 |
| Kolko and His Lawyer In Court |
Brooklyn yeshiva settles with sexual assault accusers for $2.1M
A prominent Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn agreed to pay
an unprecedented $2.1 million to two former students who charged their
teacher — accused serial molester Rabbi Joel Kolko — of sexually
assaulting them, The Post has learned.
Kolko’s case marks the first time a New York yeshiva has paid off victims of sex abuse, experts said.
“This is unheard of. I am not aware of any other settlements,” said Rabbi Yosef Blau, a spiritual adviser at Yeshiva University in Manhattan and longtime victims advocate.
Secret settlements between Yeshiva Torah Temimah on Ocean Parkway and two boys — 6 years old when molested — were filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court a week ago when the yeshiva failed to make payments.
Lawyers for the two plaintiffs filed a judgment for $1 million — the total the yeshiva still owes both boys for the trauma they suffered.
Both lawsuits alleged the yeshiva and its leader, Rabbi Lipa Margulies, knew for decades that Kolko was molesting students, but chose to keep him on as an elementary teacher and “give him unfettered access to young children.”
Kolko allegedly had boys sit on his lap and fondled their genitals.
For 25 years, the yeshiva received “multiple credible allegations of pedophilia” against Kolko. It covered them up and even threatened families who dared to complain, the suits charged.
Kolko, now 70, got a controversial deal from then-Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes in May 2012: He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and did not have to go to jail or register as a sex offender.
In the newly revealed settlements, Torah Temimah in November 2014 paid one ex-student $900,000 and the other $1.35 million. The school admitted no wrongdoing.
The settlements could deter the protection of sex predators, Blau said: “If word gets out, other schools will think twice if they hear about abuse.”
Sex-abuse expert Marci Hamilton said cases are rare in New York because victims must sue predators before age 23 and institutions by age 21. A pending bill in the state Legislature would extend the statute of limitations.
“Even as teenagers, it’s impossible to process what’s happened to them by someone they trusted,” Hamilton said. “Asking them to come forward is much more than most of them can handle.”
Four other ex-students have previously sued Torah Temimah as adults, charging Kolko molested them at ages 11 to 13, but the courts tossed their cases as filed too late.
Yeshiva lawyer Avraham Moscowitz did not return several calls seeking comment.
Additional reporting by Kathianne Boniello
http://nypost.com/2016/10/23/brooklyn-yeshiva-settles-with-sexual-assault-victims-for-2-1m/?utm_source=2016-10-23-NY+Post-%242M+Settlement+Default&utm_campaign=2016-10-23-NY+Post+YTT+%242M+Settlement+Default&utm_medium=emailKolko’s case marks the first time a New York yeshiva has paid off victims of sex abuse, experts said.
“This is unheard of. I am not aware of any other settlements,” said Rabbi Yosef Blau, a spiritual adviser at Yeshiva University in Manhattan and longtime victims advocate.
Secret settlements between Yeshiva Torah Temimah on Ocean Parkway and two boys — 6 years old when molested — were filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court a week ago when the yeshiva failed to make payments.
Lawyers for the two plaintiffs filed a judgment for $1 million — the total the yeshiva still owes both boys for the trauma they suffered.
Both lawsuits alleged the yeshiva and its leader, Rabbi Lipa Margulies, knew for decades that Kolko was molesting students, but chose to keep him on as an elementary teacher and “give him unfettered access to young children.”
Kolko allegedly had boys sit on his lap and fondled their genitals.
For 25 years, the yeshiva received “multiple credible allegations of pedophilia” against Kolko. It covered them up and even threatened families who dared to complain, the suits charged.
Kolko, now 70, got a controversial deal from then-Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes in May 2012: He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and did not have to go to jail or register as a sex offender.
In the newly revealed settlements, Torah Temimah in November 2014 paid one ex-student $900,000 and the other $1.35 million. The school admitted no wrongdoing.
The settlements could deter the protection of sex predators, Blau said: “If word gets out, other schools will think twice if they hear about abuse.”
Sex-abuse expert Marci Hamilton said cases are rare in New York because victims must sue predators before age 23 and institutions by age 21. A pending bill in the state Legislature would extend the statute of limitations.
“Even as teenagers, it’s impossible to process what’s happened to them by someone they trusted,” Hamilton said. “Asking them to come forward is much more than most of them can handle.”
Four other ex-students have previously sued Torah Temimah as adults, charging Kolko molested them at ages 11 to 13, but the courts tossed their cases as filed too late.
Yeshiva lawyer Avraham Moscowitz did not return several calls seeking comment.
Additional reporting by Kathianne Boniello
 |
| LIPA MARGULIES - THE WORST OF THE JEWS |
DOES IT HURT LIPA MARGULIES?
'Does it hurt?"
The boy and his teacher were in the front seat of the teacher’s blue Plymouth sedan. The boy was 12 years old, pale and shy, and new to Brooklyn—plucked out of another life in Toronto after his mother remarried. He’d lost his father when he was 7, and the promise of a fresh start had appealed to him—a new family, a new world to explore. But a few months had passed, and the boy was lonely. His new stepsisters ignored him; he had trouble making friends at his new school. So when a popular teacher who lived nearby took an interest in him, it seemed like welcome news....
READ IT ALL:
http://nymag.com/news/features/17010/
 |
| YISROEL BELSKY'S REAL LEGACY - TOO BAD HE'S NOT AROUND TO SEE THE DAMAGE HE'S RESPONSIBLE FOR! |