in the county courthouse that he’d perform sex acts on the girl between the years 2004 and 2006 when she was between the ages of 12 and 14. The girl did not report the crimes until 2012.

Prosecutors outfitted the girl with a body wire and recorded conversation between she and Kohn which verified her version of events and led to his arrest.

Kohn pled guilty to 35 counts of sexual abuse.

In the last year and a half Samuel Dym (AKA: Shmuel Dym) and Moishe Turner of Monsey and Herschel Taubenfeld of New Square were all charged with various sexual crimes against children, but evaded jail time. The probation sentences of Taubenfeld and Turner were announced within the last two weeks.

Prosecutors have faced challenges in securing justice for children in the religious community that have been victimized. Sometimes there is pressure from persons within the community for victims to deal with such matters internally, and not include the justice system.

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Case of Rabbi William Handler

Case of Rabbi William Handler
(AKA: Rabbi Hillel Handler)

Rabbi William Handler is an
alleged enabler of sexual offenders

Spokesperson of the Vaad Harabonim - Monsey, NY
Union of Orthodox Rabbis - New York, NY
Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar - (Williamsburg) Brooklyn, NY
Neturei Karta 

Rabbi William Handler has be accused of being an enabler of sexual predators after stated publicly that sex crimes should be handled by rabbis and not by law enforcement official.  It's obvious that he has very little understanding of the issues nor ramifications surrounding sex crimes and the importance of having these cases prosecuted by secular authorities.  To this date, The Awareness Center does not know of any rabbis who have ever gone through forensic training, nor been educated in how to conduct a victim sensitive interview.  

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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: 

1987

1. Bork Nomination Day 12, Part 3 (09/30/1987)

2011

1. Rabbinic Defenders of Convicted Rabbi Wengarten Serving a 30 Year Sentence On Molestation Charges Will Appear Saturday Night (02/05/2011)
2. Rabbi William Handler's Attack on Israel  (12/13/2011)

2012

1. Rabbi William Handler Speaking Outside The Board of Health (09/30/2012)

2013

1. Molestation Cases Must Be Handled by G’dolim, Not by ‘Experts’ (05/26/2013)

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Bork Nomination Day 12, Part 3

CSPAN - September 30, 1987

Mr. Chairman, I am Rabbi William Handler, representing the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, this country's oldest rabbinical organization founded in 1900, representing over 600 rabbis and deans of Talmudic schools and seminaries, which serve over half a million Orthodox Jews in the United States and Canada.

Before I begin, Mr. Chairman[prayer in Hebrew].  Mr. Chairman, I would like to discuss something that has made me very angry about the way in which your staff has conducted

this hearing, and my appearance here today.  Before I begin, I received two telephone calls yesterday from a  Melissa Nolan. The first call asked me my name, and the organization I represent.

Rabbi Handler's presentation starts at 27 minutes.

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Rabbinic Defenders of Convicted Rabbi Wengarten Serving a 30 Year Sentence On Molestation Charges Will Appear Saturday Night

By Zev Brenner 

Talkline communications ZEV BRENNER ON WMCA 570 AM  - February 5, 2011 

In light of recent reports by the Yiddish Press of a group of prominent Rabbis visiting convicted Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Weingarten incarcerated on charges he molested his daughter, a special delegation of Weingarten’s Rabbinic supporters will be live on radio to discuss the issues involved and respond to last week’s Talkline broadcast with guests critical of the Rabbis jailhouse visit.  

William Handler, an official spokesman of the Prominent Rabbis who visited Rabbi Weingarten in prison, and Weingarten’s new Defense attorney, Dr. Demonsthenes Lorandos will be among the guests appearing on Talkline with Zev Brenner Saturday night February 5th at midnight on WMCA 570 AM and online at talklinecommunications.com to discuss the role of Rabbis in dealing with the sensitive issue of abuse in the Orthodox Community and why they believe Rabbi Weingarten is innocent of the charges despite a conviction by the courts.  The program can also be listened to live on Talkline’s 24 hour a day listen line at 712 432 2378. Listeners will be able to call in, email. facebook and twitter questions.

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Rabbi William Handler's Attack on Israel
December 13, 2011

 

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Rabbi William Handler Speaking Outside The Board of Health
VIN News - September 13, 2012

New York City's Board of Health has voted to require parental consent for a form of circumcision that involves oral suction.

The board voted 9-0 Thursday to require that anyone performing the ritual practiced by some ultra-Orthodox Jews obtain written consent from a parent or guardian.

The parents will have to sign a form acknowledging that the city Health Department advises against the practice because of risks of herpes and other infections.

The Health Department says there have been 11 confirmed cases of herpes simplex since 2004 in newborn boys after circumcisions that likely involved direct oral suction. Two of the infants died.

Defenders of the practice said they will ignore the new rule.

Rabbi William Handler of Brooklyn said the circumcision ritual is 3,000 years old and is safe.

