Thread #7 -The Case of Shmuel Juravel (AKA: Samuel Juravel)
On May 25, 2006, there was a Pre-trail hearing on the case of Samuel Juravel. The case has been continued to July 10, 2006. There was NO plea hearing entered. Shmuel Juravel is still in custody. No bond posted.
Pre Trial Continued
July 10 at 9:00 am.
Judge Coogler
United States Circuit Court - Alabama Northern District
Hugo L. Black U. S. Courthouse
Birmingham, AL
July 10 at 9:00 am.
Judge Coogler
United States Circuit Court - Alabama Northern District
Hugo L. Black U. S. Courthouse
Birmingham, AL
Shmuel faces 70 years in Federal prison without parole plus a $750,000.00 fine.
Agents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI arrested Shmuel Juravel (Feb. 21, 2005) at a Birmingham hotel after he arranged to have sex with a minor.
Juravel grew up in Baltimore, MD. Around fifteen years ago the first allegations were made against Shmuel of child sexual molestation. According to statements made on the various threads relating to this case on this blog the survivors and their parents sought help from Rabbi Moshe Heinemann who said he would take care of things. Needless to say, nothing happened.
Shmuel is the son of Rabbi Moshe and Shulamis Juravel of Baltimore, MD. Rabbi Juravel is employeed as a teacher at the Torah Institute of Baltimore.
Due to the number of postings on Thread #6, the discussion of Shmuel Juravel will continue here on Thread #7
posted by Jewish Survivors at Tuesday, June 13, 2006
78 Comments:
I hope if he does get out that he doesn't come back to Savannah. Does anyone know if Janie plans on taking him back if he does? I know I do now want to see his perv face again.
Do you know that there are times that a convicted sex offender has sued for custody of their children and won.
There are cases that a rape survivor has become pregnant as a result of the assault. If the choose not to have an abortion the rapist can obtain parenting rights to the child.
THE WORD IS OUT!! JURAVEL HAS AGREED TO A PLEA BARGAIN THAT INCLUDES A "SUSPENDED" SENTENCE OF TWO YEARS WITH SOME PROBATION AFTERWORDS. APPARENTLY THE ATTORNEY HAS CONVINCED THE PROSECUTORS THAT THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF ENTRAPMENT AND THERE WERE NO ACTUAL EVIDENCE OF ANY REAL KIDS INVOLVED. I HEARD THIS FROM SOMEONE IN BALTIMORE THAT IS CLOSE TO THE FAMILY
I seriously doubt Janie is going to take him back. When she went away for Pesach she got a get...
it breaks my heart to see Janie out with her 3 precious children. the stigma that they are going to carry around forever is unimaginable. I look at my children (who are near the same age as hers) and think oh my G-D they are so innocent!!!!!
Wow! you folks have my strongest wishes for recovery in savannah. I just heard a report on the radio here in Seattle. I hope that his wife and her family(garfunkle?)can rebound quickly, I also hope she gets her get ASAP.
I know that some children in Savannah have gone to the FBI. I cannot believe that this is true and that he is getting out.
If Shmuel gets off easy then I blame whichever victims posted on this blog and did nothing.
Moshe K********* I hope you are wrong!!!
can anyone confirm that the plea deal was actually reached??? is there anywhere online we can confirm it?
The way in which the catch these guys is a double edge sword. Entrapment is a legitimate defense and has been used in several plea bargains.
Investigators have to cover all their bases. By the way, NO ONE should go and hang out in chat rooms trying to track down these people. Let the pros do it legally. Otherwise, this might be what you end up.
Not suprised at all in regards to his plea bargain deal. i knew he would get away with it. I told you guys he got the best lawyer. when you have money you can get away with anything in this world. we can not allow it to blind us though. we must be strong and united and to people like juravel that get away on different technicalities, we must show that we will not allow them "back in." Let him walk around with a stigma for the rest of his life, not his wife and kids. He is a sick person and we just can not allow him to penetrate our communities. Not in Baltimore, Not in Savannah and not anywhere. Lets make sure his actions follow him for the rest of his life and let the awarness keep our young ones safe.
as for the comment on baltimore for not going to the fbi... its something no one can judge. to be a victim and file a report is to be re-victimized for life. especially, children and young people, its to relive the situation and stand up against the fact that this pervert is going to be freed anyways and the victim lives in fear of the perpetrator. Kol Hakovod for Savannah, that is there as a strong and united community for their people. If Baltimore would react similarily I am sure there would have been more concrete evidence against him. People are scared to stand up against him alone, here. there is too much fear from the rabbonim not wanting the negative exposure...
This is incredible! We all knew he had a top notch attorney representing him-but he's off pretty easy! we here in birmingham feel shocked. Now it's up to the victims and their families in savannah to bring this pervert to justice. the stress will be hard but even harder will be the guilt felt in later years when juravel will inevitably repeat his actions and the victimized savannahians, now in their mid and late teens and completely able to sit on the witness stand, come to the realization that the ball was FULLY in their court to have prevented it.
we savannahians have no spine. I agree fully with the comment from birmingham. either we do something now or shmuel runs off, laughing all the way to the bank.
Can someone please post proof of this plea-bargain?
is there anywhere on the net we can read about this plea deal?
It's official(call the DA's office)-he's freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!-very soon.--way to go shmuel!
I'm sorry that I am non Jewish and don't know what these things mean....what is Pesach and a get.
I'm really trying to understand all of this and I do feel for Janie and her family and those 3 precious children. Please explain?
