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Shalom Yehudiel, 41, had his rights violated by the FBI when federal authorities failed to surrender a video tied directly to the case, Bergen County Superior Court Judge Christopher Kazlau ruled on Monday, Aug. 7.
The judge dismissed the charges without prejudice, which allows prosecutors to reinstate the case if any new evidence comes to light.
Yehudiel had owned and operated The Humble Toast, a kosher eatery on Queen Anne Road, for several years before adding a second restaurant, La Cucina Di Nava.
He also was the first contestant to observe kosher dietary laws on the Food Network series “Chopped,” in 2020.
Then came a pair of lawsuits filed in Superior Court in Hackensack in early 2021.
In one, a woman who’d worked at The Humble Toast accused Yehudiel of making lewd comments and forcing her to give him oral sex in his office when she was 17.
A second woman alleged that he "repeatedly sexually assaulted, groomed, harassed, intimidated, and coerced" her into sexual contact with him inside the building and on the adjoining grounds of Congregation Anshei Lubavitch, in Fair Lawn, which they both attended, beginning when she was 14 years old.
Yehudiel’s attorney at the time called the suits “false and frivolous,” characterizing them as extortion attempts that are “absolutely baseless and defamatory in nature” and part of a campaign of "hate, prejudice and discrimination."
Za’akah, an organization formed to fight child sexual abuse in the Orthodox community, organized a protest outside the Humble Toast in late November 2021.
Soon after, the Rabbinic Council of Bergen County -- which certifies kosher eateries -- banned Yehudiel. He was stepping away from both of his restaurants, the council said, "until this matter is resolved."
Yehudiel was arrested in March 2022 by county authorities who accused him of raping a minor employed at one of the restaurants -- making three alleged victims in all.
Yehudiel was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a victim between 13 and 16 years old, among other offenses, and sent to the Bergen County Jail.
Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella issued a statement at the time:
"On Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, the FBI contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding the alleged sexual assault of a child. A months-long investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the FBI revealed that Yehudiel sexually assaulted the child, who was younger than 16 years old, in Teaneck, on more than one occasion.
"As a result of the investigation, Yehudiel was arrested in Newark on Wednesday March 16 [2022], and charged with various sex assault crimes."
Yehudiel spent a week in the county lockup before a judge in Hackensack granted him pre-trial release to home confinement, with specific conditions.
Six months later, he sold the Humble Toast and La Cucina Di Nava.
The criminal prosecution ended this past Monday, Aug. 7, at the very same courthouse in Hackensack where it began.
Kazlau, the judge, ruled that prosecutors improperly obtained a grand jury indictment by omitting certain evidence.
Namely, Kazlau said, they provided two video clips obtained by the FBI instead of a comprehensive file from the entire time the alleged victim had worked at the restaurant.
She contended that the sexual contact began during her third day on the job.
The judge emphasized that it wasn’t the fault of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office because the clips came from the FBI.
Prosecutors actually share the defense’s desire to see the entire video, Kazlau said, because neither side knows what’s on it.
Whether the complete video implicates or exonerates Yehudiel is beyond the point, the judge said. That it was withheld violates Yehudiel’s due-process rights, he said.
It remains to be seen whether the FBI surrenders the video – and, if so, whether what’s on it prompts prosecutors to refile their charges or drop the case.
Musella, the prosecutor, hasn’t addressed the decision. Yehudiel hasn’t spoken publicly about it, either.
Defense attorneys Lee Vartan and Zach Intrater issued a statement on his behalf: "We are pleased with the court's decision, which vindicates Shalom's due process rights, and we are grateful that the court carefully considered and accepted our arguments.”
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