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Molestation Cases Must Be Handled by G’dolim, Not by ‘Experts’

By: Rabbi William Handler
Jewish Press - May 26, 2013

Note from the editor:

Rabbi William Handler is member of The Bris Milah Anti-Defamation League, which endorses metzitzah b'peh. He was also a supporter of Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Weingarten, convicted of molesting his daughter. I'm mentioning these two facts up front, so that they not become the topic of discussion by our readers. Rabbi Handler probably has very little in common with our Zionist, pro-Israel editorial policy, nor does he probably endorse our view that the Internet can be used sanely by educated religious Jews. Yet, when he sent us the following article for publication, I was struck by one important argument he is making which we, as a religious community, should debate: 

Do we want the City and State child welfare authorities, as well as the City and State legal systems, to be automatically in charge of cases of child abuse in our community? Rabbi Handler says we don't—and tries to argue in favor of turning to Gdolei Yisroel to supervise and even try these cases. 

Personally, I don't believe the author is making a successful argument, in light of the colossal failure of our religious leaders to respond, much less supervise and try, in one abuse case after another. But, those failures aside, is Rabbi Handler wrong in proposing that when we invite the secular authorities into our community, we're doing this to our own detriment? Should we accept that our Gedolim simply will not measure up to this challenge?

I want to warn our Orthodox Jewish community of a new danger: the existence of a clique of pseudo-experts who are working among us in the field of “Criminal Molestation.”

These “experts”—self-styled “helping professionals”— are actively seeking-out people whom they believe to be “molesters,” with the goal of turning them over to the office of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.

This is an enterprise fraught with the most serious dangers for our community.

Anyone can make an accusation of “molestation.” There are usually no witnesses.

So how can anyone determine whether the accusers are telling the truth or making the whole thing up?

Well, say the “experts,” we should assume that the accusation is true, because it’s highly improbable that anyone would make up such a grotesque story; and, in the unlikely event that someone did make up such a story, the “experts” in the district attorney’s office know how to question the accusers to make sure they aren’t lying.

Now, since the whole enterprise revolves around the ehrlichkeit (honesty) of the accusers and the honesty and skill of the district attorney, it is reasonable to ask a couple of poignant questions:

1. Is the accuser really telling the truth, or is he a skilled liar, who seeks to settle a score with the accused, gain custody of children in a divorce case, or just plain do harm to someone for any reason at all?
2. Do prosecutors always do their job properly; do they always seek justice?

Those of you who have followed the Sholom Rubashkin case closely, know that prosecutors don’t necessarily care about the truth—often, their actions are based on political considerations, or they just want to show another successful conviction on their resume, and they’re willing to get it by any means necessary, legitimate or otherwise.

Those of you who may have had the occasion to get entangled with NY City’s ACS/DCP (Administration for Children's Services / Division of Child Protection) will understand what I mean when I speak of the dangers of getting entangled in a Kafkaesque government bureaucracy.

Perhaps your baby spilled some hot tea on his hand and got a serious burn. You call Hatzoloh, and the ambulance speeds your screaming child to the hospital emergency room. (NOTE: this is a true story, it happened exactly as I’m describing it)

Before your child is even treated for his condition, and while he is still screaming in pain, the emergency room staff will insist that you submit to an interview with a social worker, who will try to determine whether you were guilty of child neglect.

This procedure is mandated by City law. As “mandated reporters,” emergency room staff are required to report any suspicious indications of child neglect or abuse (as are other government licensed professionals, like psychiatrists and doctors).

Please remember, the social worker gets paid to find cases of child neglect. If she does not find any cases, there is no justification for the existence of her agency, no justification for paying her salary and benefits. So, she has a clear bias in favor of seeking something—anything—that would justify a finding of “child neglect.”

The social worker’s report is sent to ACS/DCP.

Shortly thereafter, you will be visited by ACS workers, who will appear at your home suddenly—often in the middle of the night—to conduct interviews with your small children in an attempt to discover and document “child neglect.”

Each child will be interviewed individually, in a van parked outside your home. You will not be permitted to be present at these interviews. Any silly or indiscreet statement by your innocent child may be accepted as documented evidence of “child neglect.”

If your child mentions any behavior that the City defines as “child neglect,” slapping, yelling, etc., ACS may, at their discretion, haul you into Family Court and petition the court for the removal of ALL of your children from your home to live with foster parents.

You will have to spend a fortune on lawyers.

If you’re lucky enough to avoid losing your children, you’re still not home free. The law gives ACS up to an additional 60 days to continue their investigation of your family.

ACS will now send a “field worker” to your home to conduct “surveillance,” to observe how you interact with your family. The worker will note everything you do on her clipboard. This officious busybody will visit with you for hours upon hours, getting on your nerves, as you attempt to take care of your family. You must be extremely careful about what you say and do in front of her.

I’m sure most mothers with large families will agree that this is a nightmare scenario. However, it is something that is going on in our community right now. Just ask your friends and neighbors. As I said, I have witnessed it personally.

Now, if this is the way the City’s “professionals” abuse decent Jewish parents whose only crime was that their child accidentally spilled some hot tea on his hand, imagine how “compassionately” they treat someone who has been accused of the much more serious crime of molestation.

Do you really think the prosecutors are going to treat anyone accused of molestation fairly? Do you really believe they are going to assume that he is innocent until proven guilty?

God forbid that I should in any way minimize that great pain and the terrible damage that is inflicted on innocents by even one molester in our community. There definitely are such people in our midst, and we must take action to stop them.

