Yosef Kolko, Lakewood Yeshiva Camp Counselor, Seeks To Pull Abuse Guilty Plea
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.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO