Video Raises New Questions about Rabbi Accused of Child Molestation

By Carey Codd
CBS Miami
June 22, 2015

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/06/22/video-raises-new-questions-about-rabbi-accused-of-child-molestation/

New surveillance video is focusing attention on part-time Rabbi Steve Karro, and his actions in the days before he was arrested last month for molesting a child.

The man in the video is believed to be Karro, who is accused of molesting an 11-year-old girl at an art gallery he owns on Miami Beach.

The woman – whose face was blurred to protect her child – is the mother of the victim.

CBS4’s Carey Codd was told the woman was at work at a restaurant when Karro gave her an envelope.

It’s unclear what was inside that envelope.

But CBS4 was told the woman took the envelope directly to Miami Beach police.

“I’m concerned about it,” said the woman’s attorney, Jeffrey Herman.

Herman showed CBS4 the video, but did not want to discuss it. He said that’s a matter for the authorities…

However, Herman did want to talk about how the victim and her family have been treated by some in the Miami Beach Jewish community.

“The reaction has been disgusting. They’ve been attacked. They’ve been ostracized. We’ve seen victim shaming,” said Herman.

Karro is accused of sitting the little girl on his lap, kissing the girl’s neck and grabbing her backside – then telling the child not to tell her mother.

When Karro was released from jail a few weeks ago he told CBS4 that he touched the child because she needed a cleansing.

“Very simple. It’s love, harmony, cleansing. Nothing else. There was nothing there inappropriate. Nothing that violated that anybody’s rights,” said Karro.

Herman said if the molestation allegations are true it represents a tremendous violation of the girl, her family and the entire congregation. This, he said, is why he cannot understand why some in the community are victimizing the victim by trying to convince her mother not to go forward with the criminal charges.

“It’s similar to what we’ve seen with other communities when there’s allegations of clergy abuse. The first reaction is to protect the clergy. Somehow people think that their faith is at stake,” he said.

Karro is out of jail on bond.