But involving the cumbersome, insensitive, and largely incompetent government apparatus in the internal problems of our community can only result in even more terrible tragedies, chas v’sholom.

It borders on Mesirah (turning in a fellow Jew), and it is virtually certain that it will result in many innocent people going to jail for years and years, destroying their lives and the lives of their families and children.

I know that there have been complaints that rabbis have declined to take action when accusations of molestation have been presented to them. I have already discussed the conundrum they face earlier in this article—should they take action on the say-so of a single person, who may have malicious intent to harm the accused.

The Talmud tells us that “He who is not an expert in the laws of marriage and divorce should stay out of the picture, lest he increase the number of illegitimate mamzeirim in Klal Yisroel.”—only gedolei Yisroel—true experts—have the competence to rule in these matters.

The truth of the matter is that a situation this serious does not belong to your average rabbi, no matter how sincere and pious he may be. It must be refereed to our top Torah leadership, just as the question of Internet use was.

Only our gedolei Yisroel have the siyata d’shmaya (Divine help) necessary to guide us on the proper course of action in these painful and perplexing situations.

Can we settle for anything less in matters of pikuach nefesh (life and death)? 

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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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Case of Rabbi Shimshon Walzer

Case of Rabbi Shimshon Walzer

THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 Komemiyut (located near Kiryat Gat), Israel

Monsey, NY

According to reports, alleged sex offender Shimshon Walzer escaped prosecution in Israel and may currently residing in Monsey, NY.  "Rabbi" Shimshon Walzer is suspected of sexually abusing dozens of children in Israel.

Walzer's alleged sexual abuse began 19 years ago, when he was rabbi of the Talmud Torah. From the investigative material it appears that a kind of deviant sexual culture arose among some of the boys on the moshav, which included sexual activity, sometimes consensual and sometimes forced, and also that a special language developed around this activity. The expression "to beat up," for example, was used as code for groping and touching of a sexual nature, which often led to forced acts. One resident in his 20s related that instead of playing cops and robbers, the moshav's children invented a game of tag called "Shimshon Walzer."

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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. After Maariv revealed yesterday that the long seat Komemiyut long suspected child abuse, was also arrested his son. Evaluation: The suspect's neighbor complained against (05/26/2010)
2. Teacher molested kids for 20 years, while community turned blind eye  (07/29/2010)
3. Child Abuse: Rav Motti Elon and Komemiyut (08/09/2010)
4. A victim in every home (08/10/2010)
5. Forgets not that heroic waltz is in fashion - speaking care on your children  (08/10/2010)

Also See:

1. The quasi-orthodox Jewish world compared to the "BITE" Model of Cult Mind Control (11/06/2013)

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After Maariv revealed yesterday that the long seat Komemiyut long suspected child abuse, was also arrested his son. Evaluation: The suspect's neighbor complained against

By Ronen Damari

NRG - May 26, 2010
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/111/888.html

Article translated using Google.  Original article below

After the last publication in Maariv, revealed that "Rabbi" Shimshon Walzer suspected of sexually abusing dozens of children over the years who taught the seat of sovereignty, was arrested last night one of his sons - Solomon, on suspicion that he committed child abuse in the community. Police hoped that the father, who is currently in the U.S., decided to return to Israel for the wedding of one of his sons held today. In which case he would be arrested and interrogated.

Bar Yehuda Fried and Tal Gabay Photo: Chen rolls

Bar Yehuda Fried and Tal Gabay, representing the family and purposes, were angered by the timing of the arrest carried out by the central unit in the Lachish: just one day before the anticipated wedding of Gedaliah David, another son of Walzer.

Walzer took off more than a month to the U.S. to raise funds, just hours before the Central Unit investigators knocked on his door and asked him for questioning. When his family told him that he decided to change his plans and return to Israel for fear of being arrested.

In recent weeks, police came many times the seat, but found it difficult to collect evidence, since most residents refused to cooperate. Walzer associates wondered last night: "This is old suspicions as to why they remembered them after so many years?". Wife and purposes, Riesel, said: "I'm shocked. My children are shocked. Asked me about the allegations, and said to them, 'How dare you speak of my father, he's an honest man."

Officials said that provision seat saved in private for many years finally exploded following an internal dispute between the residents of the small community. They said Walzer said one of the residents that he should not raise goats for religious prohibition to raise small cattle. Resident's response was: 'If this is so, the rough beast now picking. According to the sources then he passed the information on sexual abuse to the police.

"Convinced that justice will be published"

Mr. Fried said in response: "My clients are confident innocence and confident that justice will be published in court." Spokeswoman space Lachish, Meital control graph, said in response: "Solomon and purposes attributed to serious offenses, and the investigation has reached a stage visible."

Yesterday was cleared for publication that for decades sexually abused splendidly "Samson and Walzer dozens of children taught. Allegedly Walzer, a teacher from the seat

Orthodox Komemiyut near Kiryat Gat, carried out the worst deeds when he was alone with the children utilizing the authority Cmhncm. He would warn them not to tell anyone about his actions.

Orthodox community factors involved in the proceedings seat argue that the teacher's actions were discovered a long time ago, but no complaint was filed against him by order of the multi-seat Menachem Mendelson.

