• March 11, 2000 “Rabbis’ Ruling May Nix Bid To Indict Suspect in Kid-Sex Rap,” by Al Guart. New York Post (p. 10) (Lesher quoted as source re: a secret rabbinic tribunal that purportedly cleared a tutor criminally charged with abusing a young pupil)
• April 16, 2002 “Jewish Court Stymies Reports,” by Karen Matthews. Associated Press (picked up in Newsday, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Dallas Morning News, The Rockland Journal-News (NY), The Guardian (UK), among others)
• May 29, 2003 “Tripping up the Prosecution,” by Stephanie Saul. Newsday (pg. A6) (Lesher credited with unearthing government documents “embarrassing” to a District Attorney responsible for pursuing a fugitive wanted for alleged child sexual abuse)
• July 20, 2004: Presentation, “Do’s and Don’ts in Dealing with Child Protective Services,” New Jersey Parents Against DYFS, New Jersey
• November 30, 2004: Presentation re: family court problems to Justice Jacqueline Silbermann, Statewide Administrative Judge for Matrimonial Matters, Supreme Court of New York, New York, NY
• March 2005 (Adar II 5765) “A 20-Year-Old Custody Battle Brings Charges of Abuse to the Orthodox Community: In Edgewater, a Mother Waits for Her Daughter To Come Home [Waiting for Sherry Part I]” by Rachel Bluth and Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pg. 30) (Lesher quoted as authority)
• May 2005 (Iyar 5765) “Waiting for Sherry Part II: Who Doesn’t Want From Madness to Mutiny Published ... and Why?” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pg. 3)
• May 10, 2005 “From Madness to Mutiny,” an interview with Amy Neustein and Michael Lesher. Nitebeat with host Barry Nolan, CN8 (Comcast Cable Network)
• May 27, 2005 “Locals Co-Author New Book” Community News section. New Jersey Jewish Standard (pg. 13)
• May 29, 2005 An interview with Amy Neustein and Michael Lesher. NewYorkOne News, New Jersey segment
• May 31, 2005: Presentation of From Madness to Mutiny with co-author Amy Neustein at Jewish Book Network of the Jewish Book Council at the Kraft Center for Jewish Life, Columbia University, NY
• June 2005 (Sivan 5765) “Waiting for Sherry Part III: Was That Really Sherry Orbach Writing in The Jewish Press?” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pg. 22)
• June 3, 2005 “From Madness to Mutiny” Community News section. Jewish Community News of Clifton/Passaic (pg. 11)
• June 3, 2005: Signing of From Madness to Mutiny with co-author Amy Neustein, at the Book Expo of America, Javits Center, New York, NY
• June 5, 2005 “An interview with Michael Lesher and Amy Neustein.” “The Week in Review” hosted by Bob Pickett and Charles Etheridge III, KISS-FM
• June 23, 2005: Signing of From Madness to Mutiny with co-author Amy Neustein, at Clifton Commons Barnes and Noble, Clifton, NJ
• Autumn 2005 “Book Review: From Madness to Mutiny” by Helen Grieco, Executive Director, California NOW, in California NOW Activist (pg. 6)
• September/October 2005 “Groundbreaking Book: From Madness to Mutiny,” Bergen County The Magazine (pg. 61)
• September 19, 2005 “Playboy Mom Speaks” with Harris Faulkner, reporting. “A Current Affair” (FOX TV) (From Madness to Mutiny shown in connection with a notorious protective-parent case)
• November 2, 2005 “OCA Opens Files to Counter Judge’s Critics,” by John Caher. New York Law Journal (pg. 1)
• November 2, 2005 “Custody Ruling Protested: Mother, Supporters Decry Judicial System amid Battle Over Child’s Fate” by Michele Morgan Bolton, Albany Times Union (pg. 1) (referring to From Madness to Mutiny)
• November 2005 “A New Release Examines Why Family Courts Are Failing” by Barbara Clarke. Women’s VU (the monthly newsletter of the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center at Vanderbilt University) (pg. 4)
• December 2005 (Kislev 5766) “Dr. Amy Neustein: Battered Mothers Custody Conference ‘Woman of Valor’ ” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pg. 3) (refers to From Madness to Mutiny and to the invitation to the authors to speak at the Battered Mothers Custody Conference in January 2006)
• December 15, 2005 “Award for Activist, Author Neustein at Siena Conference on Mothers Custody.” The Jewish World (Albany) (pg. 5)
• December 30, 2005 (29 Kislev 5766) “Dr. Amy Neustein: Woman of Valor” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Press (pg. F1) (reprint of JVO article above)
• December 30, 2005 “Judging Amy” by Jacob Berkman. The Jewish Standard (pg. 3)
• January 6, 2006 “State Delegates at Family Court Talk.” The Jewish Advocate (Boston) (pg. 2)
• January 8, 2006 Delivered keynote address
at third Battered Mothers Custody Conference, a symposium of lawyers,
judges, mental health professionals and others (with Amy Neustein)
• January 20, 2006 (20 Tevet 5766) The Jewish Press (pg. 9) (photo of Michael Lesher, Amy Neustein and Professor Mo Hannah at the Battered Mothers Custody Conference, January 8, 2006; photo at right by Joe Lombardo)
• March 17, 2006 Workshop: “How To Manage a Lawsuit -- With or Without a Lawyer,” Jewish Community Center, Clifton, NJ
• May 12, 2006: Pre-Mothers Day Press Conference on the Steps of New York City Hall, with Jeanine Pirro (candidate for New York State Attorney General), Chris Owens (candidate for Congress), City Councilwoman Letitia James, and representatives of NOW NYS and Voices of Women, New York, NY (Neustein and Lesher speaking as experts on the problems of mothers in family courts)
• May 12, 2006 10 p.m. News (WWOR T.V. New York) (Lesher speaks as expert at press conference dealing with the problems of mothers in family courts)
• May 12, 2006 “Pirro: Moms Must Have a Level Playing Field in the Family Court” Yonkers Tribune (Lesher and Neustein cited as experts on family court reform).
