Rabbi,
Rabbi Eisenman emailed me giving his expressed permission he wants his email re Colmer on your blog and internet given danger presents
Thank you
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From: R. Y. Eisenman <rabbi@ahavasisrael.org>
Date: Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 10:02 PM
Subject: Important
Important
Please be aware that Stefan Colmer, whom I spoke publicly about a few years ago and who was subsequently arrested, convicted and imprisoned for sexually abusing minors, has moved back to his home on 38 John Street.
Congregation Ahavas Israel, together with all the Shuls in the Passaic-Clifton area has prohibited him from entering our premises; he is also not allowed in any of the Yeshivas.
Mr. Colmer's picture and the details of his criminal record can be found here:
JFS will be hosting a forum within the next few days that will address concerns and appropriate steps on how to keep one's children safe. The details will be communicated to you shortly.
Do you agree with this? Repugnant as such a person is, is it permitted to ban him from every shul in town, after he has served his time and been released? And what is the end game for the Passaic Rabbi's and community at large? Is the goal to get him to move on to another, possibly unsuspecting, city, there to potentially endanger other kids, which is all good as long is it isnt in our town?
ReplyDeleteJust questions that maybe need to be expressed...
“Congregation Ahavas Israel, together with all the Shuls in the Passaic-Clifton area has prohibited him from entering our premises; he is also not allowed in any of the Yeshivas…JFS will be hosting a forum within the next few days that will address concerns and appropriate steps on how to keep one's children safe. The details will be communicated to you shortly.”
ReplyDeleteUpdate on Mendel Epstein Pacer 6/14/2016:
“5. Undersigned counsel are aware of this Court’s Order dated October 15, 2012, discouraging requests for extensions of time, and regret the unavoidable necessity of seeking even a modest extension of time in these cases.…WHEREFORE, the appellants request an extension of 25 days, to and including July 15, 2016, for filing their opening briefs and the joint appendix.”
What are the lessons for the public, to keep one’s children safe re Stephan Colmer? Can we talk of lessons re Mendel Epstein et al, while the appeal is going on?
What in the world does one have to do with the other? [Though I congratulate you on a comment without mention of your ex-wife.]
ReplyDeleteActually I did. See, Susan worked closely with Mendel Epstein for 30 years. I’m anxious to see Mendel Epstein appeal papers, to see if he’ll mention Susan, even only by hint. Mendel Epstein et al never could have made so much money without Susan’s help. What lesson for the public? Well, depends how the appeal rules doesn’t it? They may see Mendel Epstein as a vigilante doing social good. This is how Mendel Epstein spoke on his sentencing day. His only conviction was for the FBI sting, not for any knocking teeth etc.
ReplyDeleteIn general, it seems to me that if someone has been convicted of molestation (and admits he sinned), that before he is welcomed into the community he should:
ReplyDelete(1) Seek out all the people he harmed and beg their forgiveness.
(2) He should offer some sort of compensation to those he harmed, such as financial compensation.
(3) He should then approach the leaders of the community to work out a plan of how he may participate in communal activities. For example, he should commit to always being accompanied by two escorts who stay beside him at all times while he is in the vicinity of a Shul and while in the Shul.
Banning him has zero to do with his being "repugnant," which is entirely beside the point. The actual purpose of banning him from shuls is to keep from associating with and targeting children.
ReplyDeletelol. good one
ReplyDeleteI know Mr. Colmer from when he lived near me for awhile in Israel. At that time, I recall that he was very aware that he had a problem and would be viewed as a risk to children. He had already approached the leaders of the community, informed them where he was staying, divulged his past crimes, and suggested that, if they required it, he would be willing to be under 24 hour surveillance which he himself would foot the bill for. He also undertook never to go anywhere near any children, not even to say, "Good Shabbos". He had begun therapy and that was going well. But they told him he had to leave the community anyway. I can understand that.
ReplyDeleteBut now he's done his time in prison. As long as he doesn't go near children, and doesn't hide his past, why should he be banned from shul or other public gatherings? Are we saying he can never again be part of minyan? As long as he's not a danger, is he any worse than people who have perpetrated other crimes?