[10][11][12] On December 12, 2012, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes presented an award of excellence to Seewald for "tireless service and dedication to the community" in exposing Jewish sexual predators.
[7][13][6] Sharon Otterman and Ray Rivera, in The New York Times, stated that Jewish Community watch is one amongst several blogs and web sites publishing photos of people accused as molesters.
They state that although this is a risky move legally - the sources believe it is justified by the need to warn the community, particularly given that the Brooklyn district attorney's office has a policy of not publicizing arrests or indictments in such cases.
When a victim is unwilling—or unable due to the statute of limitations—to press charges; Seewald conducts his own investigation; selectively exposing alleged abusers on his Wall of Shame.
Ben Hirsch, a co-founder of Survivors for Justice, an organization that advocates and educates on issues of child safety, says that Seewald is on a dangerous track.
Noting that by setting up a separate registry and justice system [from law enforcement agencies], it perpetuates the same message of the rabbis that "we can deal with this issue in-house".
Considering Jewish Community Watch was not involved with the investigation, he was immediately removed from the site and a further update was published regarding the dropped charges.
At one event in Crown Heights, speakers included community rabbis, activists, therapists, former victims, and Brooklyn's District Attorney.
[25] To date, JCW has had public events in multiple cities around the world, including: Jerusalem, Efrat, Beit Shemesh (Israel), Miami, Boca Raton, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Monsey, Toronto (California) and others.
[26] Mendy stated that "Where many of our community leaders have shied away from addressing this issue head-on, Meyer has devoted himself to doing the dirty work that needs to be done to keep our children safe."
[27] Members of the Chabad community, posting on local news blogs, have criticized the JCW website for not providing enough information on how investigations are performed, and for not detailing the evidence behind accusations of wrongdoing.