In the interviews that the Boston Globe did with victims, the reporters made it very clear that specific information should be given and that it shouldn't be vague. i.e., it should be stated exactly what the molestation was without glossing it over with generic language. By being specific, the article was able to convey the seriousness of the allegations and resulted in the Church not being able to keep it hidden any longer.
In the case of Nachlaot, the newspapers made many claims of the terrible things that were supposedly done to the children in Nachlaot. For example the Jerusalem Post titled one article
‘He masterminded systematic rape of over 100 kids'
The article goes on to use terms like holocaust and horrific abuse and making claims of doctors seeing strange marks on the children:'Then community doctors started seeing strange marks, possibly indicative of abuse, on many of the children. Finally, one young boy was injured in a way that was unmistakably sexual abuse. He was the one who finally broke the silence, and talked about the horrific abuse happening in the neighborhood.'
The article continues to claim how this is the biggest case of pedophilia in Israel ever and gives it official sanction as such:
'In July 2011, the community went to the police and began making complaints. Almost immediately, the police understood they were dealing with one of the largest pedophile abuse scandals in the country’s history.'
There are several problems with this article. One is that it makes claims that are simply not backed up with any hard facts. Two is that it insinuates terrible abuse has taken place also without any hard evidence to back it up. Without seeing the court documents, we are left to our imagination as to what terrible atrocities were supposedly committed against the children of Nachlaot.
One example of claims made that is not corroborated with any court evidence is that the doctors of the neighborhood saw strange marks on the children. Surprisingly, these 'doctors' did not come forward to testify as there is no court document to attest to this claim.
As far as terrible rape and abuse, this is also not substantiated with court evidence. In fact, the claims are so childish and ridiculous that anyone who thinks that these children's testimonies were real needs his head examined. Suffice to say that what is described by the children lacks any sexual content to it. There is no oral sex, penetration or masturbation.
So what is this horrific abuse and 'Rape' that supposedly took place in Nachlaot that two people went to jail for?
Watching 'immodest' movies that show women dressed only in bathing suits, with Zalman handing out candies in the nude with only his shoes on. Watching while Binyamin told the girls to open and close their legs. (Yes these are really testimonies that Zalman was sent to jail for!) Pairing up many children together and having the boy lay on top of the girl naked. Touching the child's penis and having the child touch his penis. (again no mention of sperm, or anything actually sexual)
And yet, people were sentenced to 15 and 9 years for these children's tales. Total craziness.
