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In singapore this guy would get the cane across his bare bottom.maybe its time to spank the tummah and yetzer horah out of our society

 

Rediculous! Contarary to many of the inaccurate news reports Yona Weinberg is NO WAY a paid employee at the synagogue. THAT IS FALSE. He is a practicing Social Worker at the Interborough clinic and Jewish Board of Family and Children Services. He tutors boys how to read from the Torah as a side job independently. There is no way he could have been molesting children without anyone in the synagogue knowing! There are always other people there studying. The synagogue is one large room. It is only opened during prayer services and the Jewish Sabbath. Otherwise it is completely closed to the public. Yona Weinberg has nothing to do with the school. The school at the synagogue is a pre-school! These allegations make no sense at all! I am a VERY CLOSE friend of Yona Weinberg and can not imagine him doing something like this at all. He is married with 3 girls and one boy. I hope they find these parents who made these accusations and put them in cheirim for good!

 

anon 10:14 AM:

singapore is actaully well know for child exploitation

 

Does anybody know which shul this allegedly took place in. Also which camps and yeshiva is the alleged perp associated with?

 

Is this the Yona Weinberg who went to Chofetz Chaim High School in Brooklyn?

 

Yehoshua:

Unlwess you are actually sitting next to the accused and his accuser at the time of the incident, there is NO WAY you can say NO WAY! So what if there are always other individuals around when the shul is open? No one can see a what a hand under a table is doing, or a if they were standing by the shuchan, what goes on when the shulchan is blocking.

I Even if we are don l'kaf zechus, to who do we extend it, the accused or the accuser or both. Many pediophiles are married with children. The fact that the accused has girls, doesn't mean that he can't like boys.

While if is admirable to stand up for a friend, first you must know all of the facts, clearly, before you maake verbose comments.

 

yehoshua

why are you covering up for him
in almost all cases when someone molests children and or merdurs someone
they always say "oh what a wonderful person he was i cant beleive he would do something like this"

buddy may hashem have pity on him
too many of these stories are cumming out in the last few months

 

what about the phony story he concocted about his eye injury?

 

Yehoshua:

I think I know you. Do you sing? If your the same guy, your a good guy.

I just want to point something out in your comment. You say the parents should be put in cheirem. Who said the parents made any accusations. I think it was the boys. These are boys over bar mitzvah, baalei daas, who know what happened to them. Why would a kid make this stuff up.

Unfortunately, this machla, pedophilia, can happen to anyone. I am not pre-judging your friend. I feel terrible for his friends and family who must be going through hell right now.

We have a justice system. It's not always perfect but its better than most. The system will sort things out.

If your friend has a problem he should fess up to it and get help fast.

 

The picture on the 1010 website shows Rabbi Oshrys shul

 

Anonymous : May 05, 2008 2:13 PM

Please look up the word "verbose" in a dictionary. What you wrote makes no sense.

Here's a link for you:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verbose

 

Actually he is totally innocent for reasons I cant say on a blog since the investigation is still ongoing. This story is not your run of the mill situation…

 

What phony story about the eye injury? IT WAS TRUE, YOU IDIOT! I saw him over shabbos wearing new glasses. B"H It wasn't as bad as it turned out to be. I've heard stories from certain Jewish organizations that jumped the gun before carefully investigating the matter. I wonder how many Rabbonim are going to want to teach after such stories. Every day they'll have to fear of being put into jail. Yona Weinberg is a normal and non-eccentric guy. I wonder how normal there parents are.

 

Yehoshua, I saw you on the news.

I think I know who this Yona Weinberg is, and I also find it hard to believe that he'd be involved in something like this.

Then again, anything's possible.

 

What a world we live in, one accusation and your name gets dragged through the blogesphere. There is more to this story, with time the truth will come out. Unfortunatey, until it does, the blogs will not rest.

