A former student of a well-known Brooklyn yeshiva alleges that he was sexually assaulted by another yeshiva student “nearly daily” for half a year when he was just 11 years old. The now 30-year-old man claims Oholei Torah, a respected Chabad yeshiva on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, failed to protect him. Claims of abuse aren’t new at Oholei Torah. The school has been accused before of not keeping its kids safe from abuse for many years. Oholei Torah, which boasts itself as “the premier Yeshiva for the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch Movement,” has been accused in prior lawsuits and news articles of failing to protect its students from sexual abuse.
According to media reports, in 2004 and 2005, the victim alleges that an older student took him to a storage room by the gym during lunch, where the bad stuff happened.
The school should have stopped this terrible thing when the victim was just between 11 & 12 years old. They were careless, did not watch over things, and made big mistakes, say the papers filed in court. The kid who did the abuse came from a well-known family in Brooklyn’s Jewish Lubavitch community in which he still lives. He is not named openly in court.
A big story in Newsweek back in 2016 about abuse in the Hasidic community had other students from Oholei Torah saying they were hurt, too — by both teachers and other kids. Court files show Oholei Torah is dealing with two more civil lawsuits in Brooklyn that talk about child abuse happening there. One lawsuit mentions a teacher forcing a 17-year-old to be involved sexually with him starting in 1987. Another one filed in March talks about a lifeguard making a 9-year-old touch him wrongly back in 1999. Oholei Torah’s website describes it as “the top Yeshiva for Chabad-Lubavitch everywhere.” According to the website, it has almost 2,000 students. Neither the school nor their legal team answered any questions when asked for comments on Monday.
At Horowitz Law, we are committed to advocating for the rights of survivors and ensuring that their voices are heard. Together, we can work towards a future where all students feel safe, supported, and empowered to seek justice. If you or someone you know has experienced abuse, we encourage you to reach out for support. Your voice matters, and we are here to help.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse in schools and other educational settings. If you or a loved one was sexually abused, raped, or sexually molested by a principal, teacher, or another school employee, contact our law firm at 888-283-9922 or e-mail sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz, at [email protected] for a free consultation.