Asbury Park Press In a tight-knit community of people accustomed to handling problems among themselves, one young boy bucked the trend.
He
accused a Yeshiva teacher and camp counselor of molesting him, and when
a religious council of Orthodox Jews failed to take action against the
man, the boy and his family went to athe Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office
for help.
Because
they skirted religious protocols, the boy and his family were
ostracized by their community. Some in the community even embarked on a
campaign to get the boy and his father to drop the criminal charges.
And,
a flier was circulated in Lakewood saying the boy’s father made a
“mockery” of the Torah and committed a “terrible deed” by going to the
secular authorities.
But
the family stood its ground. Now, six years after the alleged abuse
occurred, the man accused of molesting the boy is set to go on trial in a
case that likely is to be closely watched by Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish
community.
Jury
selection began Wednesday for the trial of Yosef Kolko, who was working
as a camp counselor at Yachad, a summer camp at the Yeshiva Bais Hatorah
School on Swarthmore Avenue in Lakewood when he met the victim. Kolko
also was a teacher at Yeshiva Orchos Chaim in Lakewood.
Kolko,
39, of Geffen Drive in Lakewood is accused of sexually abusing the boy
between September 2007 and February 2009, when the victim was 11 and 12
years old. Kolko is charged with aggravated sexual assault, attempted
aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and child endangerment.[...]
