ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

Steve SchmadekeContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

When her 15-year-old son began to question the Orthodox Jewish faith he was raised in, his mother turned to a trusted rabbi from their West Rogers Park community for help.

But Aryeh “Larry” Dudovitz instead betrayed the family’s trust by sexually assaulting the boy during a Jewish holiday nine years ago, a Cook County judge found Monday.

His bench trial Monday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building offered a glimpse into the sometimes-insular Orthodox community. Several prominent rabbis testified that they responded to a report of the abuse by convening a special session of a religious court.

The assault took place in October 2006, but it wasn’t until May 2013 that criminal charges were brought against Dudovitz. The victim’s family said that part of the reason for the delay was because relatives wanted the victim to first receive counseling to…