Sunday, August 20, 2023

The problem of a convicted sex offender using threats of lawsuits to prevent publicizing his activities

Yesterday we witnessed a convicted sex offender threatening me with a lawsuit if I didn't take down all mention about him. What he wanted taken down consisted mainly of newspaper accounts of his conviction as well as the fact that he is now living in Israel with his family. He mentioned that I was violating the privacy of his children by stating where he lives and that they exist. Information which is vital for the protection of neighborhood children and classmates who might end up going to his home. Strangely this same sex offender had given me permission to post material -such his psychological tests - last year. He is a careful reader of this blog and the material was posted lasted year - and yet he did not ask that the material be removed then.

Suddenly after 9 months of not even a new mention of his name on this blog, his lawyer demanded that I take down the posts mentioning him by the end of the day or else face the legal consequences. As you know I did in fact take down the posts.

This morning I received additional emails from the sex offender saying that he wants me to meet together with his lawyer next week to close the matter.

[ As a point of knowledge, Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz was also sued by the same sex offender in Israel and ended up having to pay a fine. Apparently that case has not resolved yet.]

This person has not threatened legal action against any of the other blogs who have discussed his case nor has he sued the newspapers or social agencies or the New York Police department - all of whom have reported his conviction as a sex offender, imprisonment and current listing on the sex offenders list. As far as I know it is just Rabbi Horowitz and myself who have incurred the wrath of this individual

So what is the significance of all of this?

A person who is a sex offender - especially one who is on the public list of offenders in America - is not someone that you should feel comfortable  being around children without supervision. The urge to molest children doesn't simply go away with time or punishment. As a basic principle of Torah of "Not standing idly by the blood of your fellow man" there is a need to make people aware of that potential danger.  In general in America it is accepted that public information which is true does not constitute slander. Thus publicizing newspaper articles or documentation relevant to this concern are totally legal and not susceptible to lawsuits. Even if the information is felt to be false by the person - as long as you are simply reporting what is in the newspapers or from social agencies - you are protected. Though the newspapers and social agencies that are the source of the information can be sued.

Intimidating others from publicizing information that is in the public domain is clearly harmful for the public welfare. This is not only for bloggers but it also works to prevent victims reporting their abusers for fear of being sued for slander - aside from being sexual abused. It is very important for the protection of society that this information be distributed in the public domain..

Bottom line - reporting this information is a Torah obligation. If the convicted sex abuser is convinced of his innocence then he should be directing his attention to the source of the information - the courts, newspapers and social agencies. Those who report this information should not be targeted and intimidated. Using lawsuits as a weapon of intimidation is harmful for society as well as being a violation of the Torah prohibition of mesira.

Until I get further clarification of the legal issues - I am not publishing the name of this sex offender nor will I allow it to be mentioned in comments. I am well aware that he is reading this post as well as the fact that he feels rejected, angry  and lonely as a result of his conviction and that he strongly wants to be accepted by others and not be viewed as a pariah. 

However striking out at the messenger does not aid his cause nor the welfare of his children. Bizarrely he is generating more negative publicity for himself and his family by threatening me - especially since his name has not been mentioned for 9 months here. He would have accomplished much more by simply making a quiet private request.

23 comments:

  1. just received this from Rav Yakov Horowitz

    Reb Daniel. Thanks for your post and for all you do to keep our kids safe.

    You correctly note that from his point it is incredibly self-destructive for him to bring more publicity to himself.

    However, just as it makes no sense for a healthy person to do that; it is perfectly congruent for an abuser to do it.

    Because bullies bully and abusers abuse

    I explain it all here

    Be well and keep fighting the good fight.

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  2. Did he contact you directly or did only his lawyer communicate with you this time and last time?

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  3. Is R. Horowitz still be sued by this same fellow?

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  4. R. Horowitz, why did you lose the libel lawsuit the fellow filed against him? Was anything you published about him in violation of Israeli law? How are you, as an American living in the U.S., even subject to Israeli law?

    (RDE: I see you mentioned R. Horowitz reads this blog, so I'm addressing it to him.)

