Florida family sues couple in W. Orange for defamation

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

A Florida family has filed a defamation suit in federal court alleging that a West Orange couple falsely accused them of sex crimes and spread fabrications about them.

Judy and Jeffrey Carmeli of West Orange are named in a suit filed in Maryland on June 27 by Jonathan Frances and his family of Boynton Beach, Fla. The suit alleges that the Carmelis, along with Wendy and Alex Schudrich of Teaneck, falsely accused members of the Frances family of various sex crimes and continued to spread false accusations even after the charges were investigated and dismissed by three different state agencies, and the case was closed.

All three families lived in the Kemp Mill section of Silver Spring, Md., from 2003 to 2004, when the actions described in the lawsuit are alleged to have occurred. According to the complaint, in those two years, the Carmeli and Schudrich families reported to the local police department that members of the Frances family had committed numerous sexual acts and offenses, from bestiality to intercourse with one of their own children to raping Carmeli and Schudrich children at knife point. The accusations resulted in an investigation by three different state agencies, all concluding that the accusations were “baseless.”

Still, according to the complaint, the Carmelis and Schudriches continued to “smear” the Frances family. “Defendants [were]…purposely and maliciously carrying on a relentless campaign of defamation against the Frances family that continued unabated to date.” Although the Frances family was ultimately supported by Rabbi Yitzchok Breitowitz, a professor of law at the University of Maryland Law School and leader of the Woodside Synagogue in Silver Spring, the complaint alleges that the Franceses lost most of their friends, had difficulty finding work, and slipped into depression and that the children in the family sustained “irreparable damage.”

All three families moved from the area, but, according to the complaint, the Schudrich and Carmeli families tracked the Franceses to Boynton Beach and began a campaign to slander them in the tight-knit Orthodox community. In a July 21 article in the Florida Jewish News, Breitowitz, along with a second Maryland rabbi, acknowledged that the campaign continued in the Boynton Beach community where the Franceses moved.

The Frances children were banned from camp and the family was barred from the local synagogue, according to the complaint. “The entire Frances family…has, once again, been shunned and ostracized by their community.”

Boynton Beach Rabbi Shlomo Ciment told the Florida Jewish News that he offered a proposal that the Frances family submit to testing to prove their innocence. Ciment said the testing “would pacify our community concerns surrounding the situation and remove any remaining clouds of uncertainly that still lingered.” Local therapists believed that the process would harm the children, as did Breitowitz, according to the Florida Jewish News. Ciment said that the Franceses had rejected the proposal.

The Frances family have begun a minyan at the local home of the children’s grandparents.

The present lawsuit demands damages of $150,000,000 for each of seven counts stemming from the alleged defamation.

The Carmeli and Schudrich families have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Saul J. Singer, lawyer for the Frances family, told NJ Jewish News that plaintiffs have acknowledged that the complaint states a case against everyone except Jeffrey Carmeli. Even if the case against Carmeli is dismissed, Singer said, the case against all the other parties stands. “They have murdered a family. Yes, they’re still living and walking, but in name only. How do you put a price on that?” Singer said.

Lawyers for the Carmeli family declined to discuss the case with the press. In a prepared statement, lawyers for the Schudrich family said, “The claims made by the Frances family against the Schudriches and Carmelis should properly be resolved by a neutral decision-maker who has heard all of the facts from all those involved. It is unfortunate for all of the families that the Frances family and their attorney have chosen instead to publicize their spin on these events…. We are confident that the Schudriches will be vindicated by the court once the whole truth is known.”

The next court date, Sept. 19, is for a hearing on the motion to dismiss.

Johanna Ginsberg can be reached at jginsberg@njjewishnews.com.