"This Is a Frame-up," Says Father of Brooklyn Rabbi Arrested for Allegedly Sexually Abusing at Least Three Former Students of His at a Yeshiva
By Rocco Parascandola
A depraved Brooklyn rabbi, busted for sexually abusing three teenage boys, shamelessly blamed his underage victims for trying to seduce him, police sources said Thursday. Yoel Malik, 33, a highly regarded member of an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic sect, lured all three teens to Brooklyn motels, prosecutors and police said. But Malik, after his arrest on 28 criminal counts late Wednesday, tried to convince cops that he was the victim rather than the predator. The boys were all his students at Ohr Hameir, a now-shuttered Satmar yeshiva in Borough Park. RELATED: JUROR: NO WEBERMAN ANTI-SEMITISM The twisted teacher’s comments “were self-serving,” said one police source. “In other words, they were coming on to him.” The alleged victims were between age 13 and 15 years old when the incidents occurred during the last 11 months, authorities said. Investigators were trying to locate a fourth victim who left New York for Israel after the rabbi allegedly raped him — also in a motel, sources and prosecutors said. Additional charges are possible once cops speak with that teen. RELATED: THE CASE AGAINST HYNES The rabbi groped the genitals of all three boys inside the motels, prosecutors in Brooklyn criminal court said Thursday night. He also allegedly forced two of the boys to perform oral sex on him. One of the victims was also forced to perform oral sex on Malik inside his vehicle parked near a cemetery on a separate occasion, prosecutors said. The arrest stunned family and friends in the tightly knit community. “This is vicious gossip,” his wife, Rachel, told the Daily News on Wednesday. “He’s a good man. I don’t know what to say. I hope it’s not true.”
Misri Toba, who lives in the same Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment building as the accused rabbi, said her husband was friendly with Malik. “He’s a fine man,” said Toba. “I don’t believe it’s true.” An anonymous tip to a rape hotline led police to Malik, a father of five who taught at Ohr Hameir Yeshiva — a small, private facility for troubled youths. RELATED: BROOKLYN RABBI'S STOLEN CAR RECOVERED, COMPLETE WITH $30,000 TORAH Malik, whose family ran the yeshiva, faces 12 counts of sexual abuse, 11 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, four counts of criminal sexual acts and one count of forcible touching. Ohr Hameir made headlines last year when the Daily News revealed its staff included a Borough Park man accused of raping a 13-year-old boy in 2007. Malik was busted one week after Nechemya Weberman, a Satmar counselor, was sentenced to 103 years behind bars for his sexual abuse of a teenage girl who was sent to him for help. As prosecutors asked Judge Stephen Antignani to set Malik’s bail at $250,000 Thursday night, his mother denounced the accusations. “This is a frame-up,” said Miriam Malik, 64. “This is an extortion plot. My son has a heart of gold. He’s a wonderful father.” With Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Erik Badia and Oren Yaniv
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