Orthodox sex abuse scandal

SNARED:Andrew Goodman (above), one of 85
sex-abuse suspects arrested over the last three
years by Project Kol Tzedek, has been accused
of preying on the boys of Brooklyn’s Orthodox
Jewish community and — even after his arrest on
sex-assault charges — was caught on video ushering
teens into his Flatbush home (below). He is being held
on Rikers Island in lieu of a $1 million cash bail.

117 kid victims and 85 arrests in Jewish enclave

By SUSAN EDELMAN

Last Updated: 12:54 PM, December 11, 2011

Posted: 12:09 AM, December 11, 2011

He looks like a movie star, but many members of Brooklyn’s Jewish community believe he is a monster.

Andrew Goodman, 27, who worked for Jewish social-service agencies, is charged with sexually abusing two Orthodox boys for years in Flatbush — one from age 11 to 15, the other from age 13 to 16.

Goodman filmed sex acts with the youngsters on a Web cam, according to the 144-count indictment, which alleges numerous violations since 2006. He has pleaded not guilty.

The handsome Goodman, who held parties in his home with liquor and child porn, also threatened the life” of a boy who reported him to authorities, court papers and sources say.

He’s one of an astounding 85 accused Orthodox child molesters that Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ office says it has busted in the past three years in an initiative called Kol Tzedek, Hebrew for “voice of justice.”

The cases involve 117 victims — a number that has the community reeling from the extent of the horrors of pedophilia.

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Launched amid complaints that Hynes was soft on Orthodox child predators, Kol Tzedek aims to coax victims to come forward, despite strong pressure in the insular religious community to cover up such crimes.

All but two of the suspects are men, and more than half the victims are male, said Assistant DA Rhonnie Jaus, chief of the sex abuse and crimes against children division.
Of the 38 cases closed so far, 14 perps got jail time, ranging from a month to 10-to-20 years for crimes that included sex abuse, attempted kidnapping, and sodomy, Jaus said.

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