• May 13, 2006 “Pirro Criticizes Family Courts” by Liz Anderson. The Journal News (pp. 1B-2B) (Lesher and Neustein quoted as experts on family court).
• May 14, 2006 Workshop: “How To Manage a Custody Lawsuit -- With or Without a Lawyer,” Jewish Community Center, Clifton, NJ
• June 2006 (Sivan 5766) “Now It’s Bipartisan: Jeanine Pirro and Chris Owens Adopt Family Court Scandal Raised by Dr. Amy Neustein and Michael Lesher” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pg. 3).
• July 10, 2006 “How To Handle Your Custody Suit in Family Court,”The Justice Hour, with Lisa Marie Macci, WPBR, discussing custody and child abuse legal issues, West Palm Beach, FL
• July 2006 (Tammuz 5766) “Abuse in the Orthodox Community and the Beit Din” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pp. 11-21) (detailing Lesher’s work, as lawyer and investigative reporter, in exposing the truth about two stalled prosecutions for child sex abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, NY)
• July 14, 2006 “Bipartisan Interest in Family Court Scandal” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Press (pp. F2-F3) (reprint of June 2006 article from The Jewish Voice and Opinion)
• July 25, 2006 “‘Rabbi’ Rousers: ‘80s victims want ‘perv’ extradited” by Philip Messing. New York Post (pg. 20) (Lesher quoted as counsel for two men charging an Orthodox rabbi with child sex abuse)
• July 25, 2006 “Silence of the Lam” by Kristen Lombardi. Village Voice (pp. 26-34) (Lesher quoted as counsel for man charging an Orthodox rabbi with child sex abuse, and regarding the Brooklyn D.A.‘s failure to advance the case)
• July 28, 2006 “Victims Press Brooklyn D.A. To Seek Abuse Suspect’s Extradition From Israel” by Nathaniel Popper. Forward (pp. 1, 7) (Lesher described as “Orthodox lawyer who has passionately taken up the case” and who uncovered government documents revealing prosecutors’ inaction)
• August 22, 2006 “Film Documents Systemic Family Court Problems Nationwide” by Elizabeth Stull. Brooklyn Eagle (p. 12) (citing the review of From Madness to Mutiny in the New York Law Journal)
• October 11, 2006 Nightline, ABC TV, “Conspiracy of Silence: Child Sex Abuse Case Still Haunts” reported by Cynthia McFadden (Lesher appears as counsel for six alleged victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz, demanding justice on their behalf) (See video excerpt here)
• October 20, 2006 “Hynes Mum on Mondrowitz” by Jennifer Friedlin. The Jewish Week (p. 3) (Lesher, as counsel for alleged Mondrowitz victims, challenges D.A.’s failure to pursue the case)
• November 2, 2006 “Betraying the Trust: Rabbis and Child Sex Abuse,” a teleconference for therapists, advocates, lawyers and other professionals hosted by Jewish Women International, with Amy Neustein, Ph.D., Rabbi Mark Dratch and Mark Weiss, discussing child sex abuse issues (from Washington, DC)
• November 8, 2006 Channel 7 Eyewitness News at 11 pm (WABC TV New York), “Did an Alleged Sex Abuser Escape Justice?” reported by Sarah Wallace (Lesher, as counsel for six alleged victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz, criticizes the role played in the case by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes)
• December 2006 (Kislev/Tevet 5767) “Jewish Women International Tackles Child-Abuse by Rabbis in the Orthodox Community” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pp. 13-17) (Lesher quoted as legal expert on child sexual abuse in Jewish communities)
• December 15, 2006 “Kolko Scandal Now Criminal” by Adam Dickter. The Jewish Week (Lesher cited as lawyer seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor for other cases of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community of Brooklyn, NY)
• March/April 2007 (Adar/Nissan 5767) “Bookends: From Madness to Mutiny” VA Jewish Life (p. 17) (describing the book and Lesher’s upcoming appearance at the University of Virginia to discuss family court malfunction)
• April 17, 2007 Presentation: “Madness and Mutiny in the Family Courts,” sponsored by the University of Virginia Women’s Center, Congregation Beth Israel, Charlottesville, VA
• October 11, 2007 “Israel Asked To Extradite Fugitive Rabbi” by Nancie L. Katz. Daily News (p. 30) (Lesher interviewed as counsel for alleged victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz, who express “some relief” at the news of the renewed extradition effort after many years)
• October 17, 2007 “Abuse Victims Hope Healing Begins with Rabbi’s Arrest” by Nancie L. Katz. Daily News (Brooklyn section, p. 47) (Lesher’s clients quoted on the importance of Mondrowitz’s prosecution and the harm caused by a delay thought to be politically motivated due to Orthodox community pressure)
• October 19, 2007 “Hynes Now Seeks Mondrowitz Extradition” (Staff Report). The Jewish Week (p. 19) (citing “victims’ advocates” such as Lesher who have charged that D.A. Charles Hynes “was afraid of losing support among Orthodox voters if he put Rabbi Mondrowitz on trial”)
• October 23, 2007 “US Wants Extradition of Prominent Ger Hassid Accused of Sodomy” by Matthew Wagner. The Jerusalem Post (Jewish World section) (Lesher quoted on the “heavy pressure to drop the case from the Orthodox community in Brooklyn” and its effect on the case)
• November 2007 (Kislev 5768) “After 23 Years, Fugitive Wanted for Child Sex-Abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Community Faces Extradition from Israel” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pp. 3, 6, 8, 10, 12) (Lesher quoted for his role on behalf of victims of sexual abuse and helping to secure a new extradition request for the alleged abuser)
• November 12, 2007 “Israel OKs Extradition of Brooklyn Pedophile Suspect” by Matthew Kalman (with Nancie L. Katz). Daily News (p. 14) (Lesher quoted expressing satisfaction that accused child molester Stefan Colmer will be extradited to Brooklyn, and saying “we certainly will not rest until the same is done with Avrohom Mondrowitz”)
• November 15, 2007 “Extradition Decision Renews Focus on Alleged Abusers Who Fled to Israel” by Ben Harris. Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) (Lesher quoted as counsel for alleged victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz and on his role in helping “to see that the case” against alleged abuser Stefan Colmer “did go public”; also describing a press conference to be held on November 16, 2007 “to renew pressure for action” in the Mondrowitz case)
• November 15, 2007 “In the Basement, Behind a Closed Door” by Aviva Lori. Ha-aretz (cover story, Weekend magazine) (Lesher quoted as counsel for alleged victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz and on his role in “put[ting] pressure on the DA’s office to issue a new request for Mondrowitz’s extradition”)
• November 16, 2007 “22 Years Later, a Child Abuse Suspect’s Extradition Is Sought” by Tina Kelley. New York Times (p. B4) (Lesher, as counsel for alleged victims of Mondrowitz, quoted saying, “Had we [in the Orthodox community] looked at this kind of case differently to begin with, and said, ‘Let’s go to the police and stop this man as soon as we can,’ how many of these men wouldn’t be victims at all?”)
