By
Dana Gloger
A man has been charged with raping a boy in a synagogue men’s room.
Moshe Reichman, 23, a father of two from Golders Green, North-West London, is accused of four offences which allegedly took place four years ago.
The boy, who is also Jewish and who was 11 or 12 years old at the time, cannot be named. He had left his family home on the day of the alleged incident to buy milk for his mother in nearby Stamford Hill.
Prosecutors say the boy was approached in the street by the defendant, who allegedly asked him to show him where a particular synagogue was.
Once there, Mr Reichman allegedly pulled the complainant inside and into a cubicle in the male toilets, where it is claimed he performed an indecent act on the boy before raping him.
The boy only complained to police this February and Mr Reichman was arrested on March 3. He was remanded in custody and twice refused bail.
But at Snaresbrook Crown Court last week, his barrister Gary Grant made a bail application with strict conditions, to which Judge Timothy King agreed.
The package included a £50,000 surety from the defendant’s rabbi, Leone Rabinowitz, and a 24-hour curfew at the Stamford Hill address of a fellow community member. Mr Reichman, who had to have the court proceedings translated into Yiddish, will be allowed to leave this address only if accompanied by one of six chaperones, who are rabbis and senior members of the Charedi community.
A trial date has been set for January 26 next year.
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