Baruch Lebovits got out of jail yesterday (9/29/14), just 83 days after he started his most recent stint after sentencing on a plea bargain (7/9/14). He pled guilty to eight E felony counts (PL 130.40.2) of oral sex with a minor (aka “deviate sexual intercourse”) and he is on the sex offender registry.
Brooklyn DA Kenneth Thompson crafted this insult to orthodox Jewish survivors in the spring, but now we feel the final sting of his whip. Lebovits’ fine cantorial voice will piously intone about repentance on Yom Kippur while he remains an unrepentant sinner. He never even apologized to the victim who pressed charges, let alone the hundreds of other boys he sexually exploited.
Baruch Lebovits
Anyone with a rudimentary Jewish upbringing knows that Yom Kippur does not absolve one for sins against another unless one first confesses, experiences regret, attempts rectification of harm, and sincerely seeks forgiveness. Lebovits has done none of these things, except as required to get a good plea deal in a secular lower court.
The unanswered question is why he served slightly more than 15 of the 24 months of his sentence through a combination of 1 year and 6 days after his overturned 2010 conviction and then just 83 days following his re-conviction this spring. Thus he has served a total of one year and 89 days. Mind you, when he was first convicted in 2010 he was sentenced to 10-32 years.
Notwithstanding claims by his defenders, his time spent on house arrest does not count. If it did, he would not have served any time at all because he also spent over a year on house arrest in addition to his year in an upstate correctional facility. Thus he would have already served his entire two-year sentence. Perhaps the Brooklyn DA and the NYS Corrections department would care to explain how he got such a good deal on a determinate sentence of two years.
I will post shortly on the full, ugly trajectory of the Lebovits case. In the meantime I can only say that this Yom Kippur will yet again sorely test our faith in the earthly justice of the Brooklyn District Attorney.
Click here for all the many other Frum Follies posts about Baruch Lebovits.
Update 10/25/14, 10:25 am: Quote from NY Daily News:
A lawyer for Kellner said his client believes “it’s only a matter of time until he abuses another child.” The lawyer, Niall MacGiollabhui, added that his client is worried about the release of a “serial rapist … without any supervision.”
Note: the Daily News is wrong. He did not serve 13 months originally. Just 12 months and six days from his sentencing date on April 12, 2010 till his first release to house arrest on April 17, 2011. Thus he served a total of one year
The Daily News also ended on a false sentimental note: “Lebovits will be home in time for Yom Kippur or the Jewish Day of Atonement, when it is customary to repent for one’s sin.” News writer Oren Yaniv used the singular, “sin.” It is well know that Lebovits has hundreds of victims, and quite a few of them were victimized repeatedly. Even if Lebovits wanted to repent, he couldn’t possibly locate and apologize to all of them between now and Yom Kippur which falls just four days from his release. But then, Lebovits still denies his guilt. Yaniv wrote, “The family said in a statement. ‘The charges and proceedings in the case were trumped up by individuals for their own monetary gains.'” Yaniv, who has always been a shil for the Lebovits camp didn’t bother to consider or report the claims that it is Lebovits who used bribery, victim intimidation, and corruption of the prosecutorial process to get off easy.
See also: Is Oren Yaniv a Courthouse Reporter or a DA Megaphone?
FRUM FOLLIES by Yerachmiel Lopin 
Disgusting. We should find out where he davens and picket!!!
It smells like a behind-the-scenes pidyon shvuim that got him his freedom. THe Feds need to investigate this micarriage of justice.
Yes, Kosher Ham. in the best of all possible worlds. But just about all major govt agencies have been involved in fraud, deceit, and corruption within last five years. CDC, FDA, EPA, SEC, TSA, CIA, ad infinitum. this is only a very partial list. So, the very thought that any judicial body would give a hoot about this stuff is “aspirational” to say the least. What “feds” were you referring to? You are looking for justice? really? Justice would be a dumpster, but we know that that is inhumane and illegal, and Jews do not do such things. But, theoretically, based on the crimes, that would be justice. I’m going to be censored….. but this is just theoretical. Is it known whether any of BML’s victims ever committed suicide???
One of his victims, Motty Borger committed suicide on his wedding night, jumping from the balcony of his hotel Many of his victims also ended up as serious substance abusers and a few ended up as molesters themselves (e.g., Meir Dascalowitz).
During the Aseret Yemai Teshuvah….this is beyond human comprehension! Why? Why are these convicted “murderers” let free? Tears of pain and empathy for the victims and survivors of Lebovits and to all those in pain from this re-victimization. Perhaps, YL – this video needs to be tailored to “but what about the victims?” We need people like you, YL, who will state the truth. Video: http://chofetzchaimusa.org/message/
Where on earth is this person being allowed to serve as cantor?
I don’t know, but if he is allowed to serve anywhere, you can be sure I will report it. If not, in spite of his excellent voice and mastery of nusach, it will confirm what we know, that people in the community know he is very guilty. BTW, his brother, the Nickolsburger Rebbe, does not give him any honors when he attends.
Your post was misleading, then, as it implied that he would in fact chant the service. Let’s not believe the worst until it happens. As for “this Yom Kippur will yet again sorely test our faith in the earthly justice of the Brooklyn District Attorney,” we aren’t supposed to have any. אַל־תִּבְטְחוּ בִנְדִיבִים בֶן־אָדָם שֶׁאֵין לֹו תְשׁוּעָה [“Do not trust in princes, in human beings, in whom there is no salvation” Tehillim (Psalms)146:3]. It’s still depressing that even in a democracy “kicking the bums out” often just brings new bums in.
