NCJ Number
224801
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 17 Issue: 3/4 Dated: November 2008 Pages: 270-289
Date Published
November 2008
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examined an individual case of reported child sexual abuse (CSA) where the alleged perpetrator was an Orthodox rabbi from a strict adherence community.
Abstract
This study details a single case of alleged rabbinical sexual abuse and how Orthodox Jewish beliefs influenced the response to those allegations by exploring the way a rabbinic court intervened in a Brooklyn case involving serious charges of child abuse embodied in a 96-count complaint. After the members of the rabbinic court conducted their own trial and pressured secular authorities to accept their verdict of “not guilty,” the criminal complaint was abruptly withdrawn while the case was still being presented to a grand jury. The details of what happened in this case offer significant insights into both the beth din legal process as administered by the Orthodox rabbinate and the mechanics by which its attitudes toward child sexual abuse (CSA), non-Jews, secular adjudication, and concern over public scandal can cloud the workings of the criminal justice system. This case study was chosen for three reasons: the case involved important figures and political groups, this case brought together rabbis from an unusually broad array of Orthodox communities to serve as arbiters, and the details and outcome of the case continue to resonate to the collective memory of the more progressive mental health professionals within the Orthodox Jewish community, whether or not these professionals were personally connected with it. Notes and references