Prosecutor Quits Over Jewish ‘Hooker’ Case
A top Brooklyn prosecutor has reportedly resigned amid questions over her handling of a racially charged Crown Heights prostitution case.
Lauren Hersh, the head of the district attorney’s sex trafficking unit, handled the probe that led to two black men being charged with raping an Orthodox Jewish girl and pimping her out starting when she was 13, the New York Times reported.. Two other men were charged with raping her.
She quit on May 24, the paper said.
Major questions emerged regarding the handling of the case last month. The Times said even before the indictments the woman reacanted some of the allegations and admitted that she was willingly having sex with the men for some time.
In April, a judge ordered two of the men freed from jail where they were being held pending trial. The other two remain behind bars on unrelated charges.
The case is explosive because authorities may have been too quick to believe the allegations against black men brought by a Jewish woman.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