I do not know where he will pray this year. He does not regularly leave BP to go to his brother’s shul in Monsey. While he was awaiting trial and then retrial he did serve as cantor on occasion. So I genuinely don’t know what will now happen. However, even if he is not leading services, his fine cantorial voice will be piously intoning from the ranks.
“His fine cantorial voice will be piously intoning from the ranks.” I probably don’t need to mention that “rank” also means “stinking.”
The above video was probably the work of Shmuel Borger, the resident videographer at the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation (CCHF). He has also been reported as someone who molested children when he ran his popular choir, Amudei Shaish. Obviously, he is more concerned about loshon horah than the reporting of actual crimes. Borger’s crimes were directly reported by a very reliable witness to several prominent rabbonim who believed the witness. Yet the CCHF won’t fire him because…… that would be listening to loshon horah. Like every year, too many frum Jews will repent of loshon horah instead of worrying more about standing by idly on the blood of another. The verse in the torah starts with a prohibition, on tale bearing, but ends with the prohibition of lo saamod. Somehow, frum education never quite gets to the end of the possuk. Why? Why?
I have tried very hard to understand this in the last 8 years or so, but no matter what I read or think of, I always come up empty handed. Everybody is so concerned with the welfare of the accused and their families, they’re so concerned about the possibility of an innocent person being accused. I have never once heard an immediate response by a charedi involving concern for, or sorrow for the heilige, tayara, innocent children. One person went so far as to complain that sexual molesters are punished too severely by the government. I kid you not!
I believe you. Why so little sympathy for the children? This is pure speculation and imagination on my part, but if the number of abused children is as high as the studies say — about one in four girls and one in six boys, IIRC — then there are a lot of people out there who were abused but “got over it.” Having spent years or decades telling themselves that the outrage and humiliation they suffered was “no big deal,” they dare not feel much sympathy for victims, lest their own pain return and overwhelm them. Does this resonate with anybody?
Add to the number of former abuse victims those who know or strongly suspect that their father, uncle, brother, cousin is or was an abuser, and you have a lot of people with an incentive not to identify with the victims. Again, just speculation.
One word: fix
Kevin in Chicago, I’ve led a really sheltered life so your reasons for Charedi indifference to SA have never occurred to me. I doubt any of the people I’ve spoken to are victims of SA, I think they’re just complacent cows who don’t care a fig about anything beyond their own petty existence. Plus, if their Rabbonim aren’t screaming about this issue from the pulpits, then it can’t be a serious problem, can it?I assume the woman who complained about punishment (who is, BTW, a very “prominent” wealthy member of the community) has a family member that’s an abuser….
Look at the comments at the NY Daily News website. Talk about a chillul Hashem. We should post thereas well to show the readers that not all frum Jews are pedophile enablers.
yeah, they, the frum rabbanim are more likely to be molesters, than enablers. This truly truly sXXks, no pun intended. What a great “new year’s” matana (present) for BM Leibovits. while he celebrates, the rest of us want to regurgitate….
what a hideous story from beginning to end. A mashal for other current or wannabe molesters? nice precedent eh? not a precedent, only a supreme coup for “our” new DA, YS.
It is indeed aseret yemei teshuva. No teshuva here.
Depressing and disheartening for all of our committed CSA advocates, and for those of us who strongly support them. Dika’on mamash. really truly depressing how far we have not gone.
Yes depressing and disheartening. So many of us worked so hard and long and he got off relatively easy thanks to money and proteksia.
I disagree. I think only a tiny proportion of haredi rabbis are molesters but many more are enablers.
Sounds like the fixers got another improper early release like in the Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans case.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-10-24/news/a-hevesi-heresy/2/
http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-10-24/news/a-hevesi-heresy/3/
While I suspect the number of actual haredi rabbis who are enablers is relatively small even one is one too many.
This phenomenon is not at all limited to haredi rabbis and to the extent there are such enablers the lack of knowledge of how pedophiles ( and sociopaths) operate may have played a significant role
Mea culpa: I myself was quite ignorant of all of this until I sat down and read a ton of stuff and prior to doing so I made mistakes
Gmar chatima tova
Questions are, since he’s on the registered offenders’ list, these:
1) If, where he works, is it near or with children?
2) If, where he lives, is it near a school?
If either of these questions are in the affirmative, then could he be re-arrested for violating either or both of these issues?
82 Lee Avenue is a headquarters building, not a school building. Being on the sex registry does not automatically generate conditions other than notification. Unfortunately, the Brooklyn DA did not include extended probation supervision in its plea bargain. So he is pretty free to do what he wants as long as he complies with properly notifying the sex registry of any changes in address, employer, vehicle, etc and updates his photo every three years. THERE ARE NO NYS RESTRICTIONS ON WHERE HE CAN LIVE OR WORK except he cannot work on a truck selling frozen deserts. Bizarre. But that is it!
The DA failed the community in not bargaining for any probation beyond the period of the jail sentence.
Why no probation supervision & mandated therapy/counselling is baffling. Is there a trigger (his type of crime) that would force supervision and/ or therapy/counselling and, if so, what is the minimum for that trigger or is it discretional?
This was all at the DA’s discretion during the plea bargaining process. The judge accepted the plea bargain and that was that.
We have entered the zone of plea bargaining discretion. Moreover the judge handled the case as if it were a first offense, as if Lebovits was not one of the most notorious serial child abusers in Boro Park.
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