NEW YORK — The U.S. Justice Department has launched a sweeping inquiry into the New York Police Department’s famed sex crimes investigators following years of complaints about the way they treat crime victims.
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Ex-Principal Extradited From Israel Is Convicted of Abuse in Australia
Malka Leifer, who had led an ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls’ school in Melbourne, was found guilty of sexually abusing students more than 15 years ago.

The former principal of a girls’ school in Melbourne, Australia, was found guilty Monday on 18 charges of sexually abusing two students more than 15 years ago in a case whose yearslong extradition battle tested relations between Australia and Israel.
The defendant, Malka Leifer, 56 — who faced 27 counts of sexual abuse in all and was acquitted on nine — was on trial for incidents alleged to have taken place between 2003 and 2007, when she was principal of the Adass Israel School, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish institution. She pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Three sisters — Nicole Meyer, 37, Dassi Erlich, 35, and Elly Sapper, 34 — were named as the victims in the case. Prosecutors said the abuse began when they were students and continued after they became student teachers there. The incidents were alleged to have occurred at the school, at camps organized by the school and at Ms. Leifer’s home.
The prosecutors argued that Ms. Leifer exploited her authority over the sisters, as well as their vulnerability and lack of knowledge about sexual matters. Ms. Leifer’s lawyers argued that the sisters were unreliable witnesses whose accounts had changed over the years.
A jury handed down a verdict after a six-week trial and nine days of deliberation. The 18 charges Ms. Leifer was found guilty of included rape, indecent assault and sexual penetration and indecent assault of a 16- or 17-year-old. She was acquitted of charges of rape and indecent assault.
The charges that resulted in convictions related to Ms. Sapper and Ms. Erlich, while those resulting in acquittals related to Ms. Meyer and Ms. Erlich, Ms. Meyer confirmed.
Ms. Leifer, a married mother of eight, fled to Israel in 2008 after allegations of sexual abuse first surfaced, and was arrested there in 2014 at Australia’s request. The sisters campaigned to have her extradited to Australia, and several Australian politicians, including two prime ministers, raised the matter with their Israeli counterparts.
But the process was delayed several times after Ms. Leifer claimed to have mental health difficulties, and a psychiatric evaluation found her unfit to stand trial.

Eventually, an Israeli judge approved Ms. Leifer’s extradition, ruling that she had faked mental illness for years. She was returned to Australia in 2021.
Last year, Yaakov Litzman, an Israeli lawmaker, was sentenced to an eight-month suspended jail sentence over accusations that he used his position to pressure psychiatrists to deem Ms. Leifer unfit to stand trial.
The case against Ms. Leifer relied on the testimony of the three sisters, who gave evidence and were cross-examined for two weeks in a courtroom that was closed to the public and the news media. The prosecution also called police officers, psychologists and members of the school’s staff as witnesses.
Ms. Leifer did not testify, and the defense called no witnesses.
A prosecutor, Justin Lewis, told jurors that the sisters were raised in an isolated ultra-Orthodox community, had a “miserable home life,” were conditioned not to question authority and received no sex education. He said Ms. Leifer had taken advantage of those factors, as well as her own respected status in the community, to manipulate them.
The sisters testified that they had not understood the sexual nature of what was being done to them, according to Mr. Lewis.
A defense lawyer, Ian Hill, said there were enough inconsistencies in the sisters’ stories to create reasonable doubt about the accusations. He said their version of the events evolved and “grew like wildfire.”
At a news conference after the verdict was handed down, Ms. Erlich said it was “a day we have waited so long for.”
“Her abuse has held us hostage for so long,” she added. “Today we can start to take that power back that she stole from us as children.”
“Malka Leifer is guilty,” Ms. Meyer said. “We have waited 11 years to say those words. Yes, it’s bittersweet, but she is guilty.”
Ms. Leifer will be sentenced at a later date.
Yan Zhuang is a reporter in The New York Times’s Australia bureau, based in Melbourne. @yanzhuang25
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/03/world/asia/malka-leifer-australia-sexual-abuse.html
Justice Department to investigate NYPD sex crimes unit
“Survivors of sexual assault should expect effective, trauma-informed and victim-centered investigations by police departments,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. New York City’s two U.S. attorneys joined her in announcing the inquiry.
The police unit inspired TV’s “Law & Order: SVU,” and the real-life version has tackled such major cases as the prosecution of former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. But the division also has faced a decade of complaints about thin staffing and superficial investigations.
