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The Rabbinical Council of Bergen County announced that it will not be renewing its contracts with Shalom "Sal" Yehudiel, 40, due to the charges slapped against him last week.
The announcement was posted to Twitter Thursday, March 24 by Asher Lovy, the director of an organization aimed at fighting child sex assault in Orthodox Jewish communities.
The Council last December said it would continue to supervise Yehudiel’s restaurants — La Cucina di Nava and The Humble Toast — on the condition that Yehudiel would not be present at either location.
While the RCBC is contractually obligated to provide kosher supervision at both restaurants, those contracts will not be renewed. The contract with The Humble Toast ends Oct. 1, and the contract with La Cucina di Nava ends Jan. 1, 2023.
Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella issued a statement that said, in part:
"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, and charged with various sex assault crimes."
Yehudiel became the first contestant on the Food Network series “Chopped" to observe kosher dietary laws.
He's owned and operated The Humble Toast, a popular kosher eatery on Queen Anne Road for several years and added a second restaurant (La Cucina Di Nava) last year.
The Israeli-American entrepreneur drew praise for giving back to the community -- donating food to local soup kitchens, among other philanthropic acts -- and even posted his phone number on social media during the COVID pandemic for those in need of a hot meal to call him directly.
Then came a pair of lawsuits: One from a female employee at the Humble Toast, accusing her former boss of forcing her to give him oral sex when she was 17 years old, the other from a woman who accused Yehudiel of groping her and forcibly kissing her in a series of two-year assaults in Fair Lawn when she was 15.
“The subject of childhood sexual abuse should be on everyone’s mind and should be a top priority to have zero tolerance for,” attorney Richard Mazawey said, “but we should also have a zero tolerance in our laws and court of public opinion for false and bald allegations.”
Yehudiel was charged criminally with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a victim between 13 and 16 years old, sexual assault of a victim 16-17 and child endangerment.
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