 

everyone knows that this has been going on for a long time i wish i had the guts to say this earlier

 

sometimes it's the accused that was molested and can't prove it when the accuser turns it around, and also, as much as people like juicy stories, there's no proof here, but once mud flies, no one's clean.

 

I think everyone who's been writing the "let's burn, lynch, cheirem, tar-and-feather 'im even though we don't know sh*t" comments should take some time off and watch South Parks' "The wacky molestation Adventure" (season 4 ep. 16). Even if you're a big frummak who never chas v'sholem watches tv shows even though you spend all you're time surfing blogs (never looking at any shmutzedik pictures, kmuvan v'gam pashut, Mai ko mashma lan), I think you can be oiver this little avairah if it is going to stop you from spewing venomous blog comments which happen to be pure loshon horah.

The easy way to commit character assassination is just accuse some guy of molesting kids or smuggling drugs. For some weird reason which I have yet to understand, as soon as one is accused of either, barely a soul will be openminded enough to simply ENTERTAIN the thought that said person is innocent. We're not dealing with a kolko which has had roumors circulating for years. And take but a moment to consider how hard it is to nail a person for libel; many people have been found innocent after DNA tests cleared them of rape accusations on which account they were convicted and imprisoned for decades! yet when they were cleared how many times have the accusers been charged for libel or perjury. "Poor thing, under such stress from such a difficult ordeal," which may be true but tell it to the poor shmuck which spent fifteen years behind bars because she cried in front of the Jury.

To put it pretty simply, I could very easily accuse YOU of molesting a child, have half of your best friends believe me, and if the story doesn't stand up to court scrutiny, I'll just use the "terrible stress and confusion from the ordeal" defence and walk away while you're still holding the bag.

INNOCENT TILL PROVEN GUILTY, YOU BUNCH OF NARROWMINDED BORO PARK REDNECKS!!!

 

HEY Anonymous at least yehoshua doesnt hide like you "Anonymous" behind false name. Truth be told you people are very quick to judge negative against a person who you assume is guilty. If you like to vent thats great but dont be quick to judge on a blog about a person that you never meet. Or even have anything to state that he is guilty in any form or another. Just because someone is accused does not mean they did anything that was Wrong in any shape or form. There are alot of innocent people that are destroyed because people were too quick to assume negative. For all you know youll be the next accused for something that you didnt do.

 

To all of you who are writing in and don't know anything about anyone involved: STOP IT! You should be ashamed of yourself for commenting on any of this because you are affecting other people's thoughts and opinions on the matter. Once you say something, and someone has read it, you can never take it back. Everyone needs to be dan likaf zechus and realize that as many details as you know, you never know enough to be able to judge. Thats not your job! And even if you think your opinion is right, keep it to yourself!

 

I also know Yona pretty well and I refuse to believe that he has any part in this type of behavior. I'm not putting down victims of sex abuse or the alleged victims but I am sure the truth will come out and his name will be cleared.

Anon, two above, if "everyone knows that this has been going on for a long time i wish i had the guts to say this earlier": THEN STEP FORWARD and go to the police! But don't leave anonymous comments on a blog with vague allegations of some other misconduct.

 

Just to clarify, Yona is no longer employed by the Jewish board, and I know him, I cannot believe he did this this at all, he is good man and would not hurt a fly, let alone another human being, especially a child.

 

I don’t want to write on blogs. However, this is an important issue, so I have to.

Before anything, I must point out that I don’t know any of the people here so nobody can accuse me of taking sides. Please… read it carefully…

In no way should we support child molesters. We don’t have to lynch them on the street, but as a community, we should not protect them.

Every Yid has the benefit of the doubt. In a case like this, כבדהו וחשדהו is appropriate until we know more.

Every Yid has the obligation to be דן לכף זכות. Just as you keep שבת, you must be דן לכף זכות. It is not a חומרא, it is clear הלכה. So before jumping to conclusions, be דן לכף זכות.