• November 16, 2007: Press conference (at Manhattan office of Englewood, NJ mayor Michael Wildes) to announce the arrest of Avrohom Mondrowitz in Jerusalem, with Lesher, Dr. Amy Neustein, Rabbi Mark Dratch, Rabbi Isaac Mann and Susan Rosenbluth, New York, NY (Lesher announces the latest developments in the case as counsel for six alleged victims)
• November 16, 2007 “Mondrowitz Arrested in Israel” (staff report). Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) (Lesher, as counsel for alleged victims of Mondrowitz, says that celebrations are premature because “there is too much left to do”)
• November 16, 2007 Channel 7 Eyewitness News at 6 pm (WABC TV New York), “Prosecutors Seek Extradition of ‘Rabbi’ in ‘84 Sex Abuse Case” reported by N.J. Burkett (Lesher, attorney for alleged Mondrowitz victim Mark Weiss, is among critics who blame slow progress in the case on the political influence of the Brooklyn Orthodox community; N.J. Burkett reports, “Critics are hoping Mondrowitz will name names, potentially exposing others who may have been involved in a coverup”)
• November 17, 2007 “Israelis Nab Perv-Rap Rabbi” by Matthew Kalman, Joe Gould and Dave Goldiner. Daily News (p. 16) (Lesher, announcing the arrest of Avrohom Mondrowitz, expresses “gratitude to victims who came forward, who were willing to expose their pain”)
• November 21, 2007 “Alleged Pedophile Held in Israeli Prison After Extradition Request from Brooklyn” by Anthony Weiss. Forward (Lesher, speaking after a press conference on November 16, expresses hope that “the [Israeli] court would take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that Mondrowitz does not escape justice”)
• November 22, 2007 “Activists Welcome Suspect’s Extradition” by Robert Wiener. New Jersey Jewish News (Lesher quoted at press conference announcing Mondrowitz’s arrest, calling it “a moment for gratitude for victims who had the courage to come forward and expose their pain, despite the fact that many rabbis from our community who should have been there to support them did not”)
• January 9, 2008 “Pedophile Suspect Extradited from Israel Charged in NY” by Michal Lando. Jerusalem Post (Lesher quoted about the successful extradition of Stefan Colmer and the pending extradition of Avrohom Mondrowitz, stressing the long resistance encountered in the latter case)
• February 10, 2008 “Brooklyn Rabbi Accused of Abuse Loses Extradition Battle” by Matthew Kalman and Dave Goldiner. Daily News (p. 22) (Lesher quoted as counsel for Mondrowitz victims saying that the Israeli court ruling to extradite the indicted child abuser to Brooklyn means “we are tangibly closer now” to justice)
• March 27, 2008 “Small Justice: How the Family Court System Denies the Rights of Victims of Sexual Abuse” (video clip), Festival of the Book, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (Lesher, appearing with attorney Wendy Murphy and screenwriter Angela Shelton, speaks on family court issues and reads from From Madness to Mutiny at the invitation of the University of Virginia’s Women’s Center, afterwards responding to questions)
• April 18, 2008 “No Sex Charge for Kolko; Boys’ Parents Foiled by DA” by Hella Winston and Larry Cohler-Esses. The Jewish Week (Lesher quoted as “attorney and community advocate specializing in child sexual abuse cases,” criticizing the Brooklyn D.A. for “a pattern of inaction . . . in cases of this kind”)
• November 2008 (Cheshvan 5769) “Two NJ Experts in Combating Sex Abuse in the Orthodox Community Seek Spots on Dov Hikind’s New Task Force” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pp. 3, 6, 8, 10, 12-14, 16-17) (Lesher featured as possible member of a task force on child sex abuse in the Orthodox community being established by a prominent Orthodox New York State politician)
• December 19, 2008 “Mondrowitz Extradition Case Thrown into Limbo” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher quoted raising questions about the status of the case and citing legal reasons Mondrowitz should be extradited)
• December 30, 2008 “Mondrowitz Accusers Seen Ready To Testify” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher comments on the significance of a letter from the Brooklyn D.A.’s office affirming the complainants’ desire to have their alleged abuser prosecuted long after he fled the indictment)
• March 6, 2009 “Panel To Discuss Abuse by Clergy” by Abigail Klein Leichman. New Jersey Jewish Standard (Lesher among experts to speak at a March 15 panel discussion on child sexual abuse in Jewish communities at the Union for Traditional Judaism, Teaneck NJ)
• March 15, 2009 “Protecting Our Children,” a panel discussion on child sexual abuse in Jewish communities sponsored by the Union for Traditional Judaism, with Michael Lesher, Rabbi Mark Dratch, Rabbi Fred Hyman, Dr. Michael Kaplowitz and Dr. Rachel Yehuda (introduced by Rabbi Ronald Price) (edited audio of event available here), Teaneck, NJ
• March 19, 2009 “In Abuse Case, Press Charges or Help the Victim?” by Temima Shulman. The Jewish Week (Lesher quoted about weaknesses in the family court system that undermine justice for victims)
• April 2, 2009 “Brooklyn DA Announces New Plan To Urge Reporting of Abuse” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher questions the Brooklyn D.A.’s claim to resist interference from Orthodox rabbis in light of a 2000 child sex abuse case in which “all the facts suggested that the DA let a panel of rabbis make the decision about whether to prosecute a 96-count criminal complaint against a chasidic Jew”; Lesher also expresses hope that the D.A. and his staff “have learned from the errors” of the past)
