‘Well-known’ rabbi accused by two women of groping is grilled by police
Prominent religious leader from south suspected of sexual misconduct toward women who came to him for counsel
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Police summoned a well-known rabbi from the south of the country for questioning after two woman complained he had groped them during a consultation.
One of the women filed a police complaint on Thursday. The next day, after seeing the complaint reported on the news, a second woman came forward and filed a complaint. The second woman told officers she knew of at least two others who had been subjected to inappropriate behavior by the rabbi.
The identities of all parties are being withheld for the time being while the case is being examined. Last week, Channel 12 said the rabbi was “very well known.”
The rabbi was questioned on Monday at the Beersheba Police Department, where investigators are planning to stage a confrontation between him and the complainants as part of the investigation, Channel 12 reported.
The first woman to complain had met with the rabbi recently to ask for advice and receive his blessing. According to her police complaint, during the meeting he asked her to lift her shirt and bra so he could examine her.
The woman, a physician, said she didn’t understand why he needed to examine her.
He then touched her breast and stomach. She said he then told her he understood why her husband loved her, and said her breasts were perfect.
She told officers she felt nausea and “unbearable humiliation” from the incident.
The second woman’s complaint told a similar story of the rabbi asking a woman who came for a consultation to remove her shirt.
The case is the second investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by a rabbi in two months. In July, police arrested a rabbi suspected of sexual misdeeds toward his male students. Several of the rabbi’s aides were also briefly detained in the investigation, which is still underway.
The Times of Israel Community.