It is a shame on how many Yidden quote the media in various cases where a Yid had a run in with the law. The media is NOT looking for the truth or who is guilty. They are looking for good gossip that sells. It is so hearting to read other frum Yidden quote a news source as if להבדיל it would have been a בפירוש קצות or ר' חיים.

Lately, our children hear a lot about being abused or molested. Some are teaching them to stand up if ח"ו somebody touches you, etc. Some kids have no idea what you are talking about. We should teach our kids to stand up for themselves, not to be afraid to report to a trusted Rebbe or their parents of molested, etc. But if they have no clue what you are talking about, there will be a witch hunt. I strongly suggest reading to your kids The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers. Rules for children on strangers are posted on the last page. Like this they will understand the concept and not just make up stories when a Rebbe just gave the kid an innocent “Glet” on the face.

The story begins when Sister Bear greets every stranger that she meets. At the village green, Sister talks to a stranger about getting their ball. When cautious Brother Bear discourages this, Sister begins to view all strangers as evil. Papa Bear shows articles from the newspaper such as, "Stranger Bothers Cub", "Missing Cub Found", "Chief Grizzly Questions Stranger". Mama Bear uses a barrel of apples to explain the concept of bad apples. An apple that looks bad on the outside is perfect inside. Another apple looks fine on the outside, but inside it's infested with worms. Brother goes to the town green to launch his pusher plane, where Sister picks wildflowers. Just as they are about to go home, somebody drives up with a radio-controlled plane. Brother wants to watch. Sister goes back to picking wildflowers, but before she knows it, Brother is talking to the stranger. Sister arrives on the scene and stops Brother from accepting the stranger's offer of a ride to send the plane in the air and follow it in the car. When Sister shouts, "Brother talked to a stranger! Brother talked to a stranger!" Brother thinks this was tattling, but it wasn't because tattling is telling just to be mean. In answer to, "Do you think the guy was a bad apple?" Mama says, "Probably not, but you have to be careful, just in case."

 

HEs innocent and i feel bad for him and his family

 

This has nothing to do with the case in question. I don't know any details. However, the comment that someone wouldn't do it because he is nice is WRONG. Molesters don't think of themselves as monsters. They actually LOVE the boy in question. Molesting is their way of expressing their love. Until people understand this, they will continue to assume that a nice guy can't molest. Again, I AM NOT COMMENTING ON THIS CASE. But not taking precautions for your kid because the tutor seems nice is ludicrous.

 

was he a teacher in a local yehsiva too?? i think i know him! he is a perfect regular person and his family should be looked onregular!! it is probably made up by some teenagers!

 

In case nobody can beleive these things happen in the frum community...I myself was molested as a boy by a teacher in my school.I have nightmares about it till today.

 

Dear bloggers
here are some facts about child molestations:
1) 60 to 90% of cases of child abuse happen within the family or close surroundings (father, stepfather, uncle, friend of the family, teacher, sports coach, etc). Only in about 10% of the cases, the victim does not know the perpetrator at all.

2) Being a very good teacher, a kind person and a child molestor is not at all a contradiction. In general, child molestors establish a relationship of confidence with the child and with the family before starting to molest the child.
In most cases, the accusations will seem completely unbeleivable.
Of course, this does not mean that every good teacher should be suspected of being a child molester. But in many cases where teachers molested a child, they were good, widely respected teachers.
3) for these reasons, most children are not believed when they report abuse or molestation. According to some statistics, a child has to report abuse to 4 persons or more before being believed.
4) Many children are ashamed of molestation or abuse, and do not report it at all, especially when it happens within the family. In some cases, they outrightly deny that molestation or abuse took place, even if they are asked, because they are ashamed or because they were intimidated. (It's a secret, if you tell anyone I will have to go to prison, or a terrible accident will happen, or whatever).
5)In general, child molestors or abusers have very strong defense tactics, and are very quick with libel claims (see the kolko case, a quite typical example).
6) It is very difficult to get a child molestor or abuser punished, because there is always the question of the burden of proof and the principle "in dubio pro reo" (if in doubt, no condemnation). According to a informal statistics published on a homepage of abuse victims in Germany,
of 276 victims,
56 went to court,
17 trials took place (the rest was to far in the past)and up to now,
2 culprits were condemned (one got 2 years on probation, the other one for 3 years 8 months, for repeated rape).

