Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Evidence Mondrowitz may have counseled teen in 2006


Jewish Week

Posted Monday, Jan. 18, 9:15 PM) With alleged Brooklyn child molester Avrohom Mondrowitz under house arrest  until Jan. 24 following last week's decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to deny his extradition, new evidence has emerged that appears to indicate that Mondrowitz was treating adolescent boys in Israel as recently as 2006.

According to a document provided to The Jewish Week by New Jersey attorney Michael Lesher, and apparently obtained from Mondrowitz's computer, Mondrowitz appears to have conducted an interview with and "assessment" of a 15-year-old  boy who had been engaging in "improper behaviours [sic] with his peers."

15 comments :

  1. I find it amazing that Mondorowitz continues to find ways to operate. If the allegations are true that he operates with the protection of Ger, Ger needs to be challenged for enabling this pedophile.

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  2. From a strictly Israeli legal viewpoint, even if this allegation has a basis, Mondrowitz was never convicted of any crime (in Israel or America). Thus there are no legal impediments for him to counsel anyone in the State of Israel.

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  3. Hella Wiston of the Jewish Week's "[sic]" makes it sound like Mondrowitz's English was wrong. However, "improper behaviours" is correct, assuming the British spelling is intentional.

    A psychological report would use the plural "behaviors" when describing different kinds of activities. It's a matter of the writer not knowing the jargon.

    That said, the thing on the wall in my basement does read "Columbia University". Mondrowitz might have simply typoed, have a reading disorder that impacts his spelling, or (most likely possibility if we continue pretending he's not simply lying) is referring to a mail-order diploma from a college in north-western South America.

    -micha

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  4. The document indicates that the assessment was made at the request of the boy's father and a Mr. Benyamin Rosenstein, whom, the documents make clear, is the father of Jerusalem City Councilman Shlomo Rosenstein, a member of the United Torah Judaism party.

    Would he send his own son or his grandson to Mondrowitz?

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  5. Why would any sane person send their kid to Monderowitz?

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  6. Mondrowitz was not convicted of anything anywhere. Not in Beis Din, not in Israeli secular courts, and not in American secular courts.

    What halachic basis, if any, is there to condemn him?

    I submit there is none.

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  7. Why would any sane person send their kid to Monderowitz?

    You can also ask why parents continued to send their children to YTT for some forty years after the allegations against Kolko were well known. You can also ask why there is a "waiting list" at UTA Satmar to get into Avrohom Reichman's class. When it comes to child molestation, too many Orthodox Jews think it's no big deal. Is it any wonder that the leaders act the way they do when it comes to this plague? Is it any wonder that there is constant denial? The pedophiles are not the insane ones; it is their defenders and enablers.

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  8. My first thought on seeing the comment, ask why there is a "waiting list" at UTA Satmar to get into Avrohom Reichman's class was to think "what a Christian thing for those Satmars to do."

    My second was to remember Meir Soloveichik's essay, The Virtue of Hate, in which he asserts "while no human being is denied the chance to become worthy of God's love, not every human being engages in actions so as to be worthy of that love."
    Here is a man who
    •on being charged with raping children fled
    •is reliably reported to keep child porn on his computer
    •despite assurances that he would be kept away from kids has apparently been "counseling" young boys again.

    Does "no halachic basis to condemn him" mean that there is no halachic basis to keep him away from children? Perhaps the question ought to be: is there a halachic basis to permit such a person to have access to children?

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  9. "Richard",

    FYI, there were two batei dinim that found him guilty in the 1980's, the Badatz of Yerushalyim and the Bais Yosef Bais Din in Brooklyn. The Noveminsker Rav and Rabbi Svei, zt"l were both signators.

    See below link which have the actual texts in Hebrew and English and let us know if you have any further questions or issues:

    http://survivorsforjustice.org/

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  10. "steve",

    No, that does suffice. Thank you for the link.

    The action of the Beis Din's whose letters you linked to also clearly demonstrates that the Rabbinic authorities are on top of this issue, and we are far better served both practically and obviously halachicly by utilizing a recognized Beis Din for these issues.

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  11. I disagree -- it actually proves the reverse.

    The man was found guilty by a beis din, and still there was a father and city councilman who apparently did not know, and were willing to use his services. Clearly beis din isn't given the teeth to be effective in this kind of case.

    Perhaps it proves that a beis din should be convened to decide whether to involve the civil authorities -- who are empowered more tools to keep our children safe.

    -micha

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  12. Thnk lawsuit. Think class action lawsuits.

    The US justice system allows for terrorits abnd terrorist organizatitions to be prosecuted here and if found guilty, to have their assets confiscated as to be distributed as dmamages to the plaintiffs.

    If it can be shown that Ger knew Mondrowitz was a threat (easy to do) the they can be sued for not removing him or protecting him.

    Lots of Ger assets in the US.

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  13. Ger can only be sued if the Markey Bill is passed. The cases against Mondrowitz (perhaps over 100 of them) are all past the statute of limitations.

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  14. Growing Up,

    The problem is that only victims can file a class action suit. Since most of the victims are members of the Ger community, that's not likely to happen.

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  15. http://www.forward.com/articles/123907/

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