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Shalom "Sal" Yehudiel, 41, was arrested at Terminal One of JFK Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 8, Port Authority Spokesperson Lenis Valens said. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol notified PAPD that they had a fugitive in custody with a warrant out in New Jersey, Valens said.
Yehudiel was charged with one count of second-degree sexual assault and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, announced Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel, who is handling the case due to a conflict of interest in Bergen County.
The chef was transported to Queens Central Booking, and was is in custody of the courts.
Yehudiel's new charges stem from incidents that happened between November 2016 and April 2017, and involve a child who was 14 and 15 at the time, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Caroline Lawlor, who is prosecuting the case.
Just this week Daily Voice reported that a judge in Hackensack dismissed child sex assault charges against Yehudiel, who had owned and operated The Humble Toast, a kosher eatery on Queen Anne Road in Teaneck, for several years before adding a second nearby restaurant, La Cucina Di Nava.
Yehudiel's restaurants were transferred to new owners in September 2022, six months after he was first jailed in child sex assault charges.
A former hero in North Jersey’s Jewish community who hails from Surfside, FL, Yehudiel became the first contestant to observe kosher dietary laws on the Food Network series “Chopped.”
This is a developing story. Check back for more.
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