So it could be that Yona Weinberg is innocent and that this is only a "mud campaign". But odds are bigger that the opposite is true.

Dear Yehoshua, I find it particularly shocking that you ask that the children who claim to have been abused and their families are put into Chereim. If you claim that your friend Yona should have the benefit of doubt, so leave the same benefit of doubt to the victims. Involuntarily, you serve the classic defense and intimidation stategy of abusers. Even if Yona turns out to be innocent, you intimidate true victims from reporting if you say things like this.

 

It is not possible that this young man has acted in such a way. The media is quick to sully a persons' reputation before all of the facts have been brought forth. This information should not be printed until an individual has had the opportunity to defend himself prior to the prosecutor dragging him through the mud. Even after these charges have been shown to be false the taint of this situation will sadly follow this young man.

 

Can anyone shed light of how the media got involved in this case ? How can anyone drag someones name family and extended family trough the mud just because of an allegation ?

 

This ought to be a wake up call to those like Yehoshua who do a great job with kids, but need to be super vigilant about their behavior so as to avoid allegation.
While I do not know anything about the suspect or the victims, I do have teenage boys and cannot imagine coming to the fore with such awful information which in itself is so difficult.

 

To Anonymous at May 07, 2008 8:58 AM: Your comments are great and well researched. Spoken like a true community advocate and mental health professional. I am not going to make any reference to this specific incident, since; i am in mo way able to judge in this case. I do not know the people involved; nor am I privy to the details.

To Anonymous at May 06, 2008 8:48AM: Taking this opportunity to educate children on how to tell a safe adult if something happens is important. One of the best and KOSHER books that I have seen on this is "Uncle Willy's Tickles: A Child's Right to Say No" By Marcie Aboff. It is for young children, which is really the best age to teach this skill.

Here is a link to the book: http://mytherapystore.com

Read it to your children. Help them be safe. The more that children know how to tell a safe adult when something happens, the more people they save. Someone who molests outside the family often have hundreds of victims.

It is harder for people to molest when the risks of being found out is greater.

 

To Anonymous : May 07, 2008 8:58 AM

As a victim myself, I would like to say, your statements are very true and accurate. May nobody ever experience such abuse ever.

 

To Whom It May concern:
It is very easy to drag people through the mud. In fact i think its easier to ruin someone by accident and NEVER be able to repair damage that was caused " By Accident." So we have a Question : What should we do?" The answer is quite simple.. Dont Jump To wrong conclusions. Because if we do... You Will NEver be able to take back Your damaging words.

 

I hope we all think before we speak
or type because although people dont think there is accountability in this world. Yidden KNOW that every thing we do is seen and held accountable by the one above... just a friendly reminder....

 

Internet is TREIF.Internet is the cause to all the problems."ibiarta horah mikirbecho" it should be called "intervesh" anybody think different?

 

If Internet is treif, why are you on it? Or do you think you are the one who is allowed to use treif things? Or do you wait for someone to tell you that Internet is not treif, so that you can use it without matzpun ra?

No, Internet is not the source of all problems. Child abuse existed before there was Internet.

But I suppose, your comment was not serious, but ironical.

 

Whether it is true or not his life is ruined. Who will ever take him as a tutor or let him be with children. I daen at that shul and I just can't see how something like this could have happened there. As stated above, it is one big room with no corners to hide in. Were the kids making the claim properly questioned? As I can see from above, he stands no chance of being judged fairly by the community even if he is innocent.

