At press time, the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County (RCBC) was preparing a statement regarding the status of two Teaneck restaurants under its supervision, The Humble Toast and La Cucina di Nava. Shalom Yehudiel, chef and part-owner of both restaurants, was arrested last Wednesday, March 16, in Newark, following Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella’s issuance of warrant regarding a fall 2021 criminal charge of aggravated sexual assault involving a minor between the ages of 13 and 16, whom Yehudiel supervised at work.

“The RCBC is aware of the new allegations against Mr. Yehudiel. Every accusation of sexual misconduct must be taken extremely seriously. We are currently discussing what our next steps will be,” Rabbi Zev Goldberg, president of the RCBC, told The Jewish Link. He stated that a letter was “forthcoming, shortly.”

After his arrest, Yehudiel was remanded to Bergen County Jail pending an initial appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Rebein stated that Yehudiel was released on March 23 to home detention with electronic monitoring.

The arrest was the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Jason Love and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York Field Office.

Last year, Yehudiel was charged in two civil complaints, also involving sexual assault and harrassment of two female minors, one of whom was in his employ. Those cases are still pending, though Yehudiel, through his attorney, vigorously denied the charges.

The new criminal complaint obtained by The Jewish Link, for which Yehudiel was arrested and held last week, stated that Yehudiel was charged with first-degree sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2a(2)b; second-degree sexual assault, 2C:14-2c(3)b; and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child,, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a(1).