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אחרי שאתמול נחשף במעריב כי רב ממושב קוממיות חשוד בהתעללות ארוכת שנים בילדים, נעצר גם בנו. הערכה: שכנו של החשוד התלונן נגדו

רונן דמארי | 26/5/2010 8:11 

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/111/888.html

לאחר הפרסום אתמול במעריב, שחשף כי "הרב" שמשון ולצר חשוד כי התעלל מינית במשך שנים בעשרות ילדים שלימד במושב קוממיות, נעצר אמש אחד מבניו - שלמה, בחשד שאף הוא ביצע מעשים מגונים בילדים ביישוב. במשטרה קיוו כי האב, ששוהה כעת בארה"ב, יחליט לחזור לישראל לרגל חתונת אחד מבניו המתקיימת היום. במקרה שכזה הוא ייעצר וייחקר. 

עורכי הדין יהודה פריד וטל גבאי צילום ארכיון: חן גלילי

עורכי הדין יהודה פריד וטל גבאי, המייצגים את משפחת ולצר, זעמו על תזמון המעצר שביצעו אנשי היחידה המרכזית במרחב לכיש: יממה בלבד לפני חתונתו הצפויה של גדליה דוד, בן אחר של ולצר. 

ולצר המריא לפני למעלה מחודש לארה"ב לגיוס תרומות, שעות ספורות לפני שחוקרי הימ"ר התדפקו על דלתו ודרשו אותו לחקירה. כאשר משפחתו סיפרה לו על כך הוא החליט לשנות את תוכניתו ולא לשוב לארץ, מחשש שייעצר. 

בשבועות האחרונים הגיעו חוקרי המשטרה פעמים רבות למושב, אך התקשו לאסוף ראיות, שכן מרבית התושבים סירבו לשתף פעולה. מקורבי ולצר תהו אמש: "מדובר בחשדות ישנים, מדוע נזכרו בהם לאחר כל כך הרבה שנים?". גם אשתו של ולצר, רייזל, אמרה: "אני מזועזעת. הילדים שלי המומים. שאלו אותי על החשדות, ואמרתי להם 'איך אתם מעזים לדבר כך על אבא? הוא אדם ישר'". 

גורמים במושב סיפרו כי הפרשה שנשמרה בחדרי חדרים במשך שנים רבות התפוצצה בסופו של דבר בעקבות סכסוך פנימי בין תושבי היישוב הקטן. לדבריהם, ולצר הודיע לאחד התושבים כי אסור לו לגדל עזים בשל איסור הלכתי לגדל בהמה דקה. תגובתו של התושב הייתה: 'אם זה כך, עכשיו נטפל בבהמה הגסה'. לטענת אותם גורמים לאחר מכן הוא העביר את המידע על ההתעללות המינית למשטרה.  

"משוכנעים שהצדק ייצא לאור"

עו"ד פריד מסר בתגובה: "מרשיי בטוחים בחפותם ומשוכנעים שהצדק ייצא לאור בבית המשפט". דוברת מרחב לכיש, פקד מיטל גרף, מסרה בתגובה: "לשלמה ולצר מיוחסות עבירות חמורות, והחקירה הגיעה לשלב הגלוי". 

אתמול הותר לפרסום כי במשך עשרות שנים התעלל מינית ה"רב" שמשון וולצר בעשרות ילדים שלימד. על פי החשד וולצר, מורה מהמושב

החרדי קוממיות, הסמוך לקריית גת, ביצע את המעשים החמורים כאשר שהה עם הילדים ביחידות תוך ניצול סמכותו כמחנכם. הוא נהג להזהיר אותם לא לספר לאיש על מעשיו. 

גורמים בעדה החרדית המעורים בנעשה במושב טוענים כי מעשיו של המורה התגלו לפני זמן רב, אך לא הוגשה נגדו תלונה בגלל הוראתו של רב המושב מנחם מנדלסון.

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Teacher molested kids for 20 years, while community turned blind eye
By Tamar Rotem
Haaretz - July 29, 2010

Police are investigating a man who allegedly sexual abused dozens of children on Moshav Kommemiyut over two decades.

For almost 20 years, one man allegedly sexually abused dozens of children on Moshav Kommemiyut, an ultra-Orthodox community in the northern Negev. Yet no one ever complained - either to the police or to the welfare authorities.

The police have since opened an investigation into the abuses, but the suspect is in the U.S. and refuses to return. Meanwhile, some say community leaders knew of the crimes but did nothing to stop them.

At least one of the victims is suspected of having sexually abused younger children in turn.

The main suspect, Shimshon Walzer, began his alleged career as an abuser 19 years ago, while serving as a teacher at a religious elementary school. Two years later, rumors of his abusive conduct led to him being fired as a teacher. Yet for some reason, he was allowed to retain an office at the school.

Over the ensuing years, his conduct became ever more abusive, police say, and an entire generation of children became his sex slaves. According to the testimony they have collected, he abused his victims frequently and in broad daylight, in barns and chicken coops, in fields and even at the mikveh (ritual bath ).

The testimony reveals that the victims were usually young - aged 9 or 10, or sometimes a bit older - and generally came from families whose from lower social status. Walzer would allegedly pick them up from school or synagogue in his car.

