Yosef Kolko, Lakewood Yeshiva Camp Counselor, Seeks To Pull Abuse Guilty Plea

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A former counselor at a summer camp run by a yeshiva in Lakewood, N.J., wants to withdraw his guilty plea on charges of sexually abusing a male camper.
Yosef Kolko, 39, pleaded guilty in May, on the third day of his trial, to aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and child endangerment while he was a counselor at a camp run by the Yeshiva Bais Hatorah School.
Kolko’s attorney filed a motion last week to withdraw his guilty plea, saying he had been pressured by his Orthodox Jewish community to enter the plea.
Kolko was to be sentenced this week in the case; the sentencing has been postponed due to the motion, according to the Asbury Park Press. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Oct. 17.
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