An orthodox Jewish rabbi at the head of a Temple Fortune synagogue must return to police next month after being arrested on suspicion of sexual assault last week.
Rabbi Chaim Halpern, 54, leader of Divrei Chaim Synagogue in Bridge Lane, was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and perverting the course of justice last Wednesday.
Police also arrested three other men, aged 62, 64, and 25, at addresses in Barnet on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in relation to Rabbi Halpern’s arrest.
They were all taken into custody at a north London police station and bailed, pending further enquiries, to return in March.
The arrests follow an investigation by the Sapphire Unit at Barnet Police into claims of sexual assault.
Last month, in a separate case, Rabbi Halpern won a High Court ruling forcing Google to divulge the identities of bloggers who posted disparaging comments about him on a blog site.
The rabbi claimed he was defamed by a blogger who goes under the pseudonym “Ifyoutickleus” and several others who posted comments on the Google-hosted blog.
Mrs Justice Gloster, sitting at London’s High Court on February 8, ordered Google to hand over the identities of those who made the comments to the rabbi’s lawyers.
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