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Brooklyn DA Exposes Orthodox Sex-Offender Cases

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Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson took office in January.
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson took office in January.
After years of many messy cases staying neatly tucked away out of the public spot light during Charles Hynes’ stint as Brooklyn District Attorney, his predecessor now DA Kenneth Thompson has flung it all on stage.

This singling out of the bad seeds of only the Orthodox Jewish community seems to contradict promises made to Assemblyman Dov Hikind, whom had so graciously endorsed Thomson during his candidacy, under the impression that the new DA would treat everyone equal.

At the request of the New York Post, Thompson’s staff released the names of 20 defendants in cases in which suspects and/or victims are Orthodox Jews. While Hynes was in office, these names and cases were kept private as a courtesy to the Orthodox Jewish community, and now that he is gone it’s open season.

Among the names released was a math professor at Brooklyn College, now age 68, David Seff. On a late afternoon in August 2011, Seff asked a female student to meet him in a classroom to assist with a “listening experiment.” Authorities alleged that once alone with the woman, Seff pounced on her, grabbing her breasts and crotch. Last September he pled guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was ordered to keep his distance from the young woman for a year.

This story stayed out of the headlines at the time thanks to then-Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes. DA Kenneth Thompson says that the secrecy is over.

Leroy Frazer, Thompson’s chief-of-staff claimed, “We will treat all defendants and victims equally. We don’t have a policy for this particular group.”

Other suspects now in the public eye that were previously kept private include:

In 2010, Israel Moshe, age 47, was accused of raping a 22-year-old woman with cerebral palsy who answered a Craigslist ad. Currently he’s a fugitive with a warrant for arrest.

In 2011, Alexander Rogalsky, age 30, a camp counselor accused in 2011 of first-degree sodomy with a 13-year-old boy in 2003. Under a plea deal with Thompson in February, he copped to second-degree sodomy and got 10 years’ probation.

David Zimmer, age 43, a locksmith convicted of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl in 1999 and arrested again in 2012 for taking photos of a 9-year-old girl in Borough Park. In June he pled guilty to failure to register and faces sentencing September 13th.

In 2012, Naftolis Schwartz, age 57, a Hebrew teacher accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old student. In February he pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and received no jail time.

Yosef Ederi, age 42, a repeat pedophile accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy at their synagogue in 2011. In July 2013, he was set free after pleading guilty to child endangerment, wand then struck again. In May, he was convicted of molesting an 8-year-old boy and sentenced to a year in Rikers Island. He is already backing out on the streets.

In 2009, after receiving much criticism for not cracking down on the sex crimes in the Orthodox Jewish community, Hynes had launched an initiative called Kol Tzedek, Hebrew for “voice of justice,” to encourage victims to come forward.

Frazer said that Kol Tzedek “no longer exists.” Hynes’ Jewish-community liaison, Henna White, was replaced with an ally of Democratic state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Wolf Sender. An Orthodox hot line remains that Hynes set up, but calls are not frequent.

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