Do any of you relaly know that he accepted a plea bargin? Until you can back up your statement please refrain from the gossip. This gossip or heresay cause more pain to the surviors and victims of SJ. I am not bashing anyone i just think that it is important to back up this information
I just got off the phone with an employee at the Federal Circuit Court, Alabama Northern District http://www.alnd.uscourts.gov/
I was told that on May 25th there was a Pre-trail hearing on the case of Samuel Juravel (also known as Shmuel Juravel).
There was no plea hearing entered. Shmuel Juravel is still in custody. There was no bond posted.
The case is continued to July 10 at 9:00 am. in front of Judge Coogler, United States District Court
Hugo L. Black U. S. Courthouse
1729 Fifth Avenue North
Birmingham, AL 35203
whew! thank goodness that animal is still behind bars!
Backing up what Vicki said, if the case is before the Federal Court, the U.S. Attorney is the lead prosecutor and not a District Attorney.
Also, whoever said that Janie and her three kids will have this shame forever is sick. Janie and her kids are victims. They should get our sympathy and support. To condemn them with a mark of shame is the sort of sickness that makes it harder for victims to come forward.
If there is no evidence of actual crimes, sex with a computer isn't a mitzvah.
But, if that is all he is guilty of, tov Hashem lakol.
I did not say Janie and her children should be shamed... but what is going to happen in a few years when someone asks her kids "what does your dad do???". That is what I meant by the stigma of it.. Not everone they come in contact with is going to know what he did.....
As a mother of one of the boys he molested, I have the right to respond to the blogger that said "sex with a computer isn't a mitzvah.But, if that is all he is guilty of, tov Hashem lakol." Lets make sure he does not get out on the streets to possibly harm other innocent children or even his own children!
A 'Get' is a Jewish divorce, and 'Pesach' is Passover.
Thank you for explaining...I was trying to understand. Hopefully he will be in jail for a very long time and she won't have to deal with him.
He's a nudnik. If he's out and about, everyone will have to deal with him.
Moshe K******* does not know what he's talking about. There is no deal, no plea bargin that has taken place and made public. There is no leak about the plea.Any agreements that are made are behind closed doors, not open to the public and it will all come out at the trial. No suspended sentence..nothing..no one knows the outcome..period.
No one knows how many have come forward. No one knows of the case that hasd been built against juravel, except the FBI and other
agencies that are working on this.
You all will have to wait until July 10th to see where this is going. Anyone disagree with this ?
Of course juravel is a big story but I believe a bigger story is the cover up surrounding this person. The Baltimore community, who knew about him years ago, his parents who knew about him years ago, the savannah rabbi who was told about this person 5 years ago..no one wanted to face the truth about this person, no one.
I truly hope this all comes out in a trial; the cover up, the parents & rabbi's that covered it up..they are all to blame. With his boyish face, his "slight" mannerism's,
no one wanted to come down on him.
He raised money,that's really all that was seen in the savannah community. Here no evil,see no evil,speak no evil,keep raising money,and everything os O.K.. Makes one sick to see the sickness and greed in the communities.
everyone here in savannah is truly being urged to' speak no evil', especially those whose testimony would be most helpful to the prosecution- the victims- many of whom are now high school and college age and thus fully capable of testifying without any harmful emotional effects.in a nutshell, it is their selfish, socially paranoid parents who are preventing justice from running its course.
Having lived in Savannah's orthodox community, I know firsthand the importance given to those who make contributions to the synagogue, kolel and day school. Face it, they may have the best intentions in supporting these mosdos (institutions),but they do garner a larger amount of respect than others who may not contribute as much. Why would those who operate those institutions jeopardize their benefactors gifts by criticizing them, their family members or their habits? Who is going to criticize the people who are funding the many rabbis that live in Savannah including the rabbi?
Did I ever hear anyone exhort the many people who drive on Shabbos and Yom Tov to NOT do so? Nope.
Did the rabbi, who was known as a prodigy when in seminary water down his classes which were to be given to advanced kollel members in order to make in more understandable for those contributors who showed up uninvited? You bet.
The fact that the community has survived and thrived as it has is because people there feel good about the community and want to build it. They see their names plastered all over the synagogue and school, they are praised by the rabbi and others, they get respect. They make a positive difference.
This makes it very difficult for people to take action when a claim so bizarre as the ones initially leveled against Juravel are made.
Who was supposed to go and approach the Garfunkel family and tell them that their son-in-law was accused of deviant and harmful sexual behavior? The Rabbi? The President?
And the guy himself is described by too many people as a real "chevrah-man", a hustler and a shmoozer. He himself was according to accounts I have read, a money man.Apparently using somene else's money.
Small communities like Savannah have survived so long for the reasons listed above. The residents are committed and loyal.
They are also naive and innocent.
For a guy like Juravel, Savannah was a playground. Fortunately though, I do not think he will find any refuge there neither among the rabbis or anyone else.
An even bigger story is the cover up surrounding YK. People in the Baltimore community know but are doing NOTHING! Its easy to blame after everything gets uncovered but the baltimore community still has a chance to do something about yk before its really to late. The time to act is NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am happy to see that someone still cares. I wish there was a way to get in touch with those that know about YK. He is a manipultive person and needs to be brought down before he bring down.
Can anyone verify whether Juravel was indeed a victim himself? If so, what do you think the chances are that he will spill the beans?
If YK has committed a crime it is imperative for those who were abused to make a police report.
