A 21-year-old woman has branded an Orthodox rabbi “dangerous and sick”, claiming he used his position to groom and assault her.
The woman says Rabbi Chaim Halpern, spent time and effort winning her and her family’s trust before allegedly assaulting her when she went to him for spiritual guidance.
The head of the ultra orthodox Divrei Chaim Synagogue in London’s Golders Green, Rabbi Halpern, 64, is already facing an official rabbinical inquiry in to his conduct after the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke her silence to accuse him.
Now it can be revealed that Scotland Yard has also launched an investigation into the case.
Speaking to the JC this week ,the rabbi’s alleged victim, who now lives in Israel and is undergoing therapy to deal with her claimed ordeal, said: “The truth is overdue. Reb Chaim thinks that because he’s a rabbi, he can do whatever he wishes.
“He tricked me into trusting him by acting charming, giving attention and compliments. He invests time into phone calls and emails, but it’s all just grooming.”
Her new claims came after an Israeli television channel broadcast conversations purportedly between the woman and the rabbi in which he said he loved her, that she was beautiful and asked to “come with you in bed”.
The woman told the programme Rabbi Halpern had touched her “private parts” at a counselling session in London and repeatedly tried to see her during a visit to Israel.
Rabbi Halpern denies the claims, but the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, which oversees his community, said it was opening “a full and impartial investigation”.
The new allegations come almost ten years after the police decided to bring no charges against Rabbi Halpern after a nine-month investigation during which he and three other men were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and perverting the course of justice.
In a statement given to the JC last week, the rabbi’s alleged victim said she feared for others in the community.
She said: “He manipulates the family, grooming them as he groomed me. The fact that he was confided in [by everyone in the community] gives him a massive amount of power.”
Speaking via her therapist, an abuse expert and an investigator licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Justice, she added: “He clearly thought that I’m vulnerable, and seized the opportunity to use me for his own sexual pleasure.
“I refuse to allow Chaim Halpern to get away with it.”
She went on:“So many people come to him for guidance.
“He’s deceiving our whole community, tricking them into thinking that what he is doing is fine and correct and holy.
“He shouldn’t have the high position he has, or any position at all.”
Rabbi Halpern dismissed the allegations against him as a “made-up story”. But his alleged victim insisted that she was telling the truth.
“Chaim Halpern can try to say I’m lying, but every word I say is true,” she said.
“He can try to make me look bad — questioning my mental health and religious level. But that is all lies. I’m strong, stable and growing.”
She added: “He’s a monster. I want to spread awareness to everyone.
“Reb Chaim is dangerous and sick. What he is doing is evil. He must be stopped.”
Her therapist, who specialises in helping trauma victims, added: “I am a witness to some of the [telephone] conversations that took place between my client and Rabbi Halpern. She recorded some of the calls in my office.
“Even after the broadcast [on Israeli television] he called to check on her to see if she had spoken. I heard that. I am a witness to this.
“There are hours of tape of Rabbi Halpern speaking to her. Those hours [of him talking to her] document crimes, and he knows it.”
Rabbi Halpern’s lawyer said: “If there is now a Metropolitan Police investigation in relation to recently reported allegations, that investigation should take its course. Rabbi Halpern will speak to the police if and when invited to do so.”
