Shomrim leader, RE investor charged with raping teen girl

Police have charged a prominent Brooklyn real estate investor and Shomrim leader with raping a 16-year-old girl.

Officials have accused 59-year-old Jacob Daskal of abusing the girl last year between November and August, according to the New York Daily News. He has been charged with rape and criminal sex act, forcible touching, sex abuse and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

Daskal, who lives in Borough Park, serves as principal of G & J Realty and is very active politically. He donated $1,000 to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s public advocate campaign in 2009 and gave $500 to City Councilman Kalman Yeager’s campaign last year.  He has also given more than $4,500 to state Sen. Simcha Felder over the past 10 years.

Daskal has strong ties to the NYPD as well and founded the Shomrim’s Brooklyn South Safety Patrol, a neighborhood watch group in the Hasidic community. He has previously defended the organization against abuse accusations.

In its October 2017 issue, The Real Deal explored whether the insular Borough Park community was ripe for gentrification.  [NYDN] – Eddie Small