A
Brooklyn yeshiva quietly became the first Orthodox Jewish school to
compensate students who claim they were molested by a teacher when it
agreed to pay more than $2 million to two boys and their families in
2014 — and now it may be the first Orthodox school to default on a
settlement with sex abuse victims.
Yeshiva-Mesivta
Torah Temimah, a prominent Orthodox school on Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway,
agreed to pay one former student $900,000 and the other $1.35 million
in a settlement reached in October 2014.
The
agreements were originally confidential, but they became public earlier
this month after lawyers for the boys filed papers in Brooklyn Supreme
Court that said the school failed to make payments due earlier this
year.
"This
is the first time the public has known about these payments," said
sex-abuse expert Marci Hamilton, a lawyer and a distinguished scholar at
the University of Pennsylvania. "This is the first settlement with a
yeshiva that has been publicly disclosed. I was surprised as anybody to
see this.
This is a sizeable settlement."......
This is a sizeable settlement."......
MUCH MORE:
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-yeshiva-pay-2-1m-child-sex-abuse-settlement-article-1.2847753
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.
MORE: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.
https://nypost.com/2016/10/23/brooklyn-yeshiva-settles-with-sexual-assault-victims-for-2-1m/