Child abuse victims and their families have been abused and ostracised by people within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community for breaking the Chabad code of silence, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard.
The role of the Jewish law and the concept of Mesirah, the religious code dictating Jewish people do not report or “hand over” other Jewish people to the authorities, will form part of the inquiry into abuse at the Yeshivah centres in Melbourne and Bondi.
One victim told the inquiry he was groomed by serial child abuser David Cyprys in the 1980s while he was a student at the Yeshivah College.
He told the inquiry the then head of the Yeshivah, Rabbi Dovid Groner, said “I thought we’d fixed him”, when he was told of the abuse.
The victim, known only as AVA, said he had absolutely no doubt people at Yeshivah knew Cyprys had a penchant for young boys.
Cyrpys is currently serving an eight-year jail term in Melbourne.
Counsel assisting the commission Maria Gerace said evidence would be given about abuse perpetrated by three convicted child abusers, Cyprys, David Kramer and Daniel Hayman, and the commission would look at when Jewish leaders first heard of allegations and their responses.
Child abuse victim Manny Waks said he also told Rabbi Groner of the abuse he was subjected to.
He told the inquiry he reported the abuse to Rabbi Groner in the 1990s and in 2000s, but Cyprys continued to work as a security guard at the centre.
Mr Waks told the commission he felt “let down by the system” as his complaints to the Yeshiva leaders, and his initial complaints to police, went ignored.
He said he and his family had faced backlash for “breaking the Chabad code of silence”, as many within the Chabad community believed it would increase anti-Semitism.
Mr Waks read out a critical email sent to him after he went public about the abuse.
“Get over it already,” the email said.
“There is something very ugly and personal about your anti-Yeshivah campaign.
“Just because a security guard molested you, don’t blame Yeshivah.
“Most people consider you a low life… because of your malicious blame game.”
Mr Waks became emotional when he described the impact of the intimidation on his wife.
He said his wife was a very private person and felt she could not go certain places because “people knew who she was”.
“When people saw her in the street, no-one said anything negative but they used to stare and make her uncomfortable and it became unbearable for her,” he said.
Mr Waks told the hearing he wanted an acknowledgement that he had done nothing wrong by speaking out.
“What I would most like to see is an unequivocal acceptance of responsibility by the Yeshivah leadership for what happened to me and the others who were abused,” he said.
“I would like them to condemn the ongoing intimidation and harassment of me rather than condoning or even inciting it.
“I would like them to take steps towards genuine repentance which includes requesting genuine forgiveness and offering recompense.”
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-02-03 01:01:312015-02-03 01:01:31Sarah Farnsworth, Child sex abuse royal commission: Jewish 'code of silence' at Yeshivah centres under spotlight at inquiry
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-02-03 01:00:172015-02-03 01:00:17Catholic Whistleblowers documentary set for NYC debut in February | National Catholic Reporter
February 2, 2015
Hon. Vice-Chairman Barry Fleming
Judiciary Committee
Georgia House of Representatives 18 Capitol Square 401-H Coverdell Legislative Office Building Atlanta, GA 30334
RE: The Hidden Predator Act, H.B. 17; Hearing: February 2, 3:00PM
Dear Vice-Chairman Fleming and Honorable Members of the Committee:
I commend the Committee for taking up The Hidden Predator Act, H.B. 17, which would extend the civil statute of limitations from age 23 to age 53 and revive for a period of two (2) years all other actions for which the statute of limitations (“SOL”) had previously lapsed. Statute of limitations reform is the one tried and true means that will identify the many hidden child predators who are grooming children in Georgia right now and will shift the cost of abuse from the victims to those who caused it.
This bill is a sunshine law for children. There is an epidemic of child sex abuse around the world: at least one in four girls is sexually abused and about one in five boys. Historically, 90% of child victims never go to the authorities and the vast majority of claims expire before the victims are capable of getting to court.
By way of introduction, I hold the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. My book, Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge University Press 2008, 2012) makes the case for statute of limitations reform in the child sex abuse arena. I am the leading expert on the history and constitutionality of retroactive statutes of limitations with respect to child sex abuse and have advised many child sex abuse victims on constitutional issues, and testified in numerous states where SOL reform is being considered. I also track the SOL movement in all 50 states on my website, www.sol-reform.com.
There are three compelling public purposes served by the removal of SOLs for child sexual abuse:
It identifies previously unknown child predators to the public so
children will not be abused in the future;
(2) It gives child sex abuse survivors a fair chance at justice; and
(3) It cures the injustice wreaked by the current unfairly short statute of
limitations that protect child predators and silence child sex abuse victims
Typically, it takes years—on average to age 42–for the victim to come forward. Significant numbers endure addictions, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and numerous other effects from the abuse, which impede their ability to pursue justice.
The movement to increase access to justice for child sex abuse victims is vibrant across the United States. Georgia, unfortunately, is one of the worst 5 states in terms of access to civil justice. Because Georgia only recently loosened the criminal SOLs, and expired criminal SOLs cannot be revived, the only venue left for justice and identifying perpetrators for the vast majority of Georgia’s victims are the civil courts.