• April 7, 2009 “‘Tempest in the Temple’: A Strange New Book Alleges Corruption & Conspiracy in Brooklyn” by Samuel Newhouse. The Brooklyn Eagle, back cover (detailing charges against the Brooklyn D.A. made in Lesher’s contributions to Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities & Child Sex Scandals (Brandeis University Press, April 2009); Lesher quoted complaining that leaders of Brooklyn’s Orthodox community “appear to have the cooperation of people in law enforcement and in Joe Hynes’s office”)
• May 6, 2009 “A Suspected Pedophile Eludes the System” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher quoted about the case of alleged child abuser Stefan Colmer, cited for helping to make possible Colmer’s arrest in Israel)
• June 17, 2009 “Colmer Plea Deal Seen Raising Questions” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher, cited for his work on the case, says that “child sex abuse victims in the Orthodox community are still fighting every element of the system to get justice. . . . the innocent few are still paying the price for the guilty -- and their moral accomplices”)
• October 28, 2009 “Orthodox Hope Guilty Plea in Sex Case Changes Approach to Predators” by Jerry DeMarco. Cliffview Pilot (Lesher quoted in connection with guilty plea of child sex offender; one of the victims was Lesher’s client, and Lesher has used this case to seek better community notification from community rabbis)
• November 10, 2009 “A Haredi Town Confronts Abuse from the Inside” by Steve Lipman. The Jewish Week, pp. 1, 22, 23 (Lesher named as “the legal ‘advocate’ for sexual abuse victims and as ‘their voice’” for “more than a decade”)
• November 11, 2009 “Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities & Child Sex Scandals” by David Morris. The Jewish Press, pp. F2, F4 (Lesher’s contributions detailing his work on the Avrohom Mondrowitz and Solomon Hafner child sex abuse cases featured in a review of Tempest in the Temple)
• December 9, 2009 “Did Brooklyn DA Chase Sex Abuser?” by Nathaniel Popper. Forward (Lesher wins a lawsuit requiring the Brooklyn D.A. to disclose documents pertaining to his record in the notorious Mondrowitz child sex abuse case; he says, “If the District Attorney has been telling the truth about his role . . . he has nothing to hide; if he has not been telling the truth, he has no right to hide.”)
• January 16, 2010 “Book on child sexual abuse in Jewish community wins award” by editorial staff. San Diego Jewish World (Lesher’s article with Amy Neustein entitled “A single-case study of Rabbinic sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish Community,” Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 17(3/4), pp. 270-289, wins a Pro Humanitate award from the the North American Resource Center for Child Welfare for “the intellectual integrity and moral courage required to transcend political and social barriers to champion best practice in the field of child welfare”; the award is given at a ceremony in San Diego)
• January 19, 2010 “Mondrowitz May Have Been Treating Boys Long After Indictment” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher cited for presenting new evidence that the alleged child abuser was seeing children as a psychologist in Israel, with the knowledge of a prominent member of a religious party; Lesher says this “is a stunning contradiction of what we have been led to believe all these years.”)
• January 19, 2010 “Custody Crisis: Why Moms Are Punished in Court” by Gina Kaysen Fernandes. momlogic (Lesher quoted calling the situation of protective parents in family courts “a civil rights crisis . . . There’s no hearing, no evidence, no notice -- they can take your child away from you.”)
• January 19, 2010 “Israel sets Mondrowitz free: Assessing blame, options in notorious case” by Michael Orbach. The Jewish Star (Lesher says, “If prosecuted it [the case] would reveal so much about the corrupt underside of the society he comes from. . . . I think there were a lot of people who didn’t want that to happen.”)
• January 20, 2010 “Mondrowitz Escapes Another Trial” by Nathan Jeffay. Forward (Lesher expresses “outrage . . . rising anger that bringing Mondrowitz to justice is [still] being resisted.”)
• January 26, 2010 “Mondrowitz Extradition Ruling Raising Questions” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher cited as source of information that alleged child abuser had “assessed” a child in Israel referred to him by the father of a prominent religious politician)
• January 28, 2010 “Israel will not extradite alleged sex offender to US” by Paul Berger. The Jewish Chronicle (United Kingdom) (Lesher cited for uncovering “evidence that Mondrowitz has continued his practice of treating young boys in Israel”; Lesher says, “We have always heard from the rabbis that, whatever has happened, in Israel, Mondrowitz has been kept away from children. Taking this at face value, it seems, that is not true.”)
• October 1, 2010 “Sister wins bitter sibling battle over Brooklyn home” by Philip Messing. New York Post (Michael Lesher’s client and co-author Amy Neustein victorious in lawsuit against slumlord brother; Lesher says, “I think we’re finally seeing justice.”)
