A yeshiva principal who volunteered his time as a paramedic for the Flatbush Hatzolah Ambulance Service was put behind bars this weekend on charges that he had sexually abused two teenage boys.
The charges, which surfaced January 23, came nearly seven years after the alleged molestations ended, prosecutors said as they charged 30-year-old Emanuel Yegutkin with multiple counts of sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
In one fell swoop, Yegutkin lost his position as principal of the Elite High School at 2115 Benson Avenue, a school that caters mostly to Russian-Americans. He also stepped down as a paramedic for the Flatbush Shomrim, which operates near his home on Ocean Parkway near Avenue I.
Officials from Elite High School confirmed that Yegutkin has been suspended and no longer has access to the building or their children, but would not say anything further.
His two accusers were never enrolled in Elite High School, prosecutors said.
According to published reports, the two teenage victims, who are now 17 and 19, claim that Yegutkin abused them when they were quite young.
The 17-year-old alleged that Yegutkin began abusing him when he was seven. The abuse, in which Yegutkin allegedly forced him to perform a variety of lewd sex acts, didn’t end until he was 14, he said.
The 19-year-old victim alleged that Yegutkin molested him repeatedly for five years beginning when he was 12, according to the New York Daily News.
Prosecutors said that Yegutkin was arraigned on January 24 and held on $50,000 bail.
Indictment proceedings have already begun, they said.
News of Yegutkin’s arrest spread quickly through Brooklyn’s Orthodox community, which has weathered a number of sex abuse scandals of late.
Just a few months earlier, a Borough Park man was arrested for molesting a child — now a teenager — at the Boro Park YM-YWHA at 4912 14th Avenue.
With more and more sexual abuse claims being addressed in the Orthodox community, Assemblymember Dov Hikind has created a task force charged with developing a course of action that will hopefully encourage more victims to come forward and teach students to protect themselves from sexual predators.
The plan will be implemented in area schools later this year, Hikind said.
The task force comprises prominent therapists, rabbis and community leaders, he explained.
“At this time, my thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Yegutkin’s alleged victims and their families,” Hikind said. “I hope other sex abuse victims who have not yet come forward to relay their stories of anguish and exploitation to law enforcement personnel will now be inspired to do so.”
