This story caught my attention because I live 10 minutes away from where it took place. It's relevant to pizzagate because it's a good example of how deep this problem goes and how anybody can turn out to be a pedophile. I often find myself saying "there's no way this guy could be a predator...look at how happy he looks in these pictures of him and his wife and kids...". Stories like this bring me back down to the reality of how widespread the problem is. Here's the story:

http://www.vosizneias.com/263243/2017/02/25/pittsburgh-pa-pittsburgh-teacher-accused-in-multiple-incidents-of-sexual-abuse-arrest-inevitable-says-detective/

So to make a long story short, Nisson Friedman, a former Rabbi turned teacher, just got fired in Pittsburgh and has been accused of molesting several children. He has also worked at boys camps over the past 5 summers.

Now here's where the story gets interesting. Nisson Friedman is the son of a prominent rabbi from Minnesota, Manis Friedman. Manis came under fire a couple of years back for for trying to normalize pedophilia. Here is the youtube video of the 2nd half of his talk where he normalizes child molestation (the first half has been deleted). It's 8 minutes long, if you don't want to watch it all I have summarized the main points alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZhMLLC9iNk&feature=youtu.be

And here's the full text, including the part that is missing from the deleted video:

https://frumfollies.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/full-transcript-of-manis-friedman-trivializing-sex-abuse/

A couple of good quotes:

I don’t know what the percentage is, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but, uh, there’s hardly a kid who comes to a yeshiva, to a program, that hasn’t been molested, sexually molested.

And all the children who have been sexually molested, have serious emotional imbalances. And the question is – why? Why? Just to make it dramatic

“And let me ask you a question, do you sometimes forget to say Al Hamichya?” Because she’s not keeping shabbos (Jewish Sabbath laws). I said, “Do you sometimes forget to say al hamichya (obligatory Jewish blessing after certain snacks) ? Because, that’s much,” I said, “That’s much worse than being molested.”

I also found an interesting blog post from a guy who claims to have known Manis for 30 years. He basically says that child molestation is a huge problem in certain Jewish circles but that it is almost always handled internally and that you are looked down upon if you go to the police. Here's the quote and the link:

Child sexual abuse in the Jewish community, except perhaps in the most extreme cases, is not a matter for police. It's something you work out privately, inside the community behind closed doors, and seep under the nearest rug so prying eyes from the outside do not see. To the extent that victims need some therapy to heal, they should get that – preferably with a reasonable amount of money given to the family of the victim by the pedophile as a settlement.

http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2013/01/video-dangerous-idiotic-and-insulting-rabbi-manis-friedman-explains-child-sexual-abuse-234.html

Finally, I'll leave 2 videos. The videos aren't all that damning but knowing that he has molested children makes me see them in a differnt light. The first is a video from Nisson Friedman's wedding. His brother Benny, a famous Jewish singer, is doing the singing. The second video is a video from his school that he taught at. Needless to say the atmosphere looks very kid friendly and there aren't a whole lot of adults compared to kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP0w1Gc49GE&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iAQBzlRoO8

Never let your guard down. There are child rapists everywhere out there.