"I heard he was sick. He was on a ventilator," said Avi Moskowitz, a
lawyer for a Brooklyn school where Kolko worked with children, Yeshiva
Torah Temimah on Ocean Parkway.
In 2016, Torah Temimah agreed to pay an unprecedented $2.1 million
to 2 former students who charged that Kolko sexually assaulted them.
Moskowitz, who does not represent Kolko, is now defending Torah
Temimah against 3 other pending lawsuits by men who claim the rabbi
molested them as kids - and that the yeshiva knew of the abuse.
Kolko's death complicates the cases, Moskowitz said. "You have
grown men who claim that 40 or 50 years ago something happened, and now
the person alleged to have done it is not available."
But Niall MacGiollabhui, a Manhattan lawyer who represents
plaintiff David Framowitz, said, "It won't affect the case. At the end
of the day, there's little denying Kolko did what he did."
He added, "I'm sure some people think Kolko evaded a full measure
of justice, but I can tell you this: his epitaph has not been written,
and it's going to be written by his victims. How he will be remembered
is going to be determined by his victims."