• October 2010 (Cheshvan 5771) “Amy Neustein: Victory in Court Could Lead to a Personal Victory, Too” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pp. 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14-15) (citing Michael Lesher’s role as attorney in successful case)
• October 28, 2010 “Has the silence been broken? New book has some answers, but doubts linger” by Michael Orbach. The Jewish Star (Lesher criticizes Ohel Children’s Home for its role in child sex abuse cases)
• January 9, 2011 “Dealing with Family Court Auxiliaries: CPS, Law Guardians, Experts (partial video of event is available via this link),” a plenary address, including questions and answers, by Michael Lesher at the Eighth Battered Mothers Custody Conference, a symposium of lawyers, judges, mental health professionals and others
• May 10, 2011 “Records Release to Be Considered in Decades-Old Sex Abuse Case” by Joel Stashenko. New York Law Journal (top story on-line) (Lesher wins right to appeal to New York’s highest court for release of District Attorney documents in Mondrowitz case)
• May 10, 2011 “Court To Rule On Release Of Mondrowitz Records” (staff report). The Jewish Week (Lesher quoted: “My FOIL request is designed to shed light on the long-running cover-up of the case in which both rabbinic leaders and Brooklyn officials have played a role.”)
• May 10, 2011 “N.Y.’s High Court Takes on Case Calling for Release of Documents in Orthodox Sexual Abuse Scandal” by Josh Nathan-Kazis. The Jewish Daily Forward (Lesher says, “I don’t feel that I can close the book on this case without being able to tell its last chapter.”) (Reproduced in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz here)
• May 11, 2011 “N.Y.’s highest court to hear appeal on rabbi’s extradition” (staff report). Jewish Telegraphic Agency (due to Michael Lesher’s legal work, “New York State’s highest court . . . has agreed to hear a case requesting the release of documents relating to the sexual abuse case involving Brooklyn Rabbi Abraham Mondrowitz.”)
• May 16, 2011 Vision TV (Canada) documentary series Sex Scandals in Religion, Episode 2, “Wall of Silence” (video clip) directed by Alan Mendelsohn (Lesher describes how child sex abuse victims are sacrificed to the Orthodox Jewish community’s “image”)
• May 19, 2011 “NY court appeal on Mondrowitz extradition” (staff report). Intermountain Jewish News (reporting that due to Lesher’s work, “New York State’s highest court . . . has agreed to hear a case requesting the release of documents relating to the sexual abuse case involving Brooklyn Rabbi Abraham Mondrowitz.”)
• August 3, 2011 “Funding Brooklyn’s civilian ‘cops’,” letters from Angela Reiss and Susan Daglian. New York Post (two letters to the editor praising Lesher’s July 31, 2011 column critical of public funding for private Orthodox Jewish patrols) (to read column, click here)
• August 7, 2011 “Shomrim Shanda” by Editorial Staff. New York Post (editorial opposing any city funding for Orthodox Jewish patrols, citing Lesher’s July 31, 2011 column) (to read column, click here)
• August 8, 2011 “Council Members Defend Shomrim” by Adam Dickter. The Jewish Week (Lesher cited as “a longstanding critic of . . . [Orthodox Jewish] vigilantes” in New York City, and credited with successfully urging the New York Post to oppose government funding for such groups)
• August 10, 2011 “Shining a Light on Orthodox Safety Patrols in the Secular Press” by Naomi Zeveloff. Forward (article and blog discussing Lesher’s column on public funding of Orthodox patrols and reaction, including an email from an Orthodox rabbi accusing Lesher of a “treacherous act”)
• August 11, 2011 “Unmolested” by Michael Orbach. Tablet (the history of the case of Avrohom Mondrowitz, and of Lesher’s past and current role in it; among other things, “Lesher believes that a network of interests has kept the D.A. from pursuing extradition” [of Mondrowitz] and hopes his case before New York’s Court of Appeals will reveal a “smoking gun”)
• September 7, 2011 “The Shomrim: Gotham’s Crusaders” by Nick Pinto. The Village Voice, pp. 9-10, 12-15 (cover story about Orthodox patrols featuring, among other things, Lesher’s controversial writing on the subject, and reactions to it)
• December 6, 2011 “In Lakewood Abuse Cases, A ‘Parallel Justice System’” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (quoted in article detailing the use of rabbinic courts to intimidate abuse victims, Lesher stresses that “the use of federal investigative power . . . would be a powerful tool against rabbinic cover-ups”)
• December 9, 2011 “Jewish Kids Face Abuse Epidemic” by Dave Gahary. American Free Press (Lesher cited as advocate for abuse survivors in article that refers to Lesher’s upcoming argument before New York’s high court over files in the Mondrowitz case)
• December 13, 2011 “News Of Abuse Arrests Hailed, Questioned” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher warns that, in child sex abuse cases, “what is really at issue is not just the religious sensitivities of rank-and-file members of the Orthodox community but the specific concerns of powerful institutions in that community, many of which have been implicated . . . in the mishandling of sex abuse cases over the years”)
• December 15, 2011 “Renewed Firestorm Over Orthodox Sex Abuse in Brooklyn” by Nick Pinto. The Village Voice (Lesher, joining calls for a federal investigation into sex abuse cover-ups in the Orthodox community, warns of “politics trumping law” in these cases, adding, “Someone needs to come in and set that right”)
• December 20, 2011 “Brooklyn DA Released Abusers’ Names In Recent Years” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher accuses “OHEL and its allies” of forming “a political alliance” with law enforcement officials in order to “protect the perpetrators as much as they can and keep their own kid-glove treatment of offenders out of the public eye”)
