Yossef Kahlon of Great Neck acquitted of rape, other charges in 2021 case, defense attorney and prosecutors say

A Nassau County jury last week acquitted a Great Neck man accused of raping and beating a woman at his home in January 2021, according to prosecutors and the defendant’s lawyer. 

A grand jury indicted Yossef Kahlon on charges of rape, aggravated sexual abuse and criminal sexual act in August 2021. He was facing up to 25 years in prison if the jury convicted him of the charges.

The jury acquitted Kahlon, 57, of all the charges on Oct. 10.

“A false accusation of rape is the worst type of false accusation,” said Kahlon’s attorney, Kevin Kearon, of the Garden City law firm, Barket, Epstein, Kearon, Aldea & Loturco. “It destroys a man’s life and reputation and that is what happened here. He is profoundly grateful to the jury for their verdict and for restoring some measure of normalcy to his life.”

A spokesman for Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, Brendan Brosh, said the office respects the verdict of the jury and declined to comment further. 

Prosecutors said the alleged victim met Kahlon at his residence. She agreed to be bound by him, but indicated she wasn’t consenting to being struck or harmed. But Kahlon then allegedly struck her multiple times and raped her, according to an indictment.

A jury rejected those allegations. Kahlon testified in his own defense — a rare move in criminal cases — and said that any sexual activity between him and the alleged victim was consensual.