There are many people in Baltimore that are "manipulative". This is NOT a crime. If YK has broken the law, that's a different story, yet nothing can be done without consulting with your local police dept. If you are not sure if something is a crime, call either the Baltimore County Police Dept. or the Baltimore City Police Dept. and ask for their Special Victims Unit.
Hopefully the FBI will be reading these blogs and will ask questions and look into all of the alligations being made about the Baltimore & Savannah communities and the rabbi's, parents, et.al. who knew about juravel. Then the hammer will fall and no one will be safe from what they knew or didn't know. Money is the driving factor here. Keeping the funds flowing to support the ego's of the in crowd, to excercize their power over the rabbi's. Sick.
Keep the money flowing "my way".
Your obsessed with the money, a symptom of the times.
If you're so partial to conspiracy theories and apportioning blame, why not blame yourself? If talking in shul (of great interest to the fbi) was so offensive, what did you do to stop him?
If evil money bothers you so much, why aren't you more vocal about the issue in Savannah?
Your complaints are taken very seriously.
Obsessed with the money..you bet I am. When a person's behaviour is overlooked because of the money,you
bet I'm obsessed with that.
Conspiracy Theories..No,I don't think that there is a conspiracy but I do think that people in Baltimore knew about this person and tried to protect him. Sorry,that's what I truly believe.
Talking in Shul. Not my business but this person juravel..that's all he did except when he was called to the bema to lead the cong.
Evil money..No I don't think there was / is evil money. I do think that money is a very big factor within the shul. Why do we need all the rabbi's that have to be paid when, as we're told, we never have any money. Having all the rabbi's seems to be the "whim" of a few who think that the community is more then it is. To say something about this to the powers that be will only be met with a closed ear and anger. In Savannah as in Baltimore, you simply can't go against the "leaders". If you don't go along, keep your mouth closed or leave. That's just the way it is.
Sex offender legislation survives late alterations
Friday, June 16, 2006
by Alan Brody
ANNAPOLIS — Huddled in House Speaker Michael E. Busch’s office late Wednesday night, the six conferees working out technical differences on a comprehensive bill to clamp down on sexual offenders seemed near agreement.
An hour later, the legislation was once again in jeopardy as Sen. Brian E. Frosh protested a last-minute House effort to expand a provision that he opposed.
The key stumbling block was in a Republican-sponsored provision known as Jessica’s Law that would mandate minimum 25-year prison sentences for anyone convicted of first- and second-degree rape and sexual offenses against children under 13.
Earlier in the day, Republicans reluctantly agreed to reduce the mandatory minimum sentence on second-degree charges to five years and allow the possibility of parole on all sexual crimes.
Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda, who opposes mandatory minimum sentences, said the House wanted to add attempted sexual offenses to the list of applicable crimes. That last-minute change had Frosh rushing between chambers and saying the bill was on life support.
‘‘There’s no one-size-fits-all justice,” he said. ‘‘You have to give judges discretion, and you take away discretion when you do mandatory minimums.”
After hours of backroom negotiations, lawmakers agreed on final language and overwhelmingly passed the sex offender legislation just before 5 a.m. Thursday, relieving supporters of a bill that had considerable momentum in January and fizzled on the last day of this year’s legislative session.
Although lawmakers were in Annapolis this week primarily to address electricity rate relief for 1.2 million Baltimore Gas & Electric customers, tightening controls on sexual offenders was also a priority.
Key details
The sex offender bill, which passed 137-0 in the House and 39-5 in the Senate, would:
Subject convicted child sex offenders to extended parole between three years after release from jail to lifetime supervision, based on a pre-release clinical evaluation.
Require child sex offenders to register with local law enforcement agencies every three months and have updated photographs taken annually
Notify public and private school administrators when a child sex offender resides, works or attends school nearby.
Bar convicted sex offenders from school property without written permission from local school officials.
Set a parole-eligible mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years for anyone 18 or older convicted of first-degree rape or first-degree sexual offense of a child under 13.
Set a minimum five-year sentence with the possibility of parole for anyone convicted of second-degree rape or second-degree sexual offense of a child under 13.
‘‘To a lot of people, protecting their grandchildren and children from a sexual predator is more important than their electricity bill,” said Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Dist. 34) of Abingdon, one of the primary sponsors of Jessica’s Law, named for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was abducted, molested and murdered in Florida by a known sex criminal.
The early-morning passage had everyone claiming victory for Maryland families and children.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), who told The Associated Press he will sign the bill, said the legislation includes ‘‘85 percent” of the administration’s objectives — allowing parole was the shortcoming.
House Minority Whip Anthony J. O’Donnell said he was satisfied with what was a watered-down version of his original Jessica’s Law proposal.
‘‘With the makeup of this body being as liberal as it is, some people predicted we would never get this far,” said O’Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby.
Maryland becomes the 21st state to adopt mandatory minimum sentences against sex offenders, but there’s still work to be done, said Stacie D. Rumenap, executive director of Stop Child Predators, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that promotes the passage of Jessica’s Law at the state and federal levels.
‘‘This piece of legislation is a good first step,” she said. ‘‘... You’ve got members of leadership claiming victory in passing Jessica’s Law, but in reality you’ve got rapists [potentially] going to jail for two-and-a-half years ... for committing a sexual offense against a child under the age of 13, and that’s not a just punishment.”
Others hailed the bill for strengthening supervision of sexual offenders after they are released from jail. The legislation requires a pre-release evaluation to determine whether convicted offenders remain a threat and how long they are placed on parole.