 

It also happened that a child was abused in a swimming pool, with plenty of people around. Molestors are often very cynical and very good actors.

If he is proven innocent, there will be no problem for him to teach again.

If he is proven guilty, on the other hand, odds are that he will not go to jail at all or that he will be free very soon.

 

Many of the comments leave me wondering. There are many that fit into one type of defense: He is a great guy (he might be, I don't live in Brooklyn, B"H and have no idea of who he is or what he looks like), he would never do such a thing, he is a great teacher, he isn't the type to do such a thing, etc.

Offering such a defense clearly implies three things: 1) There are types of people who do things 2) indications of being one of those types are clearly visible to the (trained and/or experienced) eye and 3) the person offoring the defense is one of those people who know what types of people commit these crimes and how one can spot them.

So, please, with the whole world awaiting as eagerly as I do, tell us what types of people commit these crimes and how can the rest of us identify the guilty and the innocent with the extreme confidence shown by the posters offering these defenses.

I HAVE NO IDEA IF HE IS GUILTY OR INNOCENT BUT as Anon 8:48 (May 6th) pointed out כבדהו וחשדהו is appropriate until we know more.

At least I learned one thing reading these comments. Now I know why the reflex reaction of automaticlly denying that otherwise upstanding members of the community could have committed some really bad crimes against innocent victims is called a knee-JERK reaction.

 

I was wondering..
What happens if the guy we thought was guilty we drag through the mud...IS then proven to be innocent? isnt he distroyed?

 

This is directed to Yehoshua and the others:

I know Yona for 15 years and was extremely close to him. I cannot say if he is guilty here but I will say this: He discusses things with young boys he should not be discussing. Such as, masturbation, pubic hair growth and wet dreams. I know this because he discussed this with me. Obviously this is not legal either- This has happened way before he became a social worker and he has had these discussions with countless boys. At the time, an 11 year old kid might not think much of it because they like the attention that an older guy is giving them. He always had a big connection with boys that come from troubled homes. I honestly doubt he would go as far as touching a boy but it is not at all impossible.- Remember, it doesnt matter how nice a person is- this is a SICKNESS! It doesnt mean that he meant to hurt them either! When this story first came out, my instinct was to protect Yona and stand up for him, but I am not sure this is possible because I was once 11 or 12 and had these talks with him and remember how vulnerable I felt about it.

I rarely write on blogs because I dont feel that I fit in the catagory of the uneducated and their responses that so frequently show up here. However, I felt I needed to write something about this. A person cannot jump to conclusions but if the story is out there, its very possible that there is some truth.

Yehoshua- You cant ever say that he would never do such a thing- What gives you the right to say this? You are the same age as him!- Even when you were younger, you were not his target! The only thing you can do is vouch for his middos or whatever. You cant say whether or not he would ever touch a boy improperly!

Unfortunately, Yona is guilty in some way because he is not allowed to have these talks with children- especially in the orthodox world. It really doesnt matter that he is a social worker now. I seriously doubt that they bring up the subject to him of masturbation when he is teaching them bar mitzvah lessons- This is something that he brings up to them. I am really not sure if anyone else will come foward but I dont think I will be surprised. I hope he gets the help he needs.

 

Hi
the last person who stated that he had such a conversation...
When, how, and can you prove that ?

 

IF what you say is true i would like a real name expecially if you are stating that he did these things!!!!!!!! otherwise your not reliable to trust your words

 

This is directed to anonymous: (May 10 18:43 PM)

Like Yehoshua who expressed his opinion regarding Yona's innocence, please have the guts to identify yourself. It's very easy to make specific accusations and allegations and planting seeds of guilt behind the cover of anonymous. If you are so educated why are you reading this blog in the first place ? What's your real agenda ? Couldn't you wait till SHABBOS was over to post your comment ?

