'Utter hypocrite' Todros Grynhaus jailed for 13 years for sex assaults

Jewish Chronicle  A Jewish teacher and rabbi’s son who molested two teenage girls was “an utter hypocrite” who professed his Orthodox faith while “cynically condemning his victims to suffer”, a judge has said.

Todros Grynhaus, 50, was jailed for 13 years and two months on Friday.

He must pay one victim £45,000 and the other £35,000 in compensation as well as prosecution costs of £35,000.[..]

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Timothy Holroyde said: “This was a refined degree of cruelty on your part. You knew what you were doing and you knew what harm you would cause. You are an utter hypocrite. You professed your religion whilst cynically condemning your victims to suffer and giving false evidence seeking to cast blame on them.

“I have no doubt that you felt able to rely on a prevailing attitude of insularity which you hoped would prevent these allegations from ever coming to the attention of the police. You hoped that, at worse, you might have to pay a form of financial penalty as directed at the Beth Din.

“You believed that the combination of the girls’ sexual ignorance and the attitudes of some within your community would make it even harder for your victims to complain about you, and you came close to getting away with it.

“Even when the allegations were reported to the police, I am afraid the evidence I have heard shows that many in your community were taken in by your lying protestations of innocence. Others will have to examine their own consciences, and should reflect that, but for the courage of your two victims, your serious crimes would have gone unpunished.

“You are a highly intelligent man. You knew the consequences of your wicked actions. You saw the distress of the witnesses during the trial. You could have spared them that additional harm but you chose to brazen it out, twice giving evidence which you now admit was untrue. In my judgement there is a significant risk you will commit further sexual offences against a girl or girls.” [...]

n mitigation, Grynhaus’ barrister Jonathan Goldberg QC, said his client had not offended in the past decade and had “profited” from the psychological treatment he received.

“He had outstandingly good character as a neighbour, communal figure and as a teacher,” he said. “Of course, it can be said and rightly so that those people could not see his darker psychosexual side.

“Part of the punishment for this man is the shame and exposure and social ostracisation within the community. This case has erupted like a scandal in a monastery.” [...]