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  5. He also contacted me directly

    He is threating criminal charges. I was advised that in Israel that is better to take things down and then clarify the matter with a lawyer.

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  6. This is not only for bloggers but it also works to prevent victims reporting their abusers for fear of being sued for slander


    You can't be sued for slander for reporting abuse to the police.

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  7. This reminds me of the dentist who threatened to sue a yelp reviewer for writing a negative comment about her experience at that particular dentists.
    Needless to say, the dentist single handly ruined his reputation.....

    And similarly to Weingaten who decided to be his own lawyer at trial.... These people just don't get, do they??

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  8. I detect a note of hostility in your comments - why?

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  9. I was sued by YOUNG ISRAEL and they had the chutzpah to use a FORGERY to do so. When I did not back down they went to the man I considered at that time as my Rav to get it out of court because they knew that if the judge saw the PERJURED document they would have been in a lot more trouble. My former rabbi nudgered my attorney endlessly while pretending to be oh so concerned for me when in reality he was out to help YOUNG ISRAEL.

    Rabbi Eidensohn, don't be intimidated and don't compromise. Your opponent is taking the same assertive stance as the crooks at YOUNG ISRAEL did with me.
    In the end, others have paid the price they think they escaped.

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  10. None intended, sorry. I was just reciting some relevent background facts that I thought may be relevant to the current discussion.

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  11. OK I understand. The real world dealing with people who don't think in a linear fashion is not simple

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  12. You lose libel suits when you libel people. It's kind of simple.
    Yanky Horowitz does not do proper research before he posts. He's slandered many people in service of his "crusade to protect the children".
    I don't know who this sex offender is, and obviously I don't want him hurting anyone else, but I'm super-happy that Horowitz got his comeuppance.
    Maybe it'll teach him to be responsible.

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  13. thanks for you chizuk. Problem is that the Israeli court system and laws are not as clear and unambigious as those in America.

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  14. I gather you don't know the facts but you are extremely biased against Rabbi Horowitz

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  15. Israel's libel laws are more like Great Britain's than America. In Britain the burden of proof is on the the defendent whereas in America it is on the plaintiff.

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  16. You're welcome. I just mailed that postcard to Reb Sholom Rubashkin 2 weeks ago though I have noted all along the odd coincidences. ( http://cleanupyoungisrael.blogspot.com/2010/04/everyone-rightfully-cares-about-shalom.html )
    Even though I have not been effective with my blog, I think the main reason Young Israel hasn't done anything about it is because of the strong anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) law in Nevada.
    We'll see what they do after this gets mailed

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  17. Correct. I don't like Horowitz, but it's for good reason and personal experience with his dishonesty.
    I don't know the facts of this sex offender case, nor do I know his identity, but I do know that if you are reporting facts, you can't lose a libel case.

    So it leaves me wondering why everyone is feeling so threatened by this guy's threats of a lawsuit.

    If all you ever reported were the facts, there'd be nothing to worry about.

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  18. I would rephrase it a little bit differently, "If all you ever reported were the facts eventually the case will be thrown out."

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  19. That's why American states also have what they call anti-SLAAP laws. Plaintiffs will file lawsuits for the purpose of intimidating and harassing people like YOUNG ISRAEL did to me in order to try to shut us up. Rabbi Ephraim Sturm, zt'l, told me that the crooks who now run National Council of Young Israel would brazen it out to the courtroom steps but that they would never dare let it reach the courtroom. That's why they dragged R. Aryeh Sokoloff down into the muck with them, to have him badger my lawyer to meet for a "settlement". I didn't want to accept what they came up with but my father told me to listen to the lawyer. He said take the settlement then take them to Bais Din. Which I did.

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  20. Which is precisely what happened in the case Young Israel filed against me. I did not mention before that Young Israel's lawyer neglected to inform the court of the "settlement" but then failed to show up in court whereas my lawyer did show and told the court the case was going to be handled in Rabbinical Court.

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  21. Defending yourself from a spurious lawsuit is incredibly expensive.

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  22. So true! He believes every bubbe maase he hears.

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