The trial of a 65-year-old Teaneck rabbi accused of
molesting two teen boys is set to begin in January after the alleged abuser was
reportedly hospitalized earlier this month, according to the county
prosecutor’s office.
Rabbi Uzi Rivlin is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 13,
2014, a Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman said. Rivlin suffered a
stroke and was in a medically-induced coma at Holy Name Medical Center, his
attorney said at a hearing last month, NorthJersey.com reported.
A doctor at
the hospital reportedly confirmed Rivlin was unable to walk and talk, forcing
the trial to be delayed.
The rabbi was arrested in 2011 and accused of sexually
abusing two Israeli boys who were staying with him as part of scholarship
program he helped create, prosecutors said. He faces charges of aggravated
sexual contact, criminal sexual contact and child endangerment.
Prosecutors alleged the two boys stayed with Rivlin in 2009
and 2010 and made abuse allegations to police in Israel, who notified the FBI.
A joint investigation by Teaneck police and the prosecutor’s special victims
unit led to the arrest.
Defense attorney Howard Simmons has maintained his client’s
innocence and said one the alleged victim made false abuse claims in the past
against his own father. Rivlin pleaded not guilty in August 2011.
Simmons could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday
night.
The rabbi has been free on bail, according to county jail
records.
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