H.B. 17 would be a huge step forward for Georgia’s past, present, and future children. Some may attempt to argue that the retroactive revival of expired SOLs is unconstitutional, but it is not under Georgia case law. Vaughn v. Vulcan Materials Co., 465 S.E.2d 661, 662 (Ga. 1996) (“There is no vested right in a statute of limitations and a legislature may revive a claim which would have been barred by a previous limitations period by enacting a new statute of limitations, without violating our constitutional prohibition against retroactive laws.”)
Once again, I applaud you and the Committee for considering this legislation which will help childhood sexual abuse victims. Georgia’s children deserve the passage of statute of limitations reform to identify current and past child predators, and to achieve justice for the many victims suffering now in silence. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions regarding statute of limitations reform, or if I can be of assistance in any other way.
Sincerely,
Marci A. Hamilton
Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
CC: Hon. Chairman Wendell Willard
Judiciary Committee
Georgia House of Representatives
132 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
The first hearing for HB 17, the Hidden Predator Act, will be in the Fleming Subcommittee -Judiciary Civil on Monday, February 2, 2015 at 3 :00 PM in the Judiciary Committee meeting room 132 inside the Capitol. Room 132 is on the first (ground level) floor of the Capitol.
Please notify all survivors who are being scripted to testify to make plans to come to the capitol. I am not certain the order in which the bill will be heard until I receive and official notice. Please instruct your survivors to make plans to clear their schedules for the entire afternoon and evening. This could be a long hearing. Also, please advise survivors who will be testifying that they will be required to sign up to speak on the bill and to show up 1 hour prior to the meeting (2 PM).
The St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese has reopened the case of a retired priest accused of sexual abuse in the 1970s it has already twice cleared of sexual misconduct.
The archdiocese announced Friday morning that it had begun reinvestigating an allegation against Fr. William Stolzman, 76, it first received in 2008. The decision came Jan. 14, the same day attorney Jeff Anderson made public Stolzman’s file, along with those of five other priests. Stolzman has been placed on a leave of absence and is restricted from exercising priestly ministry during the investigation.
Director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment Tim O’Malley told NCR that to his knowledge, Stolzman has not had additional allegations brought against him. He added that at this point, no new evidence has surfaced, and the review is part of a process in his office of re-examining old cases that involved children or anything related to misconduct.
“And in my determination, I think this warrants a reinvestigation because with the passage of time, I think we have maybe an opportunity to gather a more complete information than they had back in 2008,” he said.
Attorney Mike Finnegan said Anderson’s firm recommended the Stolzman case be reopened because of several “red flags” beyond the 2008 accusation: possible child pornography in 1997, the investigation by former vicar general Fr. Kevin McDonough, and the fact that the priest was still occasionally celebrating Mass in the area.
Stolzman, who retired in June 2008, was among several priests filling in at the Church of St. Michael in Farmington, Minn., while its pastor has been on sabbatical. Bulletins show him scheduled to preside at Masses on four days since Dec. 14. He was also scheduled for the Jan. 17-18 weekend, but O’Malley said Stolzman did not celebrate Masses those days, adding that the archdiocese contacted parishes where he may have recently celebrated Mass about his current status.
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-01-31 01:46:292015-01-31 01:46:29Brian Roewe, Twin Cities archdiocese reopens case of priest accused of sex abuse, National Catholic Reporter
The lawsuit claims Buck was molested by his English teacher, Christopher Simonds, and that it was ignored by headmaster Peter Carleton, as well as several other administrators. The suit alleges Simonds forced Buck and other boys to engage in oral sex with each other and with him, that he raped Buck and as many as 12 other young boys, and that he took pornographic photos of the acts to blackmail the kids.
Simonds allegedly also provided the boys with cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana as bribes. Another employee named Jim Hickey is accused of giving Buck heroin before trying to rape him.
“The complaint in this case is based almost entirely on admissions made by the school,” said Ponvert.
Ponvert is referring to a slew of lawsuits settled in the 1990s by a different attorney on behalf of other students, who filed anonymously. The testimony from those prior depositions, made under oath, will be used in attempting to prove allegations in two current lawsuits.
Ponvert is also representing former Indian Mountain School student Brewster Brownville, who is the alleged victim in a similar lawsuit filed against the school in October 2014.
But why are Brownville and Buck filing so many years later?
“It is very common in child sexual abuse cases that people do not come forward for a number of years and that’s why the Connecticut legislature extended the statute of limitations to the age of 48. It takes them years and years and years of suffering, of humiliation, and shame and trauma and PTSD, to get to a point in their lives where they can handle coming out, speaking publicly and trying to take power over what has happened to them,” said Ponvert.