 

If the anonymous guy making accusations is credible, he'll testify in court. Anything said here is meaningless. As for posting his real name, I wouldn't if I was him. Even if he's telling the truth, he'll suffer degradation and harassment. Look at what happened to accusers in other big cases.

 

RE: may 10th 2008 8:43pm

A yid must be dan lekav zechus.

I see that people are upset with the above's comments.I don't think that is necessary.
He states in one instance,"I cannot say if he is guilty..." and in another instance he states " I honestly doubt he would go so far as touching a boy .."
With regards to the conversations that he states he had, that can be as a result of issues that Yona felt had to be discussed to help this young man.

In no instance does he ever say that he was touched. I choose to look at that in a positive light.

May all parties to this action find a way to resolve these issues
in a satisfactory way, without additional hurt.

 

...look into the accusers and their parents...you may find a mountain of social problems...including abuse...or maybe a vendetta against the accused...before you judge anybody you should wait until all the facts are in...all these blogs are fueling hatred...we should wait for the truth to come out; before we make it up ourselves...and then have to live with ruining an innocent person's life...

 

I agree to the above

 

Let's Be Dam Lkav Zechus. Having said that, i still dont want my kids alone with him while there is any smoke.

 

"dan lechaf zechut" also applies to the victims: before accusing them of lying, be "dan le chaf zechut".

 

if it's true that this yona guy had improper "talks" with 11 / 12 year old boys - then it's enough for me! what else do you need? this is terrible enough, no need to defend such sickos.

 

if he is found completely innocent, and the accusers were found to have lied and made up the accusations, will you allow him to teach your child?

or will these accusations be a cloud over his head for the rest of his life?

 

the above statement is a very difficult one to answer...

 

Old news at this point, why re-open?

 

I dont believe the aligaition are true my son went to yonah for therepy for a whole year and says that he cant believe all this bs he never had any negetive expierience with yonah my son says yonah wasnt the greatest therepist but defenetly is not a child molester

 

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? This may be your only chance in your life (and your kid’s) to save an innocent man and help his family. Get off the blogosphere, pick up the phone, and show your kid what’s right by calling yona’s lawyer to make a statement. Privacy laws won’t let him to contact his former clients: you have to take that step.

 

Problem is, the authorities are investigating and he has been ordered to keep away from his own children. Does this say anything? Please refer to Dov Hikind's show last week and this problem is so huge that it's unbelievable to me that it's unbelievable to some of you that it's going on!

 

Yehoshua, you are one day IY"H going to be a father, until then, please allow parents of children to see this differently than you.

 

I belive it 100% i dont even know the guy but nobody makes up such a thing he did soemething bad and now hell pay for it he shouldve thought befor he did it there are so many sick crazy guys out there that are doing this lets get them off the street once and for all and yehoshua go find help are u seriouse to put the parents in chairem?????????? when were u by the doctor last they deserve a medle for speaking up.

 

I read all the comments above, I just want to add one thing.
There is a known rabbi in israel who used to live in jerusalem and had a yeshiva ketane, one day a bucher came forward and claimed that the rabbi molested him. The rabbi closed his yeshive and had to run to bet shemesh. After a while the story turned out to be FALSE, but by then the word was out already and nothing could fix it. The whole bes din of eida hachareidis went to tish of the above rabbi to show that the allegations were false, but the rabbi's life is ruined forever.
I don't know the story hear just beware what happens if it is not true the accuseds name could never be cleaned.

 

Yona tutored my son and had a very positive influnce on him. I concur with the previous parent, Yona is inocent. I sugest that we take a closer look at the accusers and their parents as you may find abuse, social and school issues.

 

No one can say that he is innocent just by knowing him. Its so difficult to come forward in thr frum community with sexual abuse allegations. Yona Weinberg was indicted by a Grand Jury which is where witnesses testify. All witnesses in this case are credible. Wake up and protect our children before such a chilul Hashem is made. Educate children to tell the truth.