Police have been conducting an undercover investigation of Walzer for the last few months. Over the course of the probe, they began to suspect that some of the victims had also been sexually abused by a second person.

Suspect indicted

That person, who was a minor at the time most of his alleged crimes were committed, was indicted two weeks ago on charges of sodomy and indecent assault, then released to house arrest. But Walzer was not indicted at the same time, because he was out of the country.

In April, Walzer had gone to the United States to raise funds for the elementary school and the moshav's synagogue. While there, he realized that the noose was tightening about his neck and decided not to return to Israel.

The prosecution recently decided not to seek his extradition, fearing the process was likely to prove complicated, due in part to the fact that the statute of limitations has already expired on some of his alleged crimes.

Some Kommemiyut residents, as well as some of the victims, told police the rabbi of the moshav, the principal of the school and members of the moshav's governing body all knew about the alleged abuse committed by the two suspects. But most residents denied that any abuse had occurred.

Walzer's attorney insisted that he had not returned because he was still fund-raising, and would "fight for the truth when he decides to return."

An attorney for the other suspect said his alleged victim "suffers from credibility problems, to say the least, and his desire to harm Haredi society in general, and the Walzer family in particular, is clear. We believe his testimony will not hold up."

Kommemiyut's rabbi, Mendel Mendelson, declined to respond to Haaretz's questions.

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Child Abuse: Rav Motti Elon and Komemiyut
By David Morris
Tzedek - Tzedek  - August 9, 2010

The case of Rabbi Motti Elon, the charismatic National Religious rabbi, has now been investigated by the police in Israel, who are apparently recommending prosecuting Rabbi Elon for child abuse and other sex crimes.

Meantime, shocking details are emerging from the ultra-orthodox community of Komemiyut , located near Kiryat Gat, regarding a decades long cover-up of a child molester in the community, Shimshon Walzer  – who is reported to have attacked dozens of children. The alleged perpetrator is now in the USA, and is unlikely to return to face his investigators.    

Of the 40 cases in which there is suspicion of abuse by Walzer, the police have reportedly collected complaints and testimony from 16 purported victims, who were aged between 7 and 16 when the acts were committed. Two complained against an additional suspect (who was a minor during the time of most of the alleged offenses). Many of the witnesses, now married and living outside the moshav, were not willing to make official complaints, for fear they would be exposed. The acts were apparently frequent, and committed in abandoned barns and chicken coops, or surrounding fields.

It is interesting to compare these two cases – Rav Motti Elon, and Shimshon Walzer.

In both instances, their communities endeavored to handle the problem internally.

With Rav Motti Elon, Takana, a forum of leading National Religious rabbis, tried to control Rav Elon’s access to victims, for a period of four years between discovery until they finally threw their hands up in despair at Rav Elon’s non-compliance, and broke the news in February this year about Rav Elon’s alleged affairs with his male (over 18 yo) students.

It now seems that there were other victims which Takana was unaware of, which the police have  investigated, including minors.

In Komemiyut, Shimon Walzer was apparently dismissed from his teaching job 18 years ago, as a measure taken by the community to address his alleged pedophilic behaviour. He was subsequently employed as a fundraiser by the community - a profession which, compared with teaching, inevitably resulted in Walzer having less day-to-day access to children.

However, with victims reportedly “in every family in Komemiyut” – the community’s efforts to handle the problem internally, appears to have been disastrously unsuccessful.

The incentive for close communities, whether National Religious or Ultra-Orthodox, to contain scandal by trying to control the behaviour of alleged pedophiles, without recourse to the police, social services and mental health professionals, is a hazardous policy – which indeed, in both cases, seems to have back-fired with terrible costs to the safety of children (and, in Elon’s case, over 18 year old youths).

This comparison would not be complete without noting that Takana worked within the legal framework of the Mandatory Reporting Laws (under which Takana were apparently not required to report Rav Elon's misdemeanours to the police - as the cases Takana were aware of solely involved 'consenting' over-18's) - whereas the community of Komemiyut seems to have broken the Mandatory Reporting Laws, over a period of decades.

Dealing with alleged sex criminals in our communities is not a problem for which there is a Holy Grail solution.

Even the police, prison services, psychiatric and psychological professionals, the works…regularly fail to curb pedophilic behaviour.  

[Incidentally, these resources are not much more successful with (non-sexual) violent criminals and thieves, drug dealers or fraudsters. Repeat offenders (recidivism) is not solely a problem of dealing with pedophiles. People don't get better in prison.]

What is clear, is that communities do have resources which the authorities (police, social services, etc) lack; and it is surely obvious that communities working in isolation from the big-guns provided by the State, are hopelessly lacking in ability to “deal with” such major crimes internally.

An improvement upon both approaches would be a community based organization, such as the recently established organization “Magen” in Bet Shemesh, working in full cooperation with the State authorities, in compliance with the Law, and solely focused on strengthening the safety of the community’s children.  

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A victim in every home

SIX YEARS AFTER THE ABUSE APPARENTLY ENDED, RESIDENTS OF A HAREDI MOSHAV HAVE FINALLY BEGUN TO TESTIFY ABOUT THE ALLEGED SEXUAL ATTACKS OF TWO MALE RESIDENTS ON THE COMMUNITY'S CHILDREN. THOSE WHO COMPLAIN ARE BEING SHUNNED.