• December 23, 2011 “Jewish Child Sex Predators Protected by Brooklyn DA” by Admin Staff. American Free Press (Lesher’s interview with Dave Gahary “provides great insight into the [Orthodox Jewish] community’s practices and history” with respect to child sex abuse allegations, and into its relationship with Brooklyn law enforcement officials; full interview can be heard by clicking here)
• February 7, 2012 “Fight Over Mondrowitz Documents Coming To A Head” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (regarding upcoming oral argument over the release of documents before New York’s highest court, Lesher says, “This record ought to show us something about what Hynes’ office was really doing while Mondrowitz’s victims struggled to have him brought back to face justice”)
• February 10, 2012 “Plucky Lawyer Fights for Abuse Case Files” by Paul Berger. Forward, pp. 1, 7 (regarding the same oral argument over the release of documents before New York’s highest court, Lesher says, “I am confident I am going to prevail”)
• February 12, 2012 “U.S. lawyer takes prosecutor to court over files on alleged ultra-Orthodox abuse victims” by Paul Berger. Ha-aretz (edited reprint of the previous article in Israel’s leading newspaper)
• February 14, 2012 “Confronting a rabbi and a prosecutor” by Carlyn Kolker. Thomson Reuters News & Insight (summary of Lesher’s case before the Court of Appeals says it “has all the elements of a lengthy magazine piece, if not an eerie novel: decades-old charges of sexual abuse, an escape to Israel, a protracted battle over secret government documents”)
• February 16, 2012 “Child Abuse Case Tests the Freedom of Information Law” by Staff. Voices of NY (another summary of Lesher’s case before the Court of Appeals, stressing that “for years, Lesher has fought to release documents from the Mondrowitz case”)
• February 21, 2012 “High court hears FOIL case related to Brooklyn sex abuse” by Adam Shanks. Legislative Gazette, pp. 2, 17 (article says Lesher “believes that this case could set a new precedent for the extent of government’s powers to withhold documents under the state’s FOIL Law”)
• February 28, 2012 “Abuse Case Raising Statute Questions” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher’s lawsuit seeking information in an abuse case cited as relevant to similar cases arising in Brooklyn’s Orthodox community)
• March 4, 2012 “Why Won’t Brooklyn DA Hynes Release the Names of Child Sexual Abusers He Says He Has Arrested?” On “Beyond the Pale,” Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark interviews Michael Lesher and Hella Winston about the Brooklyn D.A.’s role in sex abuse cases in Orthodox communities, WBAI (99.5 FM)
• March 29, 2012 “Silence and self-rule: Brooklyn’s Orthodox child abuse cover-up” by Zoë Blackler. The Guardian (“Lawyer and advocate Michael Lesher has campaigned for years to break the rabbis’ stronghold and get abusers into court”)
• April 4, 2012 “Brooklyn D.A. Can Keep Abuse Files Secret” by Paul Berger. The Forward (“Attorney Michael Lesher believes the New York state Court of Appeals left him a legal opening to eventually win the release of the documents [related to indicted child abuser Avrohom Mondrowitz]”)
• April 10, 2012 “High Court Ruling On Mondrowitz ‘Troublesome’” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (The executive director of the New York State Department of State Committee criticizes the ruling in Lesher’s suit against the Brooklyn D.A.: “The government has the burden of proof [under FOIL] and that’s what I dislike about the generic exception [allowed by the Court] . . . [it] is inconsistent with the language of the law”)
• April 16, 2012 “High court rules on controversial FOIL case” by Adam Shanks. The Legislative Gazette (Commenting on Lesher’s FOIL suit, the paper warns that the ruling of the Court of Appeals “implies that until a trial is impossible, a public official is able to withhold all documents related to the case, even those that don’t directly affect the outcome of the case, or jeopardize the state’s case against the accused”)
• April 24, 2012 “Brooklyn DA, In Shift, Opens Window On Abusers’ Names” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher calls the D.A.’s refusal to release information about sex abuse cases in the Orthodox community “blatantly discriminatory”)
• April 24, 2012 “Orthodox suspects’ names held back by Brooklyn DA” by Deepti Hajela. Associated Press (Lesher challenges the D.A.’s claim that the Orthodox community deserves “unique” treatment)
• May 14, 2012 WWLR radio (New York, 1600 AM), Mark Riley (Lesher interviewed about child sex abuse issues in Orthodox Jewish communities)
• May 24, 2012 “Hynes Warns That Rabbis Could Face Prosecution For First Vetting Abuse Allegations” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (Lesher warns that the stated policy of a leading Orthodox organization, requiring a rabbi’s permission to report a suspicion of child sex abuse to authorities, could “make [the organization] complicit in a civil rights crime any time an Orthodox Jew gets a threat for talking to the police when a rabbi told him not to,” which is “an appalling step for any Jewish organization to take”)
• May 26, 2012 “Orthodox cam plan” by Doug Auer. New York Post (Lesher criticizes million-dollar grant for street cameras to Orthodox organizations “with such a questionable history of keeping information from police”)
• May 29, 2012 “Hynes Issues Warning To Rabbis On Abuse Policy” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (update of March 24 article listed above)
• June 6, 2012 “Rackets Bureau Chief Vows Openness On Witness Intimidation” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (chief of Brooklyn D.A.’s Rackets Bureau, responsible for new task force to combat victim intimidation by rabbis, agrees that using the doctrine of “informing” might be “viewed as an interference with community members’ civil rights — a theory that has been advanced by Orthodox attorney and author Michael Lesher”)
• June 10, 2012 Shalom USA radio (Baltimore, 1370 AM and webcast at www.v1370.com), Jay Bernstein (Lesher interviewed about child sex abuse prosecutions in Brooklyn and the role of the D.A.)
