One Year Ago Today (November 9, 2023)…A judge ruled that attorneys representing two girls who allege they were sexually abused by an imprisoned former Hollywood studio architect can depose the rabbi for the Calabasas Shul, which the defendant helped found in 1994.
The Van Nuys Superior Court suit names as defendants both the designer, Jeffrey Cooper, and the Calabasas Shul. The plaintiffs are identified only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2.
In his ruling Thursday, Judge Huey P. Cotton said Calabasas Shul Rabbi Yakov Vann must submit to the deposition within 30 days. The lawsuit maintains that Vann knew about Cooper’s abuses of both girls, but that no action was taken in response.
“Plaintiffs have been seeking the deposition of Yakov Vann, the rabbi of defendant the Calabasas Shul, for some time now,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys state in their court papers, adding that Vann is a “critical witness in this case.”
Vann’s deposition was first sought in September, but to date, the Calabasas Shul has still not provided any proposed dates for it to take place, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ court papers.
The lawsuit was filed July 25, 2022, the same day Cooper was sentenced to eight years in state prison by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Alan Schneider, who also ordered him to register as a sex offender.
Cooper, now in his early 70s, was convicted in May 2022 of three felony counts of lewd acts on a child involving Jane Doe 1, who was between 12 and 13 years old between 2005 and 2007 when she was abused at his home and later reported what had happened to authorities, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Jurors deadlocked on charges against Cooper that involved his second accuser, who was 6 years old when Cooper allegedly began grooming her.
Cooper testified in the criminal case and denied the allegations. He said there were multiple adults around at all times, including parents and the grandparents of one of the girls, who were longtime friends of the Coopers.