ynet Teacher from
ultra-Orthodox school left the Netherlands for Israel after 16-year-old
students tells parents teacher sexually assaulted him; Israeli courts to
now deliberate on his extradition to Holland.
A Dutch Jewish teacher
suspected of sexually abusing children has been arrested in Tel Aviv
earlier this week, two years after the Netherlands asked for his
extradition, the Dutch Telegraaf reported on Thursday.
The teacher, 28, has
been in Israel for three years. He was arrested on Monday and was
brought to a remand extension hearing at the Jerusalem District Court
the next day.
According to reports in
the Netherlands, the suspect was born to a Reformist family in Amsterdam
and became more observant a few years ago. He attended a yeshiva in
Jerusalem, while teaching at a private school of languages in central
Israel. In 2010, the suspect returned to the Netherlands, where he
started working at the Cheider School in Amsterdam - a prestigious
ultra-Orthodox institution that includes a kindergarten, a primary
school and a high school.
In 2012, a 16-year-old
student told his parents that the teacher sexually assaulted him in a
side room. The parents turned to the school but were ignored, so they
turned to the media. The school - where 200 children aged 2-18 study -
said it "held a clarification conversation with the teacher."
That year, other students at the school, younger than 10, started suffering symptoms of anxiety, and a doctor who examined them raised the suspicion that they were also sexually abused. It was only at that point that a police investigation was launched.
The reports, published in the popular newspaper Telegraaf, embarrassed many in the Jewish community in the Netherlands and led to great public pressure for the school's administration to join the police complaint. [...]
http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2016/03/child-abuse-allegations-plague-hasidic.html?m=1#comment-2551232487
ReplyDeletePlease refer to my comment at the above link.
I describe a plan that protects children. The plan shields schools from liability. And no less important, it discourages bogus and spurious accusations against teachers.
Police in many jurisdictions use a similar protocol to what I describe: they wear cameras and make reports to their superiors. Complaints against a policeman are reviewed by prosecutors who are independent of the police.
It's so much easier, of course, for a school administration to just take students, put them in a class with a teacher, and then deal later with the occasional abuse case that hits the media.
We, Jews, as a community, though, have to bear the brunt of the fallout. We all get tarred and feathered when the aftermath of dealing with the abuse is treated lackadaisically.
Therefore, since we have what to lose the most, we are responsible for pushing for action. If not my plan, some plan has to implemented across the board at all schools.
Rav FEINSTEIN IS HOLDING HIS CARDS CLOSE AND THIS PLACE HAS DIED.
ReplyDeleteYour plan may help reduce liability to schools, but it doesn't prevent nor protect children against ongoing abuse like that discussed in this video. Most of the chareidi community would still stand behind abusers in situations like this. Don't you think that should be addressed?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGGeLv5IkoE
Please refer to point (4) from the comment linked to in my above comment.
ReplyDelete"(4) A school ombudsman is appointed to accept reports from students. Students are trained from an early age to report to the ombudsman any time they have been alone with a teacher."
The ombudsman will have access to all video from teacher GoPro cameras. The ombudsman will be fully empowered by the Bais Din to take evidence of abuse to civil authorities.
The reaction of anyone else is irrelevant. If people in the community want to believe the abuser is innocent, that is their business. But the abuser will be out of business, which is what counts.