In a 2019 lawsuit, a woman alleged detectives shrugged off her report of being raped by someone she’d been involved with, logging it as a “dispute” instead of a sex crime. Another woman said in the suit that her account of being kidnapped and gang-raped was grossly mishandled for months before she was told the case was “too complex” to investigate.
After the lawsuit and a leadership shakeup, the NYPD promised change. But victims’ advocates say it hasn’t happened.
“We hope the Justice Department’s investigation and our lawsuit will finally result in real change for victims and survivors of sexual assault in New York City,” said the women’s lawyer, Mariann Wang.
The NYPD said it welcomes the review and is committed to improving its investigations.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said she believed any “constructive” review would “show that the NYPD has been evolving and improving in this area, but we will be transparent and open to criticism as well as ideas.”
Mayor Eric Adams, a retired police captain who took office in January and appointed Sewell, said she immediately took steps to make sure the unit was “professional.”
“We were not sitting on our hands,” the Democrat said.
Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said the NYPD has already taken steps to address concerns, but authorities want to ensure victims are treated fairly in the future.
Justice Department officials said they planned a comprehensive review of policies, procedures and training for the Special Victims Division’s sex assault investigations — including how police interact with survivors and witnesses, collect evidence and complete investigations.
The officials also want to see what steps the police department has taken to fix deficiencies, including the unit’s staffing and its services for sexual assault survivors.
In a letter to the Justice Department last August calling for an investigation, victims described the NYPD’s work on sex crimes and other sensitive cases as “negligent and sexist.”
The Weinstein case spotlighted the sex crimes division, which helped build a prosecution that ended with a watershed conviction for the #MeToo movement. But along the way, prosecutors dropped one of the charges in 2018, after evidence surfaced that a detective had coached a witness and told an accuser to delete material from her cellphone.
A lawyer for the woman whose allegation was dropped from the case has faulted prosecutors for what happened. She said Thursday that she welcomed shining light on police practices, offering a mixed view of the police sex crimes unit.
“Our experience is that many viable sexual assault cases are tossed out by police at the earliest stages of investigation,” said the attorney, Carrie Goldberg. “On the other hand, some of the most consequential sexual assault prosecutions of recent history — for example, that of Harvey Weinstein — were driven by the tenacity of dedicated NYPD investigators.”
After the 2019 lawsuit, the unit got a new leader, Judith Harrison, and shifted to what she called a “victim-centered” approach — but she soon moved to a different position.
Successor Michael King, appointed in 2020, was a veteran investigator and forensic nurse. King was removed from the job in February, amid complaints about his leadership and continued mishandling of cases.
Last October, a woman who identified herself as a rape victim told a City Council hearing that detectives failed to interview witnesses, collect security camera footage from the bar where she’d been before the attack, or test for date-rape drugs. She said they closed the case twice without telling her.
In another case, detailed in a 2020 article in The New York Times, a New York University student said a sex crimes detective openly doubted her allegation that a stranger had raped her in her apartment. The investigator talked her out of moving forward and shut down the case, she said.
The suspected rapist, identified through fingerprints on a condom wrapper found at the apartment, was later jailed on burglary charges — but ended up being released and assaulting three more women because the Special Victims Division never told prosecutors he was a rape suspect, the Times reported.
The unit has also been under scrutiny, including from the NYPD’s internal affairs bureau, for allegedly mishandling rape kits and for investigators allegedly shortchanging the department on hours worked.
Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said sex crimes victims “deserve the same rigorous and unbiased investigations of their cases that the NYPD affords to other categories of crime.”
Nashua police arrest 12 in sex crime sweep
Feb. 8—Nashua police on Tuesday announced the arrest of a dozen individuals on charges related to either sexual exploitation of children on the internet, or failure to register as sexual offenders.
Seven were arrested on charges related to possession or distribution of online images of child sexual abuse, according to a news release.
Johnny Oriol, 41, of 4 Pine Grove Ave., Nashua, was charged with prohibited uses of computer services, and attempted felonious sexual assault, both Class B felonies. Police allege that Oriol was communicating on a computer with an individual he believed to be a child.
Vincent Giugno, 18, of Hopkinton, Mass., was charged with 10 counts of possession of child sexual assault images, a Class A felony, as a result of an investigation into the sexual exploitation of children on online platforms.