By Tamar RotemHaaretz - August 8, 2010

Insofar as is known, up until the police stepped in, no complaints about the alleged acts had been filed with the welfare authorities. MK Danny Danon (Likud ), chairman of the Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child, wrote a letter in June to Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog, asking him to examine "how it is that welfare personnel were not involved, and why the many victims were not and are not being afforded treatment by the welfare authorities." Danon believes that the affair is "a matter of criminal negligence and neglect on the part of the authorities that have failed to treat those involved, both the welfare authorities and the enforcement authorities." His letter has not yet received an answer.

'Defilement that prevails'

Moshav rabbi Mendel Mendelson declined to answer questions from Haaretz. The wife of the Talmud Torah principal, Rabbi Haim Knopfelmacher, said on his behalf that he submitted to police questioning "because there's no choice, but we will not cooperate with the press." Members of the community council whom we contacted also refused to respond.

Komemiyut was established as a cooperative farming village in 1950, but today only a small number of its members raise crops or livestock. Neglect is everywhere; small, ugly houses are surrounded by weed-choked yards. The moshav's only playground has a sign indicating separate hours for boys and for girls.

This is not the first time this moshav has concealed a dark secret. The abducted 6-year-old boy Yossele Schumacher was hidden here for a while in the 1960s; today, Ben-Zion Miller, suspected of having given three narcotics-filled suitcases to ultra-Orthodox drug-runners in 2008, is under house arrest there.

One resident, who like all those interviewed here asked that his name not be published for fear he would be ostracized, said the place never developed because of the "defilement that prevails in it."

Meanwhile, it is hard to explain how, in a community with just 340 inhabitants - fewer than 40 families, who belong to the large Gur, Belz and Vishnitz Hasidic sects - no one knew about the suspected abuse. Especially because, according to one resident, and confirmed by the police, there is hardly a home in which there isn't a victim.

Walzer's alleged sexual abuse began 19 years ago, when he was rabbi of the Talmud Torah. From the investigative material it appears that a kind of deviant sexual culture arose among some of the boys on the moshav, which included sexual activity, sometimes consensual and sometimes forced, and also that a special language developed around this activity. The expression "to beat up," for example, was used as code for groping and touching of a sexual nature, which often led to forced acts. One resident in his 20s related that instead of playing cops and robbers, the moshav's children invented a game of tag called "Shimshon Walzer."

Of the 40 cases in which there is suspicion of abuse by Walzer, the police have collected complaints and testimony from 16 purported victims, who were aged between 7 and 16 when the acts were committed. Two complained against the additional suspect. Many of the witnesses, now married and living outside the moshav, were not willing to make official complaints, for fear they would be exposed. The acts were apparently frequent, and committed in abandoned barns and chicken coops, or surrounding fields.

From the testimony collected by the investigators, it emerges that the patterns of action of the two suspects were similar: molestation of minors aged 9, 10 and above, most from families with a lower status on the moshav. Walzer would pick them up from the school or the synagogue in his car, and sometimes molest them in the mikveh (ritual bath ).

Over the years, residents say, people lowered their voices when they spoke about incidents they had seen: the flash of naked bodies through the windows of a parked car, a boy groping with Walzer among the bushes, suspicious movements near the mikveh.

Some claimed with self-conviction that their children weren't among the victims. "I have girls and he abused boys," said one woman, though the suspicion is that Walzer abused both sexes.

"I worked in the cow barn all day. My main concern was always supporting my family," said another resident. "I am shocked. But the truth is, I don't dare ask my children whether they were molested."

Children were warned to stay away from Walzer. "From a very young age, we knew he was dangerous," related one inhabitant.

Complaints were made, however, to the moshav's rabbinical establishment. From the testimony, it emerges that they were silenced time after time with the pretext that the matter would be dealt with, or that the incidents were not current.

In fact, parents' protest led to the termination of Walzer's work as a teacher 18 years ago. Instead, he was given offices in the school building where he established a workshop for making tefillin (phylacteries ).

One witness told investigators that when the parents protested yet again, a functionary was brought in from Jerusalem and put in charge of dealing with Walzer. However, in the end, say investigators, it was decided to distance Walzer from the moshav and he was sent abroad to raise money.

As long as the police were not let in on the secret, however, the acts continued, according to the suspicion.

'Not in my time'

The extent of the denial pervading the moshav emerges from testimony that one community council member gave investigators. The witness related a series of "rumors" involving residents, whom he named. Among them were some whom Walzer purportedly abused when they were minors, and others apparently abused by other people.

When the investigators asked why he hadn't complained to the police, the man replied: "The incidents occurred in the past, not in my time. We were not able to know exactly when." He added that, "the victim who is harmed doesn't tell and it's natural that way. And from what I hear, most of the parents of the children who were harmed didn't hear a thing and didn't know anything about it ... They were afraid to ask the children so as not to traumatize them. I can't remember exactly when and with which parents I talked about Shimshon and they said it was an old story and nothing could be done about it, and above all it would harm matches [for marriages] for their children if made public. We are afraid that would be more harmful."

