Fired Rabbi In Baltimore Sues Families Of Alleged Victims

By Hannah Dreyfus
New York Jewish Week
February 02, 2018

http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/fired-rabbi-in-baltimore-sues-families-of-alleged-victims/

In the wake of sexual abuse allegations against him, which he denies, Rabbi Krawatsky had the support of many in Baltimore's Orthodox community. He was terminated on Jan. 18, 2018 after The Jewish Week report.

Beth Tfiloh school where Rabbi Krawatsky was employed.

In the wake of The Jewish Week’s report on allegations that a former teacher at a Baltimore Jewish day school abused three young boys when he was a counselor at a Maryland summer camp in 2015, the rabbi has filed a lawsuit against his accusers.

On Tuesday, Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky filed the suit in Maryland federal court against the parents of his accusers and Chaim Levin, a sexual abuse activist and blogger, for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Rabbi Krawatsky and his wife are asking for $75 million in compensatory and punitive damages — $15 million per defendant. They say the rabbi’s accusers engaged in an effort to “damage Rabbi K and destroy his reputation and ability to earn a living” by publicly alleging that he sexually abused their sons, charges that he denies.

Attorney Jonathan Little, who represents the families, said the lawsuit is a “thinly veiled attempt to intimidate our clients.”

In the coming weeks, the families of three alleged victims plan to sue Rabbi Krawatsky for battery of children and “any organization that had knowledge that Rabbi K was being inappropriate with children and failed to intervene,” Little Told the Jewish Week in January.

Meanwhile, as of Feb. 2, 135 alumni, current students and parents of the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School where Rabbi Krawatsky taught Judaic studies to middle schoolers until Jan. 18, signed an open letter calling for an investigation into how school officials handled the matter.

The rabbi was terminated after the publication of The Jewish Week report last month. (Read the report here.) The Beth Tfiloh board attributed the rabbi’s firing to “the explosive nature” of media reports which the board said made it “impossible” for the rabbi to effectively carry out his teaching duties, according to a Jan. 22 statement.

On Tuesday, Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky filed the suit in Maryland federal court against the parents of his accusers and Chaim Levin, a sexual abuse activist and blogger, for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Rabbi Krawatsky and his wife are asking for $75 million in compensatory and punitive damages — $15 million per defendant. They say the rabbi’s accusers engaged in an effort to “damage Rabbi K and destroy his reputation and ability to earn a living” by publicly alleging that he sexually abused their sons, charges that he denies.

Attorney Jonathan Little, who represents the families, said the lawsuit is a “thinly veiled attempt to intimidate our clients.”

In the coming weeks, the families of three alleged victims plan to sue Rabbi Krawatsky for battery of children and “any organization that had knowledge that Rabbi K was being inappropriate with children and failed to intervene,” Little Told the Jewish Week in January.

Meanwhile, as of Feb. 2, 135 alumni, current students and parents of the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School where Rabbi Krawatsky taught Judaic studies to middle schoolers until Jan. 18, signed an open letter calling for an investigation into how school officials handled the matter.

The rabbi was terminated after the publication of The Jewish Week report last month. (Read the report here.) The Beth Tfiloh board attributed the rabbi’s firing to “the explosive nature” of media reports which the board said made it “impossible” for the rabbi to effectively carry out his teaching duties, according to a Jan. 22 statement.