Bronx DA Reportedly Opens Criminal Investigation Into Leading Modern Orthodox Rabbi

Failed Messiah
June 02, 2015

http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2015/06/bronx-da-reportedly-opens-criminal-investigation-into-leading-modern-orthodox-rabbi-345.html

Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt

The Bronx District Attorney's Bureau on Child Abuse and Sex Crimes has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into the conduct of Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt of the Riverdale Jewish Center.

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the president of the Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, writes:

I am sad to send this out, but protecting our children and those vulnerable is paramount. It is important to aid the authorities in any way we can.

The Bronx County District Attorney Bureau on Child Abuse and Sex Crimes is investigating the story and stories in The New York Times article about Rabbi [Jonathan] Rosenblatt. Individuals with pertinent information to the investigation are asked to call (718) 838 7382, a dedicated line for this investigation, to speak with an Assistant District Attorney on a team handling the case. Please reach out even if you would like to remain anonymous and not have your name on the record, as they are in an information gathering phase at this point. Please also do so even if you believe your experience lies outside a statute of limitations as any information on patterns of behavior can be useful.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Week reported that leading RJC members tried to organize a buyout of Rosenblatt's contract three years ago over his alleged ogling of nude boys and young men, but Rosenblatt insisted he had done nothing wrong and would not take it. And Rosenblatt's wife, an attorney, threatened to sue the RJC if it fired her husband or did anything to shame him or hurt his employment.

On Friday, the New York Times reported that Rosenblatt has a decades-long habit of inviting teen boys and young male adults to play squash with him, after which he encourages them to take long hot showers and nude sauna sessions with him, during which Rosenblatt often allegedly ogles them and touches them in unwanted (but not necessarily illegal) ways.