• June 20, 2012 “Hynes Will Release Pedophile Files” by Naomi Zeveloff. Forward (after five years of legal battles fought by Michael Lesher, “Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes will release more than 100 pages of documents related to the case of Avrohom Mondrowitz, the American Orthodox rabbi alleged to have sexually abused dozens of children before fleeing, eventually to Israel, in 1984”)
• June 26, 2012 “Praise, Questions For Hynes After Arrests” by Hella Winston. The Jewish Week (regarding the arrests of four Hasidic men for alleged witness tampering in a sex abuse case, Lesher asks whether, “if people like the four defendants in this [current] case were instructed, or egged on, by rabbis to do what they did, [we are] going to see some of the rabbis prosecuted too”)
• June 29, 2012 “Brooklyn Prosecutor’s Role in Abuse Case Is Examined” by Ray Rivera. The New York Times, p. A22 (as the result of years of litigation, Lesher receives documents from the Brooklyn D.A. that “cast doubts on his accounts of his role in the case [of indicted child abuser Avrohom Mondrowitz], suggesting that for many years, the office paid little attention to it”)
• June 29, 2012 “Brooklyn DA Defends Handling of Orthodox Sex Abuse Case” by Ilya Marritz. WNYC News Blog (interviewed on WYNC, New York’s public radio station, Lesher says the Brooklyn D.A.’s; “office simply reacted to outside stimulus and outside pressure, and was not taking the lead on [the Avrohom Mondrowitz] case at all”)
• June 29, 2012 “Document Trove Raises Abuse Questions” by Naomi Zeveloff. Forward (same as above: “A trove of newly-released documents has raised questions about the Brooklyn District Attorney’s handling of one of the most notorious Orthodox sex abuse cases”)
• June 29, 2012 “Brooklyn D.A.’s International Hunt for an Alleged Pedophile May Be Slightly Exaggerated” by Margaret Hartmann. New York Magazine, “Daily Intel” (same as above: “Shockingly, Hynes’s suggestion that his Brooklyn office was somehow involved in renegotiating an international treaty [to extradite Mondrowitz] may not be entirely accurate” based on information obtained by Lesher)
• July 2, 2012 “Brooklyn DA Blames Israel for Mondrowitz Scandal” by Michael Orbach. The Jewish Press (“Lesher has been attempting to find out . . . whether Hynes did everything in his power to bring Mondrowitz to justice. The answer, according to the [New York] Times, seems to be, No”)
• July 4, 2012 “Pursuing Mondrowitz: What is the Brooklyn DA Doing About it?” by Fern Sidman. The Jewish Voice (“Mr. Lesher maintains that the documents [obtained from the Brooklyn D.A.] do not even provide a scintilla of evidence indicating that [Sex Crimes Bureau Chief Rhonnie] Jaus or anyone in the DA’s office tried to lobby Israeli or American authorities to modify the extradition rules”)
• February 2013 (Adar 5773) “In the Orthodox Community, Attorneys Seek Ways to Save Clients Money While the OU Seeks to Help Attorneys Get Work” by Susan Rosenbluth. The Jewish Voice and Opinion (pp. 10-11) (Lesher’s legal services described)
• November 12, 2013 “The Child-Rape Assembly Line” by Christopher Ketcham. Vice Magazine (Lesher warns that in Orthodox communities “genuine religious values will never really rise to the top, so long as they’re tied to the poisonous priorities that elevate status and power over the basic human needs of the most vulnerable among us”)
• May 3, 2014 “Betraying the Faith: Abuse in Jewish Brooklyn” by Matt Wells. BBC World Service (“Heart and Soul” weekend feature series) (in this half-hour segment on child sex abuse in Orthodox Jewish communities, Lesher -- interviewed beginning at 25:06 -- says that “this is fundamentally our [community’s] problem. . . . I hope to see more robust prosecutions . . . but more important, really, is the attitude and behavior of the Orthodox Jewish community, and I mean from the ground up”)
• October 7, 2014 “The Orthodox Sex Abuse Crackdown That Wasn’t” by Emily Shire. The Daily Beast (Lesher describes problems in the new Brooklyn District Attorney’s handling of Orthodox sex abuse cases as “systemic”)
• November 8, 2014 “Domestic Abuse, the Role and Impact of the NFL and Other Institutions,” a roundtable discussion about institutional treatment of abuse cases with Melissa Mahler of Pro Player Insiders and Andrew Willis of the Stop Abuse Campaign. Lesher is joined by DeMaurice Smith (Executive Director of NFL Players Association), Angela Rose (Executive Director of PAVE) and Eileen King (Executive Director of Child Justice). Lesher offers a “report card” on how institutions have performed so far in addressing or covering up abuse cases
• November 12, 2014 “Whose Role Is It to Stop and Report Clerical Abuse?” by Amy Neustein. Jewish Exponent (in an op-ed, Neustein quotes Lesher as warning that “real progress will occur when ordinary Jews demand an end to the cover-ups — without exception and without equivocation. Only then will the rabbinate be sure to listen”)
• January 21, 2015 “Concealing Abuse,” a recorded interview of Michael Lesher conducted by Ramie Smith, with co-hosts Rabbi Dov Linzer and Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus, as part of the first episode of “The Joy of Text” (Jewish Public Media), supported by the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School. The audio can be heard here or linked from the podcast site here; Lesher’s interview runs from 21:28 to 35:41.
