Police drop sex abuse probe of London rabbi

A police investigation into sex abuse allegations against Chaim Halpern, a prominent London rabbi, has been dropped.

The Metropolitan Police said Friday that a file passed to the Crown Prosecution Service “regarding allegations of sexual assault has resulted in no charges being brought against a 54-year-old man,” The Jewish Chronicle of London reported on its website.

The report said that officers from the London borough of Barnet’s sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command, who investigated the allegations, “confirm that all allegations have been fully investigated.”

Rabbi Halpern, who is the head of the Divrei Chaim synagogue in the heavily Jewish Golders Green area of the British capital, was arrested in February but had denied any wrongdoing.

The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations will have to decide whether to reconvene a special rabbinical court, or Beth Din, which was suspended during the police inquiries, to examine his conduct, the Chronicle wrote.

Police added: “Anyone who believes they have been a victim of crime should report this to police.”