NEW YORK
The Jewish Week
12/11/13
Hella Winston
Special Correspondent
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office possessed compelling evidence that the allegations lodged by a key witness against chasidic abuse whistleblower Sam Kellner were false, but used that testimony to indict Kellner anyway, The Jewish Week has learned.
This evidence, known to the district attorney over a year before Kellner’s arrest, was given to his lawyers only last week. These new revelations bolster existing evidence that in the Kellner case, the district attorney may have allowed one division of the office (Rackets) to use highly questionable evidence to undermine the work of another (Sex Crimes), apparently in the service of a convicted child molester whose lawyers have close ties to Hynes.
Prosecutors were set to dismiss Kellner’s case last month, but were overruled by DA Charles Hynes’ controversial Rackets chief, Michael Vecchione. The case is now scheduled for trial on Jan. 21. Vecchione is resigning this week.
In 2008, Kellner’s son was allegedly molested by Baruch Lebovits. Kellner reported the incident to law enforcement and, with the encouragement of a sex crimes detective, found and brought two additional alleged Lebovits victims forward. One of them, “MT” (previously referred to by The Jewish Week as “Yoel”), abruptly stopped cooperating with the prosecution. Another alleged Lebovits victim, “YR” (previously referred to as “Zev”), did testify against Lebovits.
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