"Ex-teacher to face new sex abuse charge
A former teacher at the Maimonides School in Brookline was charged yesterday with indecent assault and battery on a child during the 1970s, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement. The grand jury indictment is the fifth charge for Stanley Z. Levitt, 64, of Philadelphia, a former Brighton resident. The victim in this case, and two others who came forward last fall, were 11-year-old students at the school while Levitt was employed there. Four charges were brought against Levitt last year. The third person came forward recently after reading media reports about that case. Levitt will be arraigned Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court."
FLASHBACK:
"Rabbi accused of sexually assaulting 2 students in the 1970s" by Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | September 25, 2009
A rabbi who taught at a Jewish day school in Brookline in the mid-1970s has been indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury on charges that he sexually assaulted two students three decades ago.
Rabbi Stanley Zusia Levitt, 63, of Philadelphia is expected to surrender to Suffolk County authorities Oct. 17, the date of his scheduled arraignment on four counts of indecent assault and battery on persons under 14. Prosecutors accuse Levitt of assaulting two preteen boys while he served as a teacher at the Maimonides School in Brookline. School officials could not be reached for comment.
One of his accusers who called the Globe yesterday said that Levitt visited him at Children’s Hospital in May 1975. The alleged victim, now 46, said he was Levitt’s student and about 11 years old when the incident occurred. He said he was recovering from a school accident in which he lost the tip of his finger. The accuser, who requested that his name be withheld, said Levitt visited him on the first night of his two-week hospitalization, and sexually assaulted him in his hospital room. Levitt faces a single count of indecent assault and battery for that incident.
“I want it to be known to protect other children,’’ the accuser said. The alleged victim said he has suffered from depression, stemming from the incident, for most of his adult life....
It was not clear yesterday whether Levitt was listed as a sex offender or continued to teach after leaving Maimonides or where he might have worked after leaving the state....
He was ALLOWED to LEAVE?
If Levitt remained in the state, he would probably not have faced prosecution, because the statute of limitations, which was recently extended from 15 to 27 years, would have expired.
Massachusetts is the SICKEST S***-HOLE in the NATION!!
The alleged incidents occurred more than 30 years ago. But the state has a provision in the statute that essentially stopped the clock when Levitt moved out of Massachusetts.
Every stain has its s*** lining.
In Massachusetts, the other three counts against Levitt stem from a three-day visit another boy made to Levitt’s Chiswick Road home in 1975. Prosecutors accuse Levitt of assaulting the boy on three occasions.
“This was a betrayal of trust in the most awful sense,’’ Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement yesterday. “The evidence suggests that Levitt abused a position of power, respect, and authority to engage in sexual behavior with boys who were too young to resist and too afraid to speak out.’’
Conley learned of the allegations against Levitt after the alleged victim in the Children’s Hospital case contacted authorities last September. An investigation followed that led to a grand jury hearing the case. Levitt was indicted Wednesday.
Scott Curtis, a lawyer in Boston representing Levitt, declined comment on the charges....
Levitt moved to the Philadelphia area in the 1980s.
Just like the Catholics would move their priests, 'eh?
Records from the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania show he was charged there with several similar offenses, including indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children, indecent exposure, and unlawful restraint. He was found not guilty of the exposure and restraint charges, but pleaded no contest, which carries the same weight as a conviction, to indecent assault and corrupting a minor and was sentenced to probation on both offenses.
And he is STILL WANDERING AROUND FREE, huh? NO GPS on him?
Related:
"Sex abuse accusations divide N.Y. Orthodox community; Children's stories set off firestorm" by Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press | November 24, 2008
NEW YORK - It started as a radio program discussion about a taboo subject: child molestation among members of the insular world of Orthodox Jews.
Since he broached the subject on his radio show this summer, says a state assemblyman, dozens of people have come forward with stories about children being molested in the Orthodox community, which strictly follows Jewish law. Dov Hikind said as many as four people a day have come to him during the last three months with painful accounts of secrets often kept for decades, accusing more than 60 individuals.
Hikind said he would eventually consider unmasking accused sexual predators but wants to focus now on setting up a broader framework for addressing the issue. His campaign has set off a firestorm in the Orthodox community, where people are reluctant to involve secular authorities. One rabbi said he received death threats for speaking out....
*************
Studies have found Orthodox Jews account for 10 percent of Jews nationwide, and a far greater share in parts of the New York metro area. Some 37 percent of the more than 516,000 Jews in Brooklyn are Orthodox, according to the UJA-Federation of New York, a Jewish social-service group.
Critics have said sex abuse allegations are sometimes handled quietly in Orthodox rabbinical courts, rather than being reported to authorities. However, some sexual abuse cases involving Orthodox Jewish schools have spilled into the secular legal system in Brooklyn.
In one case, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko was charged with sexually abusing boys at an Orthodox school. He admitted no sexual wrongdoing, but pleaded guilty in April to a misdemeanor child endangerment charge. Kolko was sentenced to three years of probation and has been dismissed from the school, said his lawyer, Jeffrey Schwartz. The school's lawyer didn't return a telephone call seeking comment.
Six former students are suing the school, saying it covered up Kolko's misdeeds.--more--"
"NYC to fight abuse among Orthodox Jews" by Associated Press | April 2, 2009
NEW YORK - A team of prosecutors, counselors, and religious leaders announced a program yesterday to combat sexual abuse among members of the insular world of Brooklyn's ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The centerpiece of the outreach program, announced yesterday by District Attorney Charles Hynes and leaders from community-based organizations that serve Jewish communities, is a hot line that abuse victims can call and speak to a "culturally sensitive" social worker.
The establishment of the team, which will focus on child sex abuse, comes partly in response to a discussion on State Assemblyman Dov Hikind's radio show last summer. The show prompted dozens of listeners to come forward with stories of children being molested. Hikind has said that as many as four people a day over a three-month period last year approached him with accounts of secrets often kept for decades.
Notice how the AmeriKan jewspapers are ALWAYS WAILING AWAY on the CATHOLICS!!
The program, called Kol Tzedek, which means voice of justice in Hebrew, will allow callers to remain anonymous until they feel they're ready to identify themselves and meet with a social worker and prosecutors who specialize in sex crimes. The DA's office is prosecuting 16 suspected felony cases of sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn and three misdemeanor cases.
--more--"
