US arrests four Jewish Rabbis of an Israeli cult for kidnapping children

New York – Three Jewish Rabbis and a member of an ultra-Orthodox cult Lev Tahor originated from Israel have been arrested in New York for kidnapping two children, according to Federal Prosecutors on Friday.

Rabbi Aron Rosner, 45, who lives in Brooklyn, was arrested on December 23, a statement issued by the US Attorney’s Office from the Southern District of New York said.

The other three are – Rabbi Nachman Helbrans, 36, the leader of the sect, and Rabbi Mayer Rosner and Jacob Rosner, aged 42 and 20 respectively.
They organized kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl and her 12-year-old brother on December 8 in the village of Woodridge – around 150 kilometers north of New York.

The motive behind the kidnapping was to blackmail children’s mother who left the Lev Tahor cult in Guatemala six weeks earlier. She was a voluntary member of the cult founded by her father, but she claimed the cult grew into an extremist party under her brother Nachman Helbrans.

The four suspects will be given one count of kidnapping which shall send them to life imprisonment.