NEW YORK
The Jewish Week
11/13/13
Hella Winston
Jewish Week Correspondent
A secretly recorded tape of an alleged serial pedophile making incriminating statements to one of his victims has apparently “gone missing” from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
That bombshell revelation came from chasidic abuse whistleblower Sam Kellner’s lawyers in court Tuesday morning, when the Brooklyn district attorney asked for and received an adjournment of Kellner’s case until the first week in January, when DA-elect Ken Thompson takes office.
Last week, the prosecutors on the Kellner case had recommended it be dismissed today for lack of evidence, but, in a development that shocked seasoned lawyers, were overruled and then tossed out of their bureau by their controversial boss, Michael Vecchione. While Jerry Schmetterer, the spokesman for Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes, told the New York Post on Monday that Vecchione “believes there is a case” against Kellner, the assistant district attorney who appeared in court to request the adjournment, John Holmes, made it he clear he was merely the messenger and had no information about the case; he said the case has yet to be reassigned.
Kellner’s lawyers, who lambasted the DA’s office for “playing games” with the court, told the judge they were ready to go to trial. They also requested discovery materials to which they are entitled, including the tape of a conversation between accused child molester Baruch Lebovits and one of his alleged victims. (Lebovits was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2010 but got his conviction reversed because of a prosecution violation. The district attorney has vowed to retry him and his next court date is Nov. 19, though sources have told The Jewish Week that he is likely to get a plea deal with little or no jail time).
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