ABUSE COMES TO LIGHT (Hasidim silence on pervs seen cracking)

Daily News/Alison Gendar and Simone Weichselbaum

Just before last Thanksgiving, a 13 year old Brooklyn girl told her parents she had beenmolested.  They didn't go to police.  Her dad went straight to their rabbi.  Thereligious leader told them to go to another rabbi for guidance.  The frantic couple spoke totwo more rabbis before taking their advice: talk to cops.  The family met privately with adetective and a prosecutor, and authorities charged a 59 year old neighbor, Arye Ickovits, withsexually abusing the young teen after luring her into his bedroom.  Sexual abuse in New York'sHasidic community was almost never reported to police for fear of shaming the victim and exposingthe insular world's less savory elements.  Advocates say that wall of silence is starting tocrumble.  Since October, at least four men living in Brooklyn's Hasidic enclaves have beencharged with sexually abusing children, ranging in age from 7 to 15.
(New York)