‘‘Under the system right now, if someone [pleaded] to a lower-level offense — often for good reasons to protect the victim — we wouldn’t be able to monitor them beyond the probationary period and this will give us the ability to monitor dangerous offenders for the rest of their lives,” said Lisae C. Jordan, legal director for the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Abuse.
Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D), one of the fiercest advocates for stronger monitoring of sexual predators, called Maryland’s current supervision ‘‘woefully inadequate.”
Just hours after the bill passed, party leaders were in full spin mode on who deserved credit for getting the bill finally passed out.
O’Donnell said the General Assembly’s use of the governor’s original bill was a ‘‘tacit acknowledgement of his leadership on the issue.”
But Curran maintained that his office has been in the forefront of cracking down on sex offenders for six years and offered its recommendations six months before Ehrlich’s bill was introduced.
‘‘I don’t care who gets the credit,” Curran told The Gazette. ‘‘All I’m looking at is that a hole in our system was plugged.”
Jordan, who was involved in negotiations throughout Wednesday and early Thursday, said there were several sticking points that endangered the bill’s passage. At one point Wednesday afternoon, Jacobs said Frosh had scuttled the bill.
‘‘It’s the politics over the policy,” Sen. Phillip C. Jimeno (D-Dist. 31) of Brooklyn Park said at the time.
But Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr. said there was ‘‘always a glimmer of hope” that consensus could be reached.
‘‘In a very short time, we came up with a very strong law that could not have happened without compromise on both sides of the aisle,” said Giannetti (D-Dist. 21) of Laurel, who was one of the conferees.
You don't have to leave. All you have to do is start your own perfect community.
When you are in control, let us know how much better you do.
The last comment about the surplus of rabbis in Savannah being at the whim of a few with money is so ON TARGET it's not even funny.
Here you have a community with 3000 Jews and yet, you have rabbis who are on full time salaries, in shul subsidized housing and for what?
Some classes? Someone with Semicha needs to run the "Jr. Congregation" and the youth programs?
No, what you have is a nucleus of rabbis so that people can feel righteous and holy surrounded by rabbis.
I'm not talking about the rabbis who teach in the day school. They are educators. But what about everybody else?
Are they serving a constructive purpose for the greater community, or just taking up space?
I don't know sometimes. I just don't know.
how many rabbis are in your community of just 3000? how many shabbos keeping families are in savannah? are they really needed? could the money go to better causes?
Why is there such a proclivity to SAVANNAH BASHING?
The rabbis are teachers for the most part.
A fair amount of day school principals spent a few years in Savannah either as teachers, youth directors, head of the kollel (which was nothing more than Adult Education)etc.
No one in Savannah is starving (this includes the rabbis who are often beneficiaries of great generosity from people)and the shul is still alive.
Juravel suckered in a great family and I am sure he knew exactly what he was getting into when he met his wife in silver spring.
It was a free meal ticket for him and a chance to be a real "macher" outside of Baltimore, where he obviously had issues.
He walked into the BBJ knowing that he could shmooze his way to the top. Everyone smiling, no one daring to say "boo" to the "G" family's newest husband-it was a veritable buffet of ego gratification for him.
I'm sure he drove a nice car, we have heard about his suits, and had plenty of money. I am sure he shmoozed his way successfully in the G family insurance biz.
Whoops!! He molested some kids.
Whoops!! He liked to look at kiddie porn.
Whoops!! He got stung and is sitting in jail just waiting to be someone's b*tch in jail.
Shmooze your way out of that Juravel.
I have only read this blog sporadically.. and this is my first posting. I apologize for doing it anonymously.
I have always liked Shmuel and feel that he is a good person despite the horrific things he has done. I feel terrible for the pain he has caused his victims and his family and feel we must do everything we can as a community to help these people. But I also feel that we have an obligation as Jews and as a Shul, and as a community to help Shmuel. He is mentally sick and needs psychological care. He is physically undernourished (one meal a day brought an hour each way by the Chabad Rabbi from Birmingham). He has been abused by the guards. He has lost his house, his job, every penny, his wife, his children and apparently every friend. He is terribly alone and scared to death.
He has been accused on this blog of doing terrible things…but be careful of all these undocumented accusations… For example, he has never been to Wyoming and he was never a counselor or even attended the camp that has been referenced.
We may not know what is totally true but we do know this .. Shmuel went to Shul everyday, he worked for and helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for the synagogue and for the day school. He was on the board of the synagogue, the JEA and the Federation. He volunteered at the Federation every year and he served as president of the JEA Men’s Club.
Again, I am not trying to minimize any of the horrible things that Shmuel may have done.. but there is a lot of good within Shmuel and he did work hard to help the Savannah community.
I heard on TV this morning about some one who copied a woman’s keys, then entered her apartment, set up a hidden video camera, hid under her bed with the intent to commit rape …and was sentenced to 3 years. There was a report a month ago on the front page of the Atlanta paper where twelve men were arrested at a scheduled rendezvous point and sentenced for arranging on the internet to have sex with a minor and they were sentenced from 6 months to two years in a diversionary facility.
Shmuel is facing 25-30 years – no probation no parole. In my opinion, this is too much. I have to believe there are others out here that believe Shmuel has goodness within him, that we have an obligation as Jews to try to help him and that the sentence he is receiving is not fair.
For those of us that believe this way, it is time for us to say something.