Asked why he was telling the story today, the witness said: "We want an end to it for the sake of our children." Later he recalled that one of the victims, who had in fact complained against the other suspect, had told him two years ago about the sexual abuse he had undergone.

The police visited the homes of people who might have been abused as children and asked them to testify; they also went to yeshivas in Bnei Brak where there are people who may have been in contact with the suspect. Many did not cooperate. Others, who agreed, changed their minds after they were apparently threatened. However, a few of the victims did file complaints.

From their testimony it emerges that even though revealing their secret was a relief, this did not suffice to convince them to complain formally or to confront the attackers. "I don't feel good about it. He is old," one said.

Parents of minors did not cooperate for fear their testimony would harm their sons' chances of a good marriage match. As a result, most of the complainants in the case are adults who have no connection with the moshav now, and some have given up a religious lifestyle.

Only today, 20 years later, has one of the complainants against Walzer told what exactly happened. He was 9 years old when Walzer offered him a ride home from the synagogue. "It was in the evening, but I didn't suspect anything because he had been my 'rebbe' the previous year," he relates. "The truth is, I was even glad to ride with him in the car."

Walzer did not take him home, but rather to a chicken coop at the edge of the moshav. "I was a naive child," relates the complainant. "He started to take off my pants and play with my body. When I resisted, he took his gartel (a thin belt worn by Hasids ) and tied me to him. I don't remember how long it lasted or how I got home."

He did not reveal what he already knew - that "it was a routine thing to go with [Walzer]," as he says. "Friends talked about what they did with him; sexual things that shouldn't be happening to children."

"Until we heard about what happened to our son, I didn't know there was such a thing," relates one woman, whose son complained. "My big sons wanted to beat him up and kill him, but we felt sorry for his wife and his children."

Today, in retrospect, she is remorseful. "I ask myself, what did I do? How did I relate to it? We just yelled that they should kick him out of the school and we believed the principal. Why didn't we go to the police?"

Despite the acts of which he is suspected, about which everyone supposedly knew, Walzer was put in charge of the synagogue and renovated it at his own expense. One local person commented bitterly: "Apparently in order to get respect in the moshav, you have to rape children." The speaker and his family are among the few who, even though they did not have the courage to turn to the police because they feared din moser (the duty to eliminate a Jew who intends to turn another Jew in to non-religious authorities ), fought Walzer in ways acceptable in ultra-Orthodox society: First, they spoke to the principal of the school and the rabbi of the moshav and subsequently they testified at a rabbinical court in Bnei Brak, but to no avail.

The finger of blame in the moshav is now pointed at the accusers. They are being shunned. They are not called up to say the blessings from the Torah in the synagogue on the Sabbath. No one is speaking to them. Their children have no one to play with.

Nor does the complainant against the other suspect feel relief as a result of the indictment. He will soon be 20 years old. According to the charges, for about four years, from age 9 to 13, he would be called over by the suspect during se'udah shilishit (the traditional late-afternoon meal on the Sabbath ) in the synagogue, and undergo abuse behind a hedge near the mikveh.

"The first time, I went in all innocence. I didn't resist," the complainant told Haaretz. "I froze to the spot. I didn't understand what was happening." The longer the acts continued and became more sophisticated, the more ashamed he was: "I knew it wasn't right. I was in total shock. I was in pain."

He says he was raped twice, and each time the suspect warned him to keep mum. He explains that he obeyed because it is a principle in ultra- Orthodox society to obey every adult. He adds that the abuse stopped when he reached the age of 13, and that he dropped out of the yeshiva a short time later.

During the police inquiry, it emerged that two years ago an investigation was opened against this same complainant on the grounds that he himself had abused a minor, but the case was closed for lack of evidence.

He says he told the police investigators he was "sorry I had unwittingly harmed another child." In a conversation with him last month, he said: "When I look at my brothers, I don't know if they are happy but they are married and they have a normal life. I look at myself. From the age of 16 I've been living away from home, looking after myself. And I don't have anyone to cry to. To my mind, the ultra-Orthodox are hypocritical people. My mother said to me, 'The whole moshav doesn't need to suffer because of you.' I am not angry at my mother. She is afraid. I went home to her and I told her everything. She said she didn't know about it, that the deeds were done a long time ago, that it's passed. What hurts most is she didn't come with me to complain."

Attorneys Yehuda Fried and Tal Gabay, who are representing the two suspects, have informed Haaretz that Walzer went to the United States "on a routine mission on behalf of the moshav's educational institutions, even before he knew he was wanted for questioning ... When he decides to return to Israel he will fight to clear his name.

"As an addendum to this investigation the name of our [other] client came up, also as a suspect in similar offenses. The complainant in the case was questioned in the past as a suspect in acts of sodomy with minors, a case that was closed because of difficulties in proving the evidence against him. The complainant was expelled from ultra-Orthodox society because of unsuitability. Any reasonable person who reads the complainant's testimony against our client understands this is a complainant who, to put it mildly, is suffering from problems of credibility, and it is obvious he has a desire to harm ultra-Orthodox society in general and the Walzer family in particular. We believe his testimony will not hold up at all."

