Haredi Cult Children Returned To Cult After Parent’s Arrests

An immigration lawyer representing the haredi Lev Tahor cult told CTV news today that about a dozen children briefly taken into custody by the Children’s Aid Society yesterday morning were released to their families late yesterday afternoon.

Lev Tahor children cry and pray after their teacher was arrested, 4-2-2014 (credit: Blackburn News)

Lev Tahor Children Returned To Cult After Parent’s Arrests
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

An immigration lawyer representing the haredi Lev Tahor cult told CTV news today that about a dozen children briefly taken into custody by the Children’s Aid Society yesterday morning were released to their families late yesterday afternoon.

The children were taken into custody while the Canadian Border Service Agency arrested and detained six Lev Tahor members, including the children’s parents, on alleged immigration and refugee protection act violations Wednesday morning.

"Everyone was at everyone's throats. You can see the terrible decisions that have been made and the terrible anxiety that's been created,” Joel Helbrans, a son of the cult’s founder, convicted kidnapper Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, said. Helbrans also said the government’s actions against Lev Tahor were anti-Semitic. "The came in such an ugly anti-semitical way," Helbrans said.

The cult’s immigration lawyer agreed.

“Pretend you are looking at the world through a child's eyes. The kids are absolutely traumatized at the very sight of immigration officials – the very sight of the police,” Guidy Mamann said.

Several members of the cult are under active investigation in Quebec for alleged child abuse and neglect, and are scheduled to return to a Chatham, Ontario family courtroom on Friday.

Lev Tahor members fled the country to try to avoid court action to remove their children, and first fled from Quebec to Ontario to avoid removal there.

It is unclear from the CTV report if the Lev Tahor members arrested for alleged immigration and refugee violations have been released and the children were returned to them, or if the children were released to other family members.