I hope I have not offended anyone with my comments.. I know that the legitimate feelings of outrage run deep… but I pray there is also room for compassion. Thank you
update: last night i presented to the principals association on sexual abuse within our community. i was invited there by Mrs. Schorr who is the principal of Beth Tefilloh. the day schools represented there were: bais medrash and mesivta of baltimore, beth tefilloh, bais yaakov, ner israel, TA, TI, rambam, and the weinberg academy. i left after my presentation, so i do not know yet what the outcome or what sort of discussion occured after i left. they all listened, i think they were pretty shocked. i spoke about how pervasive this problem is, that sexual abuse has no socio-economic or religious boundries. i quoted from R' Dratch (www.jsafe.com). i spoke as a voice for survivors in baltimore. i spoke about juravel and that rabbis were told about hime years ago and because it was dismissed there are numerous more victims. i spoke about the kolko case. i made them aware of the public awareness campaign. Mrs. Schoor supported everything i said and kept them balanced and on point. there were questions of incredible ignorance... "there are that many victims in OUR schools? were these vitims "drifters"? etc. but Mrs. Schorr handled it very well and brought them back to the point that there is a serious problem here and we as a religious community need to set up a centralized and standardized system to train teachers to identify and act on symtoms of abuse, to create protcols for dealing with perpetrators including legal obligations, etc.
if nothing else comes of this, we at least have brought it to the forefront of thier minds and they know that there is an awareness campaign that they cannot stop.
on a personal note: i have reached a point where i need active volunteers to help with the next steps or i will burn out and crash. we all know how overwhelming this can be. if you want to help please contact me yacovsurvivor@yahoo.com
God Bless!
Regarding the previous anonymous post: I agree Shmuel has goodness within him and we have an obligation as Jews to try to help him. What can we do to help? What he did was wrong, but I am still definitely willing to help him. ...but how?
Naive Shmuel Sympathizer:
Unfortunately, there is fact to back up what you call "undocumented accusations." Generally, I have no problem with people posting on here anonymously. However, in your case I am very bothered by your anonymity. I think that you and your attitude towards this entire situation are dangerous. I think that the victims need help before Shmuel. How do you know that he has been abused by gaurds? In prison abuse is expected and accepted. I do not hope that he is abused-I would not wish that on anyone (but if it is sexual abuse he might enjoy it); however, I think that our concern should be focused on victims, not on Shmuel. Psychologists have concluded that people do not recover from shmuel's condition. When he gets out of prison he will be much worse than he is now due to whatever he goes through in there. Everyone is better off with Shmuel in jail. The longer- the better.
Shmuel clearly had you fooled as he did many of us. However, you are still fooled.
You want to help Shmuel? Do you have a teenage son? If you are concerned that Shmuel will have no friends and nowhere to go when and if he gets out, then you should volunteer to allow Shmuel to stay in your son's room. Would you feel comfortable with that? Or are you simply a person who did not have to deal with the abuse because it did not physically affect a person in your family? I think you should think about what you have written from the perspective of victims and their families. The victims only comfort is that Shmuel may have to do some hard time-he earned it.
Instead of helping Shmuel we should help those victims whose families are in denial. There are several teenagers that were abused by Shmuel who have not shared their stories. They are afraid, but these victims do exist as has been confirmed by some of Shmuel's other victims. These victims are scared- you can see it in their faces. In some cases their families are more worried about the stigma of their son having been a victim than concerned about his psychological well-being. These are the people we must help. Not Shmuel.
Shmuel still has money hidden away. He invested and he has money stashed in various places. Obviously, the money we thought he spent on suits is still there since he paid for his wardrobe by opening up credit cards in other family members names and leaving them with the debt.
To the poster who reads this blog sporadically. . .
You stated that shmuel went to shul everyday, helped raise tens of thousands of dollars, was even on the board. . . .
The problem is that he sexually abused several boys in Baltimore many years ago.
Has Shmuel ever apologies to them? Has he ever offered to reimburse his victims for the cost of therapy? Or offering to paying them for their pain and suffering?
Child molestation does not ONLY effect the survivors, it also effects those who care about them. When one is sexually victimized, it changes the way they relate to others for life. This includes their future spouses, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.
Poster said:
"Again, I am not trying to minimize any of the horrible things that Shmuel may have done.. But there is a lot of good within Shmuel and he did work hard to help the Savannah community."
I wonder if you asked the community of Savannah today if they are proud of Shmuel for all the good things he has done? In this case I wouldn't imagine they aren't.
Look at the facts, if even a small portion of what everyone is saying about Shmuel is true, He's a manipulator. He doesn't do good for others, he does good to make himself look good.
Poster said:
"He is physically undernourished (one meal a day brought an hour each way by the Chabad Rabbi from Birmingham). He has been abused by the guards. He has lost his house, his job, every penny, his wife, his children and apparently every friend. He is terribly alone and scared to death."
Did you ever ask how his survivors are doing? Do you care if they are able to hold a job? Are they able to have trusting relationships? Do you think they have ever been scared to death? Do they ever have flashbacks of Shmuel molesting them?
Poster said:
"Shmuel is facing 25-30 years – no probation no parole. In my opinion, this is too much. I have to believe there are others out here that believe Shmuel has goodness within him, that we have an obligation as Jews to try to help him and that the sentence he is receiving is not fair."
Shmuel is ONLY facing 25-30 years with no probation, no parole? Those he sexually victimized were given a life sentence, and they did NO crime.
The compassion for Shmuel will come once he is sentenced, once he does his time, once he enters into sex offender treatment, and if and when he discloses the name(s) of those who might have abused him as a child. You know the rumors are out there that he's a victim of a principal in Baltimore. No idea if the rumors are reality based or not, but I sure know everyone here would love for Shmuel to make a public statement about that.
