28°
Shalom "Sal" Yehudiel, 41, was arrested at JFK Airport last month when authorities said he tried to flee the country. He'd only just had previous child sex assault charges against him dismissed by a judge in Hackensack at the time.
A new indictment charges Yehudiel with sexually assaulting a girl who was 14 and 15 twice in Teaneck between November 2016 and April 2017.
Yehudiel -- now lives in Aventura, FL -- surrendered himself on Monday, Sept. 18, and was booked into the Bergen County Jail on the new charges, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
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 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, staged 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.
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 initial criminal prosecution ended this past Aug. 7, at the very same courthouse in Hackensack where it began. That day, Superior Court Judge Christopher Kazlau ruled that the FBI violated Yudiel’s rights by not surrendering a video tied directly to the case.
SEE: Judge Dismisses Child Sex Charges Against 'Chopped' Kosher Chef From Teaneck
The judge dismissed the charges without prejudice, which allowed prosecutors to reinstate the case.
Which they immediately did.
Yehudiel was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents at JFK and turned over to Port Authority police on Aug. 8. He was temporarily held in New York City before being released.
SEE: Fair Lawn Chef Arrested At JFK Airport Days After Sex Assault Charges Dismissed: Officials
Click here to follow Daily Voice Mahwah-Ramsey and receive free news updates.
