Cleared of Charges?
Charges against a Brooklyn Chassidic rabbi of groping a 15-year-old girl during a transpacific flight were part of an extortion plot and will be dismissed by federal prosecutors.
So states prominent Washington attorney Nathan Lewin, who’s representing Rabbi Israel Grunwald, leader of a group of Pupa Chassidim in Brooklyn’s Borough Park section.
“The government has agreed to dismiss the misdemeanor charge [of abusive sexual contact with a minor] against Rabbi Grunwald, who is totally innocent of the allegations made against him,” Lewin declared in a written statement.
The U.S. government, at this point, is less certain. “The charges are still pending and trial is still set for Sept. 22,” said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
Lewin reaffirmed, in a phone interview, that he has a written agreement with the U.S. Attorney to drop all charges. Mrozek said that he could neither confirm nor deny this assertion.
Grunwald and his assistant, Yehudah Friedlander, both 44 at the time, were arrested on May 31, 1995, as they stepped off their plane at Los Angeles International Airport, following an overnight flight from Melbourne, Australia.
The arrests were based on allegations by a 15-year-old girl — who has residences in Australia and the United States — that during the darkened flight, Grunwald had fondled her breasts and Friedlander had touched her private parts.
Friedlander, facing a felony charge, subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a 22-month imprisonment. He is currently incarcerated at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center and is due for release in November.
Charges against Grunwald were dropped at the time but reinstated last October.
According to Lewin and a source familiar with the case, the father of the girl contacted a Jewish community leader in Australia last month and said that his daughter would retract her court testimony in return for a $1.2 million payment from the Chassidic communities in Australia and Brooklyn.
The demand was relayed to Australian lawyer Norman Rosenbaum, brother of yeshiva student Yankel Rosenbaum, who was killed in the 1991 Crown Heights riots, and the information ultimately reached Lewin.
Lewin notified federal authorities. On Aug. 24, two days before a previously scheduled trial date, a FBI undercover agent, posing as a friend of Rabbi Grunwald, turned over a “down payment” of $50,000 to the girl’s father in Burbank.
Kiara Andrich, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said that while the FBI was involved in the initial investigation of Grunwald and Friedlander, she could not comment on the alleged undercover operation.
Lewin said that he hoped that the U.S. Attorney’s office would “vigorously prosecute all parties involved in the attempted extortion of the Jewish communities in Melbourne and Brooklyn.”
The New York Post reported “real anger” in the Brooklyn Chassidic community over the government’s failure to arrest the father.
Grunwald leads a faction of some 100 Pupa Chassidim in Borough Park. He is the son of the late Josef Grunwald, the Hungarian-born founder and grand rabbi of the 12,000-member Pupa movement. On the founder’s death, the title devolved on his older son, Yakov Grunwald, who heads the main Pupa community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
JJ Inside The Print
There was a point during the argument when the crowd seemed to clam up. The panelists were so passionate that it made everyone uncomfortable. As...
A couple of weeks ago, I had to do the seemingly unthinkable: take the popular video game Fortnite away from my 9-year-old son, Alexander. Like...
Most of us never have to deal with anti-Zionist activists protesting outside our homes or harassing us at our jobs. We can make a conscious...
The Talmud records yet another debate between House Hillel and House Shamai: How do we count the days of Hanukkah? Is it a countdown? Or...
If you’ve ever entertained the notion of pursuing something creative — singing, acting, painting — you’ve likely heard this well-intentioned advice: “Don’t quit your day...
On November 28, 2018, Marc Lamont Hill, a well-known anti-Israel activist, frequent CNN commentator and Temple University professor, who previously crowd-funded to help a terrorist...
Uwe Becker’s Facebook page might confuse followers into thinking he’s the mayor of an Israeli city. Almost every other post includes references to Israel. One...
Although Germany has developed a reputation as one of Israel’s strongest allies in the European Union, keynote speakers at the fifth Israel Congress recently held...
I have been deeply concerned about climate change since the 1980s. I have a vivid memory of sitting in the teacher’s lounge in the school...
A Jerusalem-based band is behind the latest viral sensation with a song called “Delete Airbnb” about the vacation rental giant’s controversial decision to remove all...
Once again, it’s time to talk about Israel’s next elections. Earlier this week, two events made early elections — possibly in May — much more...
Recent Congressional dealmaking may signal that a move to the center — a strengthening of bipartisanship — is gaining momentum. Four days before the start...
1. This light’s for Hanukkah … for a people who choose to begin our best of days with light. What special Jewish day doesn’t start with...
One verse, five voices. Edited by Salvador Litvak, Accidental Talmudist Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for it.”...
Editors note: This article contains spoilers regarding season two of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Michael Zegen has played good guys (“Rescue Me,” “Girls”), a gangster...
I’ve always thought that if more men understood how much women love to eat, every cooking class in the world would have a waiting list....
Moishe House, a program for Jewish young adults that has been growing steadily throughout the United States and internationally since its inception nearly 13 years...
“No Fortnite dances and no flossing!” joked one of the young adults running the Nachshon Minyan Hanukkah Celebration’s dreidel game table, where half a dozen...
As I entered the Beverly Hills home of Rachel Emquies Sheff and her husband, Neil Sheff, on a recent Sunday morning, the warm welcome of...
The sixth annual Red Star Ball held by American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA) honored Magen David Adom’s paramedic heroes along with Steven Mizel, who...
A senior living residence with its quota of kvetching, aching and wheelchair-bound septuagenarians and octogenarians, is generally not the setting for an offbeat romantic film....
Bela Fleck, the banjo virtuoso, continues to take the instrument most closely identified with country and bluegrass into musical realms never before explored. And the...
Fire Coverage Thank you for your coverage of the recent fires in Northern and Southern California. I am struck by how good we humans are at...
Jack Miles is a man of many accomplishments; he’s probably best known as “God’s biographer.” Miles, a former Jesuit priest, is the recipient of the...
FRI DEC 7 [caption id="attachment_243104" align="aligncenter" width="1800"] Dr. Dee[/caption] A Motown Shabbat The soulful sounds of Motown reverberate inside the Kehillat Israel sanctuary on Hanukkah...
When it comes to giving gifts, whether for Hanukkah, birthdays or whatever occasion, I like to be creative with the wrapping rather than just plunking...
Israel Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has been a major force behind the ascent of the Jewish Home party, the third most powerful party in Israeli...
Gloria Katz, Oscar-Nominated Screenwriter, 76 Gloria Katz, who partnered with husband Willard Huyck and director George Lucas to write “American Graffiti,” died Nov. 25 —...