• February 9, 2015 “New Podcast Discusses the Intersection of Sex and Halakha” by Judy Abel. The Torch (a project of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, this blog describes Lesher’s interview about his new book -- see previous entry -- and comments that Lesher “advocates discussing healthy sexuality with children to help them understand what is appropriate and when lines have been crossed”)
• February 12, 2015 “New Podcast Series Discussing Sex from Orthodox Perspectives” by Drew Kaplan. Matters of Interest (another blog discussing Lesher’s interview about sex abuse, as well as the other topics addressed in the podcast listed above)
• May 12, 2015 “Media, Gov’t Censorship of Jewish Sexual Predators,” an audio interview of Michael Lesher by Dave Gahary; a description of the interview appears here on the web site for American Free Press
• May 13, 2015 “Who’s the Bad Guy?” a two-hour call-in radio interview of Michael Lesher by Dave Gahary for Overthrow Radio (Gahary introduces Lesher by saying that his book “examines many. . .cover-ups in detail, showing how denial, backlash against victims, and the manipulation of the secular justice system have placed Orthodox Jewish community leaders in the position of defending or even enabling child abusers”)
• May 17, 2015 Lesher gives a keynote address at the Eleventh Battered Mothers Custody Conference (Secaucus, New Jersey) on the topic “Sexual Abuse and Institutional Inattention”; a video of the talk made by the Conference (not of the best quality) can be seen by clicking here.
• June 17, 2016 “Brooklyn’s Private Jewish Patrols Wield Power. Some Call Them Bullies,” by Alan Feuer. New York Times (Lesher’s column in Forward, May 26, 2016, is quoted about the dangers of the “Shomrim,” or Orthodox Jewish patrols in Brooklyn, particularly because of their violence against non-Jews. The article quotes Lesher further: “We’re not living in ghettos anymore... The fact is, we now have enough clout to run our own semiofficial police forces. And we do”) (this article appeared in the print version of the Times on June 18, 2016, p. A17, under the headline “Private Jewish Patrols: Protectors or Bullies?”)
• July 23, 2016 “The Logic of Denial (with Michael Lesher)”: the first part of Michael Lesher’s podcast interview by Jasun Horsley (“The Liminalist”) for Auticulture (this interview discusses Lesher’s writing about abuse cover-ups and explores aspects of the underlying ideas that foster a culture of denial)
• July 27, 2016 “Kenosis, Standing on Nothing (with Michael Lesher)”: the second part of Michael Lesher’s podcast interview by Jasun Horsley (“The Liminalist”) for Auticulture (in light of a long history of abuse and denial, the discussion broadens to questions about religious culture, good and evil, exploitation and hope)
• August 3, 2016 “Sexual Abuse, Shonda and Concealment in Orthodox Jewish Communities” on New Books Network -- another version of Michael Lesher’s interview with Jasun Horsley (see previous two entries) about sex abuse cover-ups and about his book on the subject
• August 10, 2016 “Green Party of Canada Challenges Israeli Apartheid” on The Real News Network. Dimitri Lascaris, Canadian Green Party shadow cabinet minister, cites Michael Lesher in support of criticism of the Israeli government that is not yoked to criticism of every other human rights violator -- the reference occurs at 13:48 to 14:50 of the audio
• April 30, 2017 “The Post Political Condition - What Next?” Lesher appeared on a panel with Professor Norton Mezvinsky, attorney Stanley Cohen and writer/saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, discussing “Jewish identity vs. Jewish religion”; Lesher’s presentation runs from 53:47 to 1:27:33 of the video
• May 9, 2017 “World Report,” INN Radio: Lesher was interviewed by Tom Kiely about Jewish identity and his work on sex abuse cover-ups
• December 9, 2018 “BDS, Israel, and Anti-Semitism” Lesher spoke at this event, sponsored by the Northern New Jersey chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, about strategies for outreach within the Jewish community on the subject of Palestinian rights. Lesher can be seen from 27:12 to 45:02 of the video, and during the question-and-answer period
• August 18, 2019 “Meet the Author Series -- Michael Lesher” Lesher spoke and read from his new book of poems, Surfaces, as well as other material, at the Olive Press Eatery in Metuchen, New Jersey
• December 20, 2019 “Shomrim: Jewish Neighborhood Watch -- A Private Police Force Grows in Brooklyn” Quoted in an article by Gene Gallerano about Jewish neighborhood patrols, “Lesher argued that there is a practice of keeping things hidden from the NYPD when it comes to certain crimes within the community,” stressing that the “nature of the problem is silence”
• August 10, 2020 “The Truth about the Jewish Vigilante Group that Patrols New York” Lesher was quoted by Grunge reporter Emilia David as criticizing the “system of Jewish-run patrols [that] dominate the heavily Orthodox Jewish enclaves of Brooklyn, usurping the role of the official police force...despite their record of violence toward non-Jews”
• December 8, 2020 “Chat and Spin Radio” Lesher appeared on this British radio program (December 8, Part 1, at 1:37:35 to 1:42:00) to discuss his newly-published memoir, Turning Back: The Personal Journey of a “Born-Again” Jew (see Reviews)
• May 24, 2021 “For Orthodox Brooklyn’s private police, a code of silence hides domestic abuse” Lesher was featured in Forward as an expert on Shomrim patrols, and the danger they pose to abuse victims, in a detailed article by Dan Glaun
• January 8, 2022 “When School Closures Become Abuse” Lesher was interviewed by Canadian journalist Trish Wood for her Trish Wood Is Critical podcast about the evils of COVID-19 policy in general and toward children in particular
• May 27, 2022 “Talking with Dr. Paul Elias Alexander and Michael Lesher about Mass Shootings and Lockdowns” Lesher returned to Canadian journalist Trish Wood’s Trish Wood Is Critical podcast to discuss, with a physician who advised the Trump administration, how COVID-19 policies undermined childrens’ mental health and eroded our societies
• May 9, 2023 “Brooklyn’s Hasidic Watch Groups Patrol Neighborhoods” Lesher was interviewed by Yona Roberts Golding about the origin and function of Shomrim patrols for a video news piece published on Columbia News Service
• September 14, 2023 “Dear Katie: Survivor Stories” Lesher talked with Amanda Lee and hosts Katie Koestner and Claire Kaplan on the Dear Katie podcast about the pitfalls of the U.S. family court system in cases in which a parent alleges child sexual abuse by the other parent
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