Kiryas Joel Video "Similar" to One Probed Previously

By Jonathan Bandler
Journal News
May 3, 2016

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2016/05/03/kiryas-joel-video-similar-one-probed-previously/83883010/

A video "similar in nature" to the one posted on the Internet this weekend showing a Kiryas Joel principal in close physical contact with a young boy was investigated months ago but did not result in criminal charges, state police said Tuesday.

The new video has sparked an investigation by state police, Orange County prosecutors and the county's Child Abuse Unit amid claims from anti-abuse activists that it was posted online because school officials and law enforcement authorities had done nothing regarding complaints about the principal's behavior.

The posting of the video came just before Tuesday's start of a two-day lobbying effort in Albany by child abuse victims and their advocates to get state lawmakers to finally pass the Child Victims Act, which would end the state's statute of limitations for civil claims by those sexually abused as children.

New York State police Major Joseph Tripodo, commander of Troop F in Middletown, said the current investigation began early Monday after state police were notified of a complaint to the child abuse hotline in Albany.

State police Maj. Joseph Tripodo (Photo: File photo/The Journal News)

He said the caller was from out of state and reported that a young boy had been abused at the Kiryas Joel school, United Talmudical Academy. That led police to the video that was posted first on WhatsApp over the weekend and had been viewed more than 20,000 times on Facebook by Monday afternoon.

Shot from a camera in the ceiling, the video shows the man drawing the boy to him at his desk and holding him between his legs. He appears to kiss the boy several times, stroke his face occasionally and sometimes pull him closer. The version posted online lasts 11 minutes.

The principal and an administrator at the school have not returned numerous calls seeking comment.

Tripodo said that in the fall of 2015 the Orange County Child Abuse Unit investigated a "similar" video but no charges resulted. He would not discuss that video or say whether it was taken in the same office - but would also not rule out the possibility that the video was the same as the one at the center of the current probe.

"It could be the exact (video)," he said.

The Child Abuse Unit, based in Goshen, is comprised of members of the state police, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and local police departments and is supervised by a state police investigator.

Tripodo would not say whether the principal has been questioned and referred questions about his status at UTA to school officials.

He said authorities were taking the incident seriously as it involved the possible abuse of a school-age boy but that he could not discuss the matter further.

"It's extremely sensitive," Tripodo said.

Contact: jbandler@lohud.com