The lawyers added: "The court, in a series of decisions, released our client from detention. We believe we will be able to convince the honorable court of our client's innocence."

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Forgets not that heroic waltz is in fashion - speaking care on your children

By Roni Dmari 

May 26, 2010

Translated Using Google - Original Hebrew below

8/01/2010

Forgets not that heroic waltz is in fashion - speaking care on your children

House Seat Harry the more "Rabbi" mkummius

Hshuft Harry to day Sunday to metsru of Solomon ultsr hkhshud bbitsue practical Sodom air hukhlt. Crest is shooting out lkhsuns brother

Home Judge Magistrate bashdud Harry until the day Sunday to metsru of Solomon ultsr, teacher Torah Ben 24, hkhshud the request works mgunim umeshi Sodom air bkummius. Extend hmetsr hsbtseh bhskhms eurkhi sentence, Josh Freed utl ruler, when the Torah that Scherer ultsr berbus lkhsuns brother shsyerkh evening, when he mskheyb language lmetsr immediately with siumh.

Solomon ultsr bharkhs metsru in court Peace bashdud. Photo: Adi Israel

Al according to the new ultsr please the mrbis hebirus before khshmunh years when it was no. With this, bmshtrh months because it works please mgunim also bshnseym hakhrunus bmudyein Elite, which is msgurr today.

Bmshtrh still do attempts lshkhne the father of Solomon, Samson ultsr, lkhzur country ulhseytsb lkhkirh it is required bkhshd lhsellus mini beshrus Kids bmushb independence which is msgurr.

Bshbueus last hgyeu khukri police often many lmushb, but hskshu end evidence, because mrbis residents refusal lshsf action. Related ultsr shu amsh: "This bkhshdus older, why nzkhru them after all so many years?". Even the wife of ultsr, Reyzl said: "I mzuezes. Kids my hmumim. Asked me on hkhshdus, uamrsi them 'I do you works speak so on father? Is human right'."

Factors bmushb story that provision shnshmrh rooms rooms for years many hsfutstsh end of that bekbus conflict internally between residents heyshub small. Ldbrihm, ultsr notification to one of the residents that prohibited him lgdl ezim bshl ban hlkhsi lgdl beast dkh. Responses of hsushb heysh 'If it so, now fog bbhmh West'. Ltens those factors after then it hebir the hmide on hhsellus species lmshtrh.

--------------------------

8/01/2010

פארגעסט נישט אז שמשון וואלצער איז אין מאנסי - געבט אבאכט אויף אייערע קינדער

בית המשפט האריך את מעצר "הרב" מקוממיות

השופט האריך עד ליום ראשון את מעצרו של שלמה ולצר החשוד בביצוע מעשי סדום בילדים הוחלט. הערב הוא יורשה לצאת לחתונת אחיו

רונן דמארי | 26/5/2010 19:01

בית משפט השלום באשדוד האריך עד יום ראשון את מעצרו של שלמה ולצר, מלמד תורה בן 24, החשוד כי ביצע מעשים מגונים ומעשי סדום בילדים בקוממיות. הארכת המעצר התבצעה בהסכמת עורכי דינו, יהודה פריד וטל גבאי, כאשר בתמורה לכך שוחרר ולצר בערבות לחתונת אחיו שתיערך הערב, כאשר הוא מתחייב לשוב למעצר מיד עם סיומה.

שלמה ולצר בהארכת מעצרו בבית מפשט השלום באשדוד. צילום: אדי ישראל

על פי החשד ולצר ביצע את מרבית העבירות לפני כשמונה שנים כאשר היה קטין. עם זאת, במשטרה חושדים כי הוא ביצע מעשים מגונים גם בשנתיים האחרונות במודיעין עילית, בה הוא מתגורר כיום. 

במשטרה עדיין עושים ניסיונות לשכנע את אביו של שלמה, שמשון ולצר, לחזור לארץ ולהתייצב לחקירה לה הוא דרוש בחשד להתעללות מינית בעשרות ילדים במושב קוממיות בו הוא מתגורר. 

בשבועות האחרונים הגיעו חוקרי המשטרה פעמים רבות למושב, אך התקשו לאסוף ראיות, שכן מרבית התושבים סירבו לשתף פעולה. מקורבי ולצר תהו אמש: "מדובר בחשדות ישנים, מדוע נזכרו בהם לאחר כל כך הרבה שנים?". גם אשתו של ולצר, רייזל, אמרה: "אני מזועזעת. הילדים שלי המומים. שאלו אותי על החשדות, ואמרתי להם 'איך אתם מעזים לדבר כך על אבא? הוא אדם ישר'". 

גורמים במושב סיפרו כי הפרשה שנשמרה בחדרי חדרים במשך שנים רבות התפוצצה בסופו של דבר בעקבות סכסוך פנימי בין תושבי היישוב הקטן. לדבריהם, ולצר הודיע לאחד התושבים כי אסור לו לגדל עזים בשל איסור הלכתי לגדל בהמה דקה. תגובתו של התושב הייתה: 'אם זה כך, עכשיו נטפל בבהמה הגסה'. לטענת אותם גורמים לאחר מכן הוא העביר את המידע על ההתעללות המינית למשטרה.

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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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