Sean Olivera, 30, of 190 Ledge St., Nashua, was charged with two counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images, and three counts of possession of child sexual abuse images.
Erin Taylor, 23, of 34 Kessler Farm Drive, Nashua, was charged with five counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images.
Nathaniel Guerra, 21, of 18 Conant Road, Nashua, was charged with five counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images.
Noah Hesse, 23, of 213 Brook Village Road, Nashua, was charged with two counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images; three counts of possession of child sexual abuse images; three counts of indecent exposure and lewdness; and prohibited uses of computer services.
Jordan Fernandes, 22, of 7 Commercial St., Nashua, was charged with three counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images.
Five individuals also were arrested for failure to properly register with law enforcement after prior convictions for sexual assault, according to the news release.
David Montes-Rodriguez, 32, of 33 Ash St., Nashua, convicted in 2008 of aggravated felonious sexual assault, was charged with three counts of failing to register his online identifiers.
Keith Herbert, 44, of 23 Temple St., Nashua, was charged with violating the duty to inform, subsequent offense, for failing to report information about vehicles registered in his name. Herbert was convicted of aggravated felonious sexual assault in Massachusetts in 1998.
Rickie Duncan, 66, of 30 Amory St., Nashua, convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse in Utah in 1993, was charged with failing to report, subsequent offense.
Kenneth Amber, 74, 44 Chestnut St., Nashua, who was convicted in 1995 of indecent assault and battery against a child under 14 in Massachusetts, was charged with failing to report, subsequent offense.
Kenneth Haley, 44, 57 Harbor Ave., Nashua, was arrested for failing to complete his sex offender registration, required after a 2008 conviction for aggravated felonious sexual assault.
Nashua police investigated the 12 cases with assistance from the New Hampshire Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshal Service.
The arrests were made on Monday, coinciding with “Safer Internet Day,” a global public awareness campaign that promotes the safe use of digital technology, especially among children and youths, according to the news release.
Resources for families and schools about preventing online exploitation of children are available at: saferinternetday.us.
Source: https://news.yahoo.com/nashua-police-arrest-12-sex-005300794.html
Child-Porn Suspect Who Ambushed FBI Agents During Florida Raid Is Identified
The Florida child-porn suspect who ambushed FBI agents serving a search warrant at his apartment Tuesday morning, killing two, has been identified as David Lee Huber, according to multiple reports.
Huber, a 55-year-old who ran a computer consulting business, is accused of shooting five federal agents attempting to execute a federal court-ordered search warrant as part of a child pornography investigation.
Law enforcement sources told the Miami Herald that Huber set up a camera in his doorbell and was monitoring the agents as they approached his unit at the Water Terrace apartment complex around 6 a.m. on Tuesday. He then opened fire with an assault-style weapon through the closed door, before killing himself.
The FBI has released photos of Special Agents Laura Schwartzenberger and Daniel Alfin, who were killed yesterday executing a search warrant in Sunrise, Florida. pic.twitter.com/HH5A3sZp8N
— Mike Balsamo (@MikeBalsamo1) February 3, 2021
During the deadly incident, Huber fatally shot Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger. Three other agents were wounded, including two who were transported to a hospital in stable condition. The third agent did not need hospitalization, the FBI said.
One of the wounded agents was released from the hospital on Wednesday.
“Dan and Laura left home this morning to carry out the mission they signed up for,” Miami’s FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro said during a Tuesday press conference. “We will always honor them.”
Two FBI Agents Shot Dead at Florida Child-Porn Raid
Huber was first identified by the Miami Heraldand the Sun-Sentinel, which cited law enforcement sources. The FBI declined The Daily Beast’s request for comment. A Sunrise police spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Beast the gunman died by suicide after shooting the five FBI agents.
According to public records, Huber spent most of his life in South Florida. The computer consultant, who had a pilot’s license, was married in late 2000 and divorced a decade later. He registered two computer consulting businesses, including Huber Computer Consulting and COMPUTER TROUBLESHOOTERS 0512 INC, though both are now inactive.
As first reported by the Miami Herald, Huber’s previous run-ins with the law are confined to minor offenses. Court records show Huber received two traffic tickets in 2016. The tickets say Huber moved to his unit in the Water Terrace apartment complex—where the shooting took place—that same year.
Source: https://news.yahoo.com/child-porn-suspect-ambushed-fbi-194316985.html