Rabbi Yehuda Kolko
Judaism child abuse  Judaism

Rabbi Yehuda Kolko was systematically protected by his fellow rabbis as he molested a series of young children over a 30 year span. After years of rampant molestation by Rabbi Kolko, approximately 10 rabbis met in 1984 to discuss what to do about Rabbi Kolko’s molestation of young boys at the yeshiva (boys rabbinical school) where he worked. It was decided to do nothing, since the yeshiva lawyer told the rabbis that the yeshiva would be liable for not having reported their knowledge to the police earlier. Rabbi Kolko was allowed to continue at the school and his molestation of the children continued unabated. In 1985 a beit din (a/k/a bais din) was held with 5 more rabbis to examine the molestation complaints against Rabbi Kolko.  The Rabbi who ran the yeshiva at which Rabbi Kolko worked was able to end the beit din after hearing only one day of testimony. A second biet din was set up by the yeshiva rabbi with the objective of clearing Rabbi Kolko; no molestation victims appeared before that beit din. Again, no action was taken against Rabbi Kolko and he was able to continue his molestation.
   
Rabbi Kolko continued his molestation until 2006, when he was finally prosecuted for child molestation. Through political pressure from the politically powerful orthodox Jewish community, Rabbi Kolko was allowed to plead to two lesser counts of misdemeanor child endangerment. The prosecutor claimed that he allowed the plea to the lesser charges because one victim was too young and the family would not allow him to testify. The father of the victim states that was not true; in fact, he felt it would be a beneficial catharsis for his son to testify.  The father of the other victim stated that he was pressed by the prosecution to keep his son from testifying.  Both children remain plaintiffs against Rabbi Kolko in a civil suit and are expected to be witnesses against him in the civil trial.
    All along the way as charges of child molestation surfaced against Rabbi Kolko, rabbis threatened victims and their families, publicly disparaged them, and put pressure on them to keep quiet.  The response by the orthodox Jewish community to the molestation evidence against Rabbi Kolko reveals the permissive attitude toward pedophilia in orthodox Jewry. [2011] Solving the Mystery of Babylon the Great by Edward Hendrie Chapter 16: The Common “Preying” of Rabbis and Priests

[2006/7] So Many Rules, So Little Protection, Sex & Suppression Among Ultra Orthodox Jews By Hella Winston