Friday, December 3, 2010

A Hasidic rabbi and three of his sons are suspected of sexually abusing at least four female relatives

The abuse became known after the rabbi's eldest victim - his daughter - confided in a co-worker at a Jewish school, police said. The 58-year-old father and his 21-year-old son fled to Israel and are wanted for questioning in the case, police said. They were apparently driven to the airport by the mother. Two other sons, a 24-year-old and a 15-year-old, were arrested on sexual abuse and rape charges. Police say the abuse came to light after the oldest victim, now 20, who worked as a teacher's aide at a yeshiva, a Jewish religious school, in Brooklyn, told a teacher there she had been abused. Authorities believe she was assaulted by her father repeatedly for 15 years. The other victims range in age from 8 to 19, and investigators believe the abuse was also repeated. Police say the father is suspected of abusing at least two of his daughters. The brothers were accused of rape and other crimes for abusing their sisters. The youngest suspect was accused of sexually assaulting the 8-year-old. The father and mother, who are first cousins, had 14 children, police said. All but two live in the home. The 24-year-old suspect was married and lived elsewhere, as did the oldest child. There are seven girls and seven boys in the family. New York Police Department chief department spokesman Paul Browne said the investigation was ongoing and it's possible there could be additional victims. The father was a teacher at a yeshiva until recently, when he resigned for unknown reasons. Critics have said sex abuse claims are sometimes handled quietly in Orthodox rabbinical courts, rather than being reported to authorities.

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