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-01-31 01:41:052015-01-31 01:41:05Beau Berman, Private boarding school sued again for sexual abuse, FOX CT
Sarah Farnsworth, Child sex abuse royal commission: Jewish ‘code of silence’ at Yeshivah centres under spotlight at inquiry
/in International /by SOL ReformCatholic Whistleblowers documentary set for NYC debut in February | National Catholic Reporter
/in Clergy Child Sex Abuse, New York /by SOL ReformSOL event at Cardozo in NYC, Thursday, Feb. 5
DOCUMENTARY: A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE
DATE: February 5, 2015 – 6:00pm to 9:00pm
55 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003
http://ncronline.org/blogs/
The Hidden Predator Act, H.B. 17; Hearing: February 2, 3:00PM
/in Testimony, Testimony: Civil Extension, Testimony: Civil Window, Testimony: Georgia /by SOL ReformView as PDF: Georgia_Hearing_Before_the_Judiciary_on_The_Hidden_Predator_Act_HB 17_Marci_Hamilton
February 2, 2015
Hon. Vice-Chairman Barry Fleming
Judiciary Committee
Georgia House of Representatives 18 Capitol Square 401-H Coverdell Legislative Office Building Atlanta, GA 30334
RE: The Hidden Predator Act, H.B. 17; Hearing: February 2, 3:00PM
Dear Vice-Chairman Fleming and Honorable Members of the Committee:
I commend the Committee for taking up The Hidden Predator Act, H.B. 17, which would extend the civil statute of limitations from age 23 to age 53 and revive for a period of two (2) years all other actions for which the statute of limitations (“SOL”) had previously lapsed. Statute of limitations reform is the one tried and true means that will identify the many hidden child predators who are grooming children in Georgia right now and will shift the cost of abuse from the victims to those who caused it.
This bill is a sunshine law for children. There is an epidemic of child sex abuse around the world: at least one in four girls is sexually abused and about one in five boys. Historically, 90% of child victims never go to the authorities and the vast majority of claims expire before the victims are capable of getting to court.
By way of introduction, I hold the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. My book, Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge University Press 2008, 2012) makes the case for statute of limitations reform in the child sex abuse arena. I am the leading expert on the history and constitutionality of retroactive statutes of limitations with respect to child sex abuse and have advised many child sex abuse victims on constitutional issues, and testified in numerous states where SOL reform is being considered. I also track the SOL movement in all 50 states on my website, www.sol-reform.com.
There are three compelling public purposes served by the removal of SOLs for child sexual abuse:
It identifies previously unknown child predators to the public so
children will not be abused in the future;
(2) It gives child sex abuse survivors a fair chance at justice; and
(3) It cures the injustice wreaked by the current unfairly short statute of
limitations that protect child predators and silence child sex abuse victims
Typically, it takes years—on average to age 42–for the victim to come forward. Significant numbers endure addictions, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and numerous other effects from the abuse, which impede their ability to pursue justice.
The movement to increase access to justice for child sex abuse victims is vibrant across the United States. Georgia, unfortunately, is one of the worst 5 states in terms of access to civil justice. Because Georgia only recently loosened the criminal SOLs, and expired criminal SOLs cannot be revived, the only venue left for justice and identifying perpetrators for the vast majority of Georgia’s victims are the civil courts.
H.B. 17 would be a huge step forward for Georgia’s past, present, and future children. Some may attempt to argue that the retroactive revival of expired SOLs is unconstitutional, but it is not under Georgia case law. Vaughn v. Vulcan Materials Co., 465 S.E.2d 661, 662 (Ga. 1996) (“There is no vested right in a statute of limitations and a legislature may revive a claim which would have been barred by a previous limitations period by enacting a new statute of limitations, without violating our constitutional prohibition against retroactive laws.”)
Once again, I applaud you and the Committee for considering this legislation which will help childhood sexual abuse victims. Georgia’s children deserve the passage of statute of limitations reform to identify current and past child predators, and to achieve justice for the many victims suffering now in silence. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions regarding statute of limitations reform, or if I can be of assistance in any other way.
Sincerely,
Marci A. Hamilton
Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
CC: Hon. Chairman Wendell Willard
Judiciary Committee
Georgia House of Representatives
132 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
HB 17 (GA Hidden Predator Act) MEETING NOTICE
/in Georgia /by SOL ReformBrian Roewe, Twin Cities archdiocese reopens case of priest accused of sex abuse, National Catholic Reporter
/in Minnesota, MN Post Window /by SOL Reformhttp://ncronline.org/news/accountability/twin-cities-archdiocese-reopens-case-priest-accused-sex-abuseView PDF: National Catholic Reporter – Twin Cities archdiocese reopens case of priest accused of sex abuse – 2015-01-29
Beau Berman, Private boarding school sued again for sexual abuse, FOX CT
/in Child Sex Abuse Cover-up, Connecticut, Teacher-Student Sex Abuse /by SOL Reformhttp://foxct.com/2015/01/29/private-boarding-school-sued-again-for-sexual-abuse/
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