Young Israel of Woodmere rabbi Hershie Billet (past president of the RCA) is taking over the Rabbinical Council of America (centrist Orthodox body) investigation of rabbi Mordecai Tendler and is going to try to get the women who've complained about Tendler to interview over again (some of them have been through it with rabbi Mark Dratch and the Praesidium team, not the sharpest group around).
The RCA is run by rabbi Basil Herring who bears responsibility for turning over the RCA's complete file on Tendler to Tendler.
The women who spoke to the RCA and its investigators believed that the RCA had assured them on anonymity, which is normal for these type of investigations, as opposed to criminal investigations where a person tried has the right to confront his accusers.
Rabbi Tendler then sicced his lawyers on to some of the women who complained that Tendler coerced them into bed in exchange for a divorce or some other favor.
The RCA's investigation into rabbi Tendler has run tens of thousands of dollars and is being paid for by special donations. The RCA doesn't have the resources (without special contributions) to do these investigations, especially not ones on powerful rabbis like Mordecai Tendler, who have their own fiefdom and their own expensive lawyers ready to get rough and dirty with their opponents.
I sent rabbi Billet an email a few days ago to discuss rabbinical sex abuse. He did not respond.