Anonymous said...
"Regarding the previous anonymous post: I agree Shmuel has goodness within him and we have an obligation as Jews to try to help him. What can we do to help? What he did was wrong, but I am still definitely willing to help him. ...but how?"
It's so interesting that no one is talking about the obligations as Jews to help those who were sexually abused by Shmuel Juravel?
What is the community in Baltimore doing to support Shmuels victims? Or any survivor of sex crimes?
Is there a fund set up to help pay for therapy by professionals who are qualified to work with survivors of sexual violence?
the word here is that he has agreed to a plea bargain to get off with a suspended sentence. That is what someone close to his family said. I am not sure if you guys heard that yet in Savannah. Big deal, who cares. He will get out and hide somewhere for a few years. I think he will have learned his lesson. He will not make it into any jewish community for ever. His life is now between him and God.
For the rest of us
MOVE ON!!
Vicki,
you are wrong. There is a plea deal that was negotiated but it is not public until the hearing. For now it is just agreed to by the parties, meaning the prosecutor and defense attorneys. Where there is no child that was actually assaulted the courts are not likely to go far in punishment. He will get out. Get used to it.
"For the rest of us MOVE ON!!"
Excuse me?
Move on?
A man who has a track history of molesting boys is arrested, he's in federal custody pending a trial?
If I remember correctly there's the issue of several of his victims who have been ignored and shamed for how many years? And you say move on?
Wake up lady and smell the coffee!
This is just the beginning.
Just say NO to covering up cases of sexual abuse in Baltimore!
Just say NO to ignoring the needs of survivors!
Just say NO to one more child being sexually abused!
Just say YES to educating the community on the issues and making the changes needed TODAY!
anything this jurival person did was for himself.Sure he was in shul, but hardly ever dovened; he was to busy shaking hands, running around the halls, showing off his wardrobe. This person didn't care about Hasham ! How could he and continue to do the things that he did. He put on a front, fooled all,
because he raised $$$. Several posters have pointed this out..Money was / is the driving force. Because this kid raised money, no one could say anything as no one would listen. All the mochers saw was the $$$ that were being brought in. SICK !..
I hope he serves a long time in prison. That's where he belongs.
Let us not sing his praises! He is evil! How would you feel if he put his hands in your child's underwear to fondle their body parts?! Let's not make like of what he has done! Don't forget the money that he stole from his wife's family and organizations that he "supposedly" raised money for! How much of this did he also put in his pockets? So when you talk in his defense make sure you are not blinded by the person you thought he was. But see who the person he actually is!!!!!
I am well aware of the fact that Mr. Juravel's case has created hurt, anger, shock, and left a lifetime of scars for an entire community. No one can deny this. No one will ever condone his horrific actions. But, everyone should be ashamed of themselves for contributing to this horrible chain of unfounded comments. There is such Lashon Hora and blatant comments by so many people speaking as if they are aware of all the facts. Those who say they "know for sure" or have the facts from a friend or relative in Baltimore, you are a contributor to spreading terrible gossip on this chain of comments unless you can concretely spout the facts. I believe that The Awareness Center has been created for those in need and to help educate others. If we go to their homepage, you will see what a wonderful resource they can be. We all know there are unbelievable problems that must be dealt with and we must continue to learn. But this blog has gone too far.
The issue is not about suits, his davening, the Shul's turning their backs because he brought in money, and how he intentionally married into a family to manipulate them. You are making unfounded assumptions that you can not prove. Nor are they about the real issue. Who are you to judge others when you are also going against Hashem by your comments and non-truths? I believe NOT speaking Lashon Hora is at the top of our teachings.
Are you sure you will be better judged by your own actions in Hashem's eyes? Are you sure your anonymous comments are true?
There may be a top surgeon
who has performed miraculous life saving operations, and we find out that he has been a severe alcoholic for years. He was well respected in the community
and ran a volunteer clinic for children in need of plastic surgery. He fooled those he worked with for years, those he personally trained, and his own children. No one knew he had a deep problem that was spinning out of control. But that didn't mean that because he could hide this, and that he had a terrible addiction, that he really was not a good doctor or that he didn't care about others or his family. The point is that none of us can judge what Mr. Juravel's other actions or intentions were. We know only the facts of what he has done, which is terrible, but it is NOT OUR PLACE to judge his spirituality, or his clothing, or be so sure that he should be thrown to the dogs. That is for the Almighty to decide.
and....
to you who said,
"He has money stashed away"...
Maybe he gave it to you, because you seem to be pretty sure.
and...
to you who said,
"I HEARD THIS FROM SOMEONE IN BALTIMORE THAT IS CLOSE TO THE FAMILY" that a plea deal has been arranged----there is NO plea deal....but if you know otherwise, then you better inform the Federal Prosecutors, because they haven't been part of that meeting.
and all the talk about
the "best lawyer in Birmingham", and how of course he had all that money to pay for the lawyer
to get him off...
how would anyone have a clue who's paying the lawyers? Or are you sure that the lawyers are not contributing their own time to the case? Maybe Shmuel is just writing checks while he's in jail.
and...leave YK alone...are you sure your repeated comments are not ruining the guys life? Too much speculation and accusations. Janie wrote honestly that he knew nothing...let it go already.
We should not speak of which we do not know....
Awwwww ! He lost his house,money,friends,et.al.Awwww!!
