DA Allegedly Ignored Evidence Haredi Abuse Whistleblower Was Set Up By Powerful Haredim

New evidence has emerged that could deal a serious blow to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ case against Sam Kellner, a chasidic Borough Park resident who was charged with extortion and perjury after he helped to convict a fellow chasid, Baruch Lebovits, on sex abuse charges.

The evidence, obtained by The Jewish Week, is an audiotape on which a young man makes statements that undermine his previous claims that Kellner paid him to fabricate allegations of sex abuse. The young man also makes statements indicating that powerful members of his own community pressured him to accuse Kellner of perjury.

“This tape should make clear what should be clear to any reasonable person — that Sam Kellner is not guilty of these charges,” Kellner’s attorney, Michael Dowd, told The Jewish Week.

Kellner, whose ordeal was the subject of a Jewish Week story in January, played an indirect but key role in the 2010 sex abuse conviction of Lebovits, a cantor and prominent member of the Munkacs chasidic community.

After learning in 2008 that his son had been inappropriately touched by Lebovits, Kellner obtained rabbinic permission to report the incident to the police. When a detective told him that his son’s case was a misdemeanor and thus unlikely to be prosecuted unless additional victims came forward, Kellner obtained the names of two men — “Yoel” and “Zev” (not their real names) —who had previously disclosed their abuse at the hands of Lebovits to the Vaad HaTznius, or modesty committee. (The Vaad is an unofficial community watchdog group that deals with abuse allegations and alleged molesters, typically without involving law enforcement.)

Continue reading: The Jewish Week