NEW YORK
The New York Times
By ANDY NEWMAN
JUNE 3, 2015
Prosecutors in the Bronx are asking people to come forward in the case of a prominent Modern Orthodox rabbi, Jonathan Rosenblatt, who frequently took boys as young as 12 into the sauna naked.
“If something happened within the statute of limitations, we will investigate,” Terry Raskyn, a spokeswoman for the Bronx district attorney’s office, said on Wednesday.
An article in The New York Times on Sunday described how in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Rabbi Rosenblatt, of the Riverdale Jewish Center, would take young congregants to a gym to play squash or racquetball and then to the shower, and, often naked, to the sauna or hot tub. He would have long talks with them in the sauna that he described as part of his mentoring process.
Some of the boys, who are now grown, said that Rabbi Rosenblatt gawked at their naked bodies, or would often rest a hand on a clothed leg during one-on-one nighttime chats at the rabbi’s house.
No one has accused Rabbi Rosenblatt of sexual touching.
For all but the most serious crimes, the statute of limitations in New York State is generally, at most, six years.
Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt Credit David Goldman for The New York Times
Even if an offense occurred outside the statute of limitations, Ms. Raskyn said, the district attorney’s office provides counseling and other services. “We will help anyone who is a victim of a crime in the Bronx,” she said.
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