Are you feelintg sorry for this creep ? He didn't do naything for the community except rape it.
Everything he did was for himself. He wallowed in the name of his in-laws,Betrayed them,betrayed the community, Betrayed Hasham and your feeling sorry for this pervert? Don't come back juravel,don't come back.
Well,I'll step forth and judge juravel..Your darn right I will.
This pervert went after children.
How in the world can you find any compassion for this person. I don't care if he's Jewish or not.He's a pervert,has no business even claiming to be Jewish and one of Hasham's chosen. He's to be repelled, sent away,disgraced,no pity,no mercy. I'll be the judge.
How in the world can anyone have a grain of sympathy for this person I'll never know. The liberal person that finds pity for him..it's obvious that he/she doesn't have children.
how did all of you find out about this plea deal if there was no hearing yet?
would all of you still be be writing the same comments if it was your kid. Now granted you will tell me that you would never let your kid get in that situation, but just imagine for a second it was your kid what would you do. Now Im not saying that what he did was not wrong, but he obviously has a problem, which he might never be able to get over and we should lock him and throw away the key but stop bashing the entire jewish community and his parents and anyone else involved. HOW WOULD YOU HANDLED THE SAME SITUATION IF IT WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF YOURS OR MAYBE A BROTHER OR MAYBE EVEN YOUR OWN HUSBAND. AND WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR HUSBANDS SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON THE INTERNET ITS NOT SO THEY CAN FIND NICE JEWELERY TO BUY THEIR WIFE< IT COULD BE THEY ARE LOOKING AT SOMETHING THEY SHOULDNT BE!!!
Folks,
You need to get your facts right (which would defeat the purpose of this blog, I guess). The facts with respect to the federal case are as follows:
On June 16, Mr. Juravel's lawyers filed a consent motion to postpone the trial of his case to September so that (1) he could object to certain legal findings made with respect to the admissibility of certain statements made by Mr. Juravel during the post arrest interrogation, and (2) so that his lawyers can prepare for trial. Given that the motion is a consent motion, it will be granted. Thus, his trial will not take place on July 10.
Based upon these facts, one can make the following educated assumptions:
(1) No plea agreement has been reached. If one had been reached, than postponing the trial (at which time the previous poster (“Moshe”) supposes the plea agreement would be made public) would be counterproductive. Why keep him in jail a minute longer than necessary? As a practical matter, if a plea agreement had been reached, it would be put on the record as soon as possible so that the case could be closed and the defendant could begin his sentence/probation/etc. as soon as possible.
(2) As the state of the proceedings now stand, Mr. Juravel has very little leverage to obtain a favorable plea agreement. The evidence against him (which has been made public through various legal filings) is pretty strong. Should Mr. Juravel be successful in his efforts to suppress some of that evidence, the balance will change and perhaps he will have additional leverage to obtain a favorable plea agreement. But as it now stands, it is highly unlikely that a plea agreement has been reached.
(3) Had the parties been negotiating a plea agreement, the motion to postpone the trial would have included a reference to this fact as a basis for postponing the trial. It did not. It did include a reference to the fact that counsel needs time to prepare for trial, which mitigates toward the conclusion that a plea agreement has not yet been reached and that the parties are nowhere near reaching such an agreement.
Just my two cents as an educated observer of the legal process.
You cannot keep telling us that all of this is unfounded. These are facts-maybe not every single posting-but most of it. If you are looking for a video camera to fall into your lap with proof of each allegation-not going to happen. I am sick of people who do not have a child/relative that Shmuel molested standing up for the scumbag. You are naive and your attitude is a menace to victims and those who care about them. If you want to camp outside the jail-do it. But the people on this blog are not interested.
Shmuel has problems. I have no doubt that you would have an entirely different outlook if he molested your child. So stop whining and defending the guy. He might get off because of a legal loophole-Entrapment. It will be a tremendous injustice if he gets to walk. But I sure as hell do not want to see him show his face in Savannah ever again.
PEOPLE: If Shmuel gets off on the federal charges then you can file a case at the state level. Your kids will have to come forward to do this, but you should really consider it. The kids will get some comfort knowing that their nightmare will be locked away. State court is also a great venue for this type of case. The state of Georgia does not tolerate child molestors and with the number of children Shmuel violated, he could go away for a long time.
I do not think the Shmuel-top surgeon analogy is very good. I think that a pedophile molesting children is worse than a top surgeon boozing it up on his own time. Obviously, the top surgeon did not bring his alcohol problem to work. After all, if he did then he would not be a top surgeon. Even more, you said nobody knew about the top surgeon's problem for a long time.
A pedophile, on the other hand, hurts other people-children. Not only does he hurt them when he molests them, but he hurts them for the rest of their lives-psychologically.
How do you know which allegations are true? How do you know that Shmuel was not a counselor at that camp? Did you go to the jail and visit him? Did you ask him? Do you really think he would tell you the truth? You really are gullible. I would not trust a thing Shmuel says.
But, if you want a hard-fact-Shmuel is dishonest and his stock broker license was taken away. you can look at the document yourself---
http://www.nasd.com/web/groups/rules_regs/documents/notice_to_members/nasdw_005162.pdf
Defend him on that.
don't come back ? why do so many people say that, obviously he's not going back to savannah or baltimore even if he wants to! would the community allow it ? really ? the fact that you folks even enter that idea into your head concerns me. The bigger concern is though where will he go ? That is what you should be concerned about. The Jewish community - worldwide needs a plan. Just like Juravel will not be allowed back into his communities there are and have been countless others who have done the same horrible things! And NONE of them go back to their original communities of course. What they do is find themselves a new community, where no one knows them. And they go there and taint a new community.
