FBI Launches Child-abuse Investigation at Kiryas Joel

By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
May 12, 2016

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20160512/NEWS/160519808


FBI agents seized records and equipment from two sites in Kiryas Joel on Thursday in connection with a secretly recorded video of a principal and a young boy that has fueled extensive media coverage and prompted a child-abuse investigation.

The FBI released no information about the search warrants it executed at the United Talmudical Academy boys school on Getzil Berger Boulevard and at the Kirays Joel Public Safety Department's trailer on Schunnemunk Road. But an Orange County law enforcement source and a Kiryas Joel source who spoke with FBI agents on Thursday confirmed the searches stemmed from the leaked recording, which was posted on Facebook and distributed in the Hasidic community through WhatsApp less than two weeks ago.

The video was taken from overhead in a small office at the school and shows the grey-bearded principal gripping the boy by the arms and speaking to him at close range, while caressing and appearing to kiss the boy at times. State police say they investigated a similar video in September and brought no charges. They have been looking into the recently leaked video in cooperation with the Orange County District Attorney's Office and a child abuse task force.

State police Major Joseph Tripodo, commander of Middletown-based Troop F, couldn't be reached Thursday to discuss the searches in Kiryas Joel or the status of the investigation.

Two days earlier, the United Talmudical Academy's board of directors had released a statement defending the principal, saying a series of videos were circulating that showed him embracing students "who were sent to his office for behavioral issues." The board said the videos were given to state and county officials more than seven months ago and showed nothing that constituted child abuse.

"While this type of restraint may be unacceptable to some viewers, it in no way rises to the level of a criminal assault," the statement said.

No arrests or charges have been made in the case. The principal, 67-year-old Moshe Klein, couldn't be reached for comment. In its statement, the UTA board said he was a respected rabbi with 30 years of experience and an "unblemished professional record as an educator."

A Kiryas Joel source said that the parents of the boy seen in the video posted on Facebook on April 30 have met with school officials and were "100 percent satisfied" that the principal didn't abuse their son. He said that FBI agents reported having three weeks' worth of videos and planned to interview the UTA Board president, Mayer Hirsch, and other board members, as well as Klein himself.

Contact: cmckenna@th-record.com