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An Upstate New York rabbi is accused of molesting two boys.

The rabbi, Yaakov Weiss, who teaches in Albany, appeared in court to answer to charges that he had inappropriate sexual contact with two of his male students, both 13 years old, according to an Aug. 26 article posted at Fox23News.com.

Weiss, 29, was accompanied by his wife. One of the couples’ three children also accompanied Weiss to court, the article said.

Another Aug. 26 article on the case was published at Albany newspaper the Times-Union, and said that the rabbi allegedly struck and kicked one of the boys, and urged the other to deny that anything untoward had taken place.

"Just say nothing happened," both articles reported the rabbi allegedly told one 13-year-old.

The Times-Union article said that Weiss was accused of having improper sexual contact with the boys in a ritual bathing pool called a mikveh. One boy was allegedly assaulted in June of 2007, and the other later that same year.

Weiss, who opened the Chabad of Colonie and the Chabad Hebrew School, defended himself in an email sent to the Time-Union in 2008 by claiming that the charges were baseless and the story of the sexual molestation a fabrication "generated by an individual who has been antagonistic toward Chabad of Colonie from its inception and continues to be envious of continued success."

Weiss, the article said, wrote that the accusations were "his way of getting rid of us."

The Fox News article quoted Weiss’ lawyer, Arnold Proskin, who said that Weiss had hundreds of supporters.

"Public support is absolutely outstanding," claimed Proskin.

Added the attorney, "This is just something that makes the hair on the back of your neck tingle and I’m not saying it as a joke.

"It just bothers me greatly," Proskin went on. "It bothers a lot of people and we’re defending this matter."

Proskin also suggested that the case going before the Albany County grand jury was a matter of publicity on the part of the prosecution.

"There’s no advantage," Proskin said.

But the District Attorney for Albany County, David Soares, was cited in the Fox News article as explaining that the grand jury was presented with the case as a result of the special victims unit’s involvement.

Said Soares, "We prefer to try our cases in a court of law and not in the media."

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=95786