I am not from Baltimore or Savannah but i come from a community where a similar thing happened. The principals and Rabbonim knew of 2 rebbes who were abusing children. But, you know how it goes, no one wants the bad press so instead of calling the police they forced the Rabbi's to leave town.
Now, they are still out there in some other jewish community, destroying other childres souls.
All of these men who do not end up in jail simply will go elsewhere and start harming new people who do not know of them. It is crucial that these people go to jail.
It is crucial that heads of the community stop chasing their problems out of town! People should be warned.
SJ has done terrible harm to innocent children he abused, his wife, his children, his in laws that loved him like a son, and the entire Savannah Jewish community.
He has stolen money from others in the community. Some who are sharp were taken. They thought he was just immature.
We did not want to believe he was stealing from us. We could not have imagined it could have been even worse.
I want to make sure that all he has hurt have a chance to heal.
I want to make sure that others are not hurt.
I want to make sure those victims are not hurt again. This includes making sure his wife and children are safe.
Once all of those conditions are met, I will be able to consider compassion for him.
Please focus our compassion on support and comforting the victims.
An attorney for 35 years in georgia, I want to emphasize state court as being a great forum in which victims of this horrible person can put there minds to ease; the Georgia courts DO NOT tolerate behavior like Mr. Juravel's. Those who were abused need to be prepared to testify.
An attorney for 35 years in georgia, I want to emphasize state court as being a great forum in which victims of this horrible person can put there minds to ease; the Georgia courts DO NOT tolerate behavior like Mr. Juravel's. Those who were abused need to be prepared to testify.
An attorney for 35 years in georgia, I want to emphasize state court as being a great forum in which victims of this horrible person can put there minds to ease; the Georgia courts DO NOT tolerate behavior like Mr. Juravel's. Those who were abused need to be prepared to testify.
I watched dateline tonight on msnbc (I know it is Shabbos and i should not have been watching) but they have all these men being caught for going to a house to have sex with minors (boys and girls) using the Internet to make the arrangements. Factually, it seems identical to what Shmuel Juravel is being charged. But these guys are all getting one or two year sentences at most. One guy was given a 67 day sentence and released with time served.
Will someone please explain to me how it is that Juravel is getting a 20 or 30 year sentence? Is this really the case? I hate to say it...but is this all about the Alabama courts trying to make an example out of an orthodox Jew?
Can the law really be this arbitrary?
This has nothing to do with making an example out of an Orthodox Jew. That is a cop-out and the twisted thinking that gives us a bad name. You cannot use Judaism as an excuse similar to the way blacks use affirmative action. The reason the Dateline pedophiles only get 1 to 2 year sentences is because they commit their offenses at the state level and in a places that have lighter sentences for first time offenders. Juravel crossed state lines making his offense fall into the realm of interstate commerce, and consequently, under federal jurisdiction. The authorities likely did not know that he was an Orthodox Jew (supposedly) when they first communicated with him. But he broke many laws during the course of his communication with the feds, including the halves of hundred dollar bills.
juravel's case has nothing to do with alabama courts. This is a Federal Court. He broke many Federal laws from various agencies,including INS.
The guy is evil personified.
true, this case has nothihg to do with thw alabama cpourts. however, mr. juravel misdeeds to the kids(now almost adults) of savannah have EVERYTHING to do with georgia law. It is simply a matter of thosr who were violated to pursue and bring thhis creature to justice. any rocket scientist needed?
He's lost his in laws.
He's lost everything.
Hooray for Georgia and it's new strict laws! My heart and sympathy go to survivors and not to the molesters who will have a hard time finding places to live! Just like there were leper colonies perhaps we will start seeing sex offender colonies.
There are serious problems with laws like this against sex offenders. Everyone deserves the right to earn a living and a place to call home.
The solution isn't to run them out of town. The solution is to monitor them, make them go for therapy, and work as a community to keep them from re-offending.
If they don't live in Georgia, where will they end up living?
I'm not saying that we should embrace offenders. What I am saying is that we need to find better ways of dealing with the problems.
We also need to do what we can to empower suvivors. They quicker we can honor and respect them, the easier time they will have in healing.
I am a survivor who's done a great deal of healing since I first disclosed my abuse. So many people are focusing in on making sure we all have good therapists. I'll be honest with you, the thing that helped me the most was being in survivor self-help groups.
I got tired of being in therapy. It made me feel like I was mentally ill. After a few years of searching, I finally met someone who saw me as someone who was victimzed by a criminal. They let me know that my reactions were normal for the experiences I had. They told me over and over again that they were not a symptoms of mental illness.
There's a huge difference between the two different perspectives therapists can have when treating survivors. I wanted to make sure everyone here is aware of that.
So many of the therapists I started off seeing in Baltimore are full of crap. I am NOT a "mental patient".
If you are a survivor and feel like you are "mentally ill", you need to find a therapist who will empower you to see yourself differently.
Only one comment. I am paying for Juravel's defense because if you thought for a minute what you would do if he was your son you would offer him the same assistance. He is obviously sick and needs to be put in a safe place (secure mental home)away from children not hurt or killed in a jail.
Imagine if it was your son, because G-d could have given you this challenge and still can. Wise up and take care of this the Torah way ensure he can harm no longer and stop bashing Rabbis and everyone who is trying to help the best way they can.
<< Home