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Baruch Lebovits, a Brooklyn rabbi convicted of sex abuse in 2010 only to have the conviction overturned on appeal, was sentenced to two years in prison as part of a plea deal. The deal was approved Wednesday. Lebovits is expected to serve less than a year of additional jail time because he will receive credit…
Baruch Lebovits, a once prominent cantor in Brooklyn pleaded guilty on Friday to molesting a teenage boy, according to The New York Times. Lebovits received a sentence of two years, but will likely serve only a few months in city jail. The arrangement will allow him to count 13 months served in jail under a…
The prospect of a plea deal for accused child abuser Baruch Lebovits was shot down by both the prosecution and defense — prompting a judge to move toward a retrial of the tangled case. Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Mark Dwyer set a new hearing on January 23, at which he is expected to set a date…
This is a story about religion, sex abuse, power, extortion, bungled prosecutions and the pitfalls of pursuing justice in an insular Orthodox community where disputes are solved internally and mistrust of outsiders reigns. It involves a convicted sex offender; a Hasidic multimillionaire oil and diamond dealer; a drug addict; a New York assemblyman; a supporting…
The troubled bribery and extortion trial of a Brooklyn man who says his son was a victim of child abuse has been delayed — again. Laughter could be heard in the Brooklyn Supreme Court courtroom, November 12, when prosecutor John Holmes said that the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office was still not ready to try the…
On the campaign trail, Ken Thompson, the Democratic candidate for Brooklyn district attorney, has sharply criticized incumbent Charles Hynes’ prosecution of a prominent Hasidic advocate against sexual abuse, even attending a rally calling for charges against the man to be dropped. But Thompson, who is widely expected to win the November 5 election, is now…
An appeals court has reversed the child sex abuse conviction of Brooklyn travel agent Baruch Lebovits, who was sentenced in 2010 to up to 32 years in prison. Alan Dershowitz, chief counsel for Lebovits on appeal, called the unanimous reversal by a four-judge appellate panel a “total victory.” Lebovits was not acquitted outright but instead…
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes claims to have arrested an unprecedented 89 men on child sex-abuse charges in the ultra-Orthodox communities in Brooklyn over the past two years — but declines to provide any details backing up the numbers or to give the status of any of the cases. Sexual abuse survivors and their advocates…
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