NEW YORK
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
Zoë Blackler in New York
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 May 2012
Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes has strongly defended his handling of child sexual abuse cases in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in the face of growing criticism from victims’ advocates.
Hynes has repeatedly refused to respond publicly to accusations – revealed by the Guardian in March – that he has allowed rabbinical leaders to get away with covering up decades of abuse.
Advocates have questioned his policy of keeping secret the identities of alleged offenders, the number of arrests for which he claims credit, and the intimidation of victims and their families who report abuse to the secular authorities.
But on Thursday night, Hynes, whose jurisdiction includes the world’s largest ultra-Orthodox community outside Israel, said: “The Brooklyn DA has the most active investigation, prosecution of any Orthodox members in the country. In LA or any major centre of Orthodox communities, there are no prosecutions.”
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