Lebovitz the Convicted Molester Walks, Eventhough the Critical Witness Wasn't Bribed!!

UPDATE April 20, 2011

Lebovitz with his brother The Nikolsburger Rebbi smiling

Lebovitz  is Home

Lebovitz "Kamarnar Rebbi" at Home for Pesach

For those who are new to this case, here read the history:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/rabbi_baruch_lebovits_convicted_E17UyO1U2HZjcS0bmnCNRK

But things got complicated because Samuel Kellner, frustrated that victims were not coming forward to testify against Lebovits, (a man even the roaches on the streets of Boro Park knew was molesting hundreds of children) went ahead and bribed two witnesses to testify against this Menuval. But if you were at trial you would have known that the jury did not convict Lebovits on the basis of these two witnesses, they convicted him on the testimony of a third witness that wasn't bribed. Hopefully the Appellate Court will uphold the conviction :

Read from the Daily News Report:

Prosecutors stood by a Brooklyn rabbi's child-molestation conviction Wednesday, even as they charged a Hasidic man with shaking down his family and bribing someone to make false accusations.

Baruch Lebovits, 60, received a sentence of 10 2/3 to 32 years in prison a year ago, based on the testimony of a 22-year-old man who said the rabbi sexually abused when he was 16.

The trial and stiff penalty sent shockwaves through Borough Park's tight-knit Jewish community.

But Samuel Kellner, 49, who brought the victim to prosecutors' attention, was charged with paying another man $10,000 to accuse Lebovits of abuse.

Kellner was also charged with trying to blackmail Lebovits' family out of $400,000 to make the cases disappear.

Now read an interview: A Private Investigator and Failed Messiah
Joe Levine Interview:   Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

I spoke with Joe Levine of TOT Investigations this morning about the Baruch Lebovits case.


Last year, Lebovits was convicted of child sexual abuse and sentenced to 10 2/3 to 32 years in prison.


Tuesday, the Brooklyn DA Joe Hynes ordered the arrest of Rabbi Samuel Kellner for allegedly bribing a witness to testify against Lebovits and for trying to extort $400,000 from Lebovits’ family.


Hynes pointed out that the bribed witness did not testify against Lebovits at trial, and Hynes’ office strongly opposed releasing Lebovits on bail pending appeal. Even so, yesterday a judge granted Lebovits $250,000 bail.


Levine worked on the Lebovits case for Lebovits’ family, documenting Kellner’s extortion and bribery. He told me that contrary to other media media reports, as of 10 am EST this morning, Lebovits was still in jail, awaiting the details of his release and electronic monitoring, which Lebovits must pay for, to be completed.


“Lebovits is not a tzaddik,” Levine said. "I think he is a child molester. Whether he deserves 5 years [in prison] or 32 years [in prison] is a different story…People think I’m on his side, but I’m not…I want people to know I’m against child abuse and I fight child abuse and crime.” But that includes fighting extortion and witness tampering, which are also crimes.


"I want people to know that if there is abuse, they should call the police–not rabbis, not [the Brooklyn DA's Jewish liaison] Henna White," Levine said.

Levine noted that he’s seen a large uptick in families of abuse victims seeking his help, which he interprets as a greater willingness in the haredi community to acknowledge and fight sexual abuse and domestic violence.


“It’s changing bit by bit,” Levine said. “but it will take time.”

Meanwhile Rabbi Samuel Kellner gets arrested for allegedly bribing those two witnesses

See an analysis from Frum Follies

Weberman a Serial Molester?

Weber with unidentified lady that intimidated supporters of victim, with camera (Photo Credit: Failedmessiah

History of the Weberman Case:

 A father was convinced his 16-year-old daughter was having a relationship with a 17-year-old boy, so the father set up a hidden camera in the house. What he recorded shocked him — what he saw the daughter doing to please the young man.
 The father had already taken the daughter to seek counseling with Rabbi Nechemya Weberman in years past. Just as he had taken her older sister. It is a common practice in the community for a respected person to be a counselor, or serve as a therapist. Weberman is affiliated, police said, with Brooklyn’s United Talmudic Community, a yeshiva.
Now, the father went to the Brooklyn DA’s office with the tape, and Rabbi Weberman. The Brooklyn DA’s office has set up special channels of communication to bridge cultural gaps that might be beneficial to both sides. However, the more that investigators talked to the parties involved — especially when they spoke with them separately — the more that there were questions which indicated something was not right. Around Feb. 16, the girl told a counselor at school that the rabbi has been raping her for years. The counselor reported it, and when the investigators talked to her again, she claimed there were at least 16 incidents at 263 Classon Avenue, in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, which serves as Weberman’s home and office. It is where the counseling sessions took place. The girl told investigators it began in 2007, when she was 12; and continued through 2010.
Detectives assembled sufficient preliminary evidence to start a case; and arrested Weberman. He was brought to Brooklyn Criminal Court that night, and told he was being charged with rape, endangering the welfare of a child, sexual abuse, sexual misconduct against a child, and engaging in a criminal sexual act.
The Orthodox Jewish community that has gone to Weberman as a therapist and counselor, especially for young people, are in shock. Reeling. The debate has even gone to blogs on the Internet. Weberman is not a licensed therapist, he is one of those "Fake Chassidic Therapists."  NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly added one thing more: “The rabbi … is NOT a rabbi! He’s a 52-year-old male arrested for molestation of a young woman who is still a minor.

March 25, 2011.....Brooklyn Criminal Court : Intimidation!

Frumfollies reports :

"Weberman was accompanied by four relatives including a woman who took pictures of Hasidim attending today’s court session. Pictures or names were then circulated instantly into online or listserve discussion groups of hasidim.

Two Hasidim attending in support of the alleged victim got messages from their family members telling them that word was circulating about them and they should get out of the courtroom. Both refused to take the advice. As one of them said to me, “I have nothing to be ashamed of. I am there to protect Jewish girls. The shanda(disgrace) is that so many people are afraid to speak up.”

Serial Molester?

Failedmessiah speculates that Weberman must be a serial molester. He reports that Joe DiAngelo, (whose name was Yoilie Deutsch) says that as a child he was a victim of sexual abuse by Weberman. In Court this morning, DiAngelo walked up to Weberman as Weberman was about to enter the courtroom and said to him, "Karma is a bitch." Weberman recognized him and allegedly became frightened and started saying tehillim, psalms."