The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office admits it made a serious mistake in an a case of alleged sex abuse case and the result: an accused pedophile can’t be prosecuted.
The error was exposed after a woman, now in her 20s, spoke exclusively with the News 4 I-Team.
“I feel victimized twice,” she said.
The alleged victim, a member of the Hassidic community in Borough Park, says the abuse by a man close to her family began when she was 11 years old, and continued for four years.
In early 2020, the NYPD arrested Aron Graus and charged him with sexual conduct against a child. Courts shut down for months during the pandemic, but the alleged victim says the assigned prosecutor told her in Jan. 2022 the case against Graus was still active.
But she says she started hearing in the community the case had been dropped because she was “uncooperative.”
“I tried calling the Assistant DA repeatedly and got no response,” she said, adding, “I was never uncooperative. I was pushing this case forward and ready to testify.”
An advocate reached out and finally arranged a meeting in November.
“I was told the case had been dismissed in April, because the prosecutor miscalculated the time deadline to take the case to a grand jury for an indictment,” she said.
Graus, whose case never got far enough for him to enter a plea, told the I-Team by phone, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
A spokesman for the DA’s office said in a statement, “We take every allegation of sexual misconduct very seriously, deeply regret that this survivor’s case was mishandled and offer her our sincerest apologies. We are conducting an internal review.”
The DA’s office denies there was any pressure from the Hassidic community to drop the case but Shilum Leifer, a community activist, doesn’t believe it. “I absolutely would say that somebody from the community pressured or worked with the DA in making sure there was no prosecution.”
Said the woman, “The community doesn’t want to acknowledge that sexual abuse is happening so it’s easier if they just shush everybody up.
She contends she was also abused in an upstate county by the same family acquaintance. The Brooklyn DA’s office told the I-Team they will assist the survivor in pursuing allegations there, “in hopes she may still receive some measure of justice.”
