In this week's Jewish Press, attorney and victims advocate Elliot Pasik writes about the Baltimore abuse letter and the state of the problem in New York and nationwide:
The damage that abuse can cause is devastating and potentially life
altering; it commonly ruins an individual’s sense of self, their
ability to trust others, and their ability to engage in a healthy
intimate relationship. Furthermore, there is a growing consensus
amongst mental health professionals serving the observant community
that many of our “teens-at-risk” issues were generated by incidents of
abuse. The risks of suicide, alcohol and drug abuse and other
self-destructive behaviors are all increased dramatically by abuse.
Pasik goes on to discuss the changes in NY State law necessary to help stop rabbi-on-boy sexual assult and rape:
The legal scene in New York is, quite frankly, not a strong one for
nonpublic-school children. Last year, however, it was made a little bit
stronger when our State Legislature passed a new law that – for the
first time in 70 years – “authorizes” our nonpublic schools to
fingerprint and background-check their employees. (A state labor law,
in effect since 1937, bars private employers from fingerprinting
employees unless another law allows or requires it.)
The key word is “authorizes.” The new law, unlike laws in other
states, does not require fingerprinting – that’s something left to the
discretion of individual yeshivas and other nonpublic schools.
This year, my new group-in-formation, the New York State Yeshiva
Parents Association, is asking for more new laws. In February, we sent
letters to selected legislative leaders and Governor Spitzer asking for
mandatory fingerprinting so that our schools will no longer employ
convicted sex offenders and other dangerous criminals. (The legislative
leaders include Assembly Speaker Silver, and, in the Senate, Majority
Leader Bruno, Deputy Majority Leader Skelos, and Education Committee
Chairman Saland.)
We also asked for a mandatory reporting law. In 25 states – New
York is not one of them – all clergy are mandated reporters, required
to report evidence of sex abuse or violence to child welfare
authorities. In 18 states – and this is remarkable – all persons who
reasonably suspect child abuse are mandated reporters. But again, not
in New York.
In New York, public school officials are mandated reporters, but
not nonpublic school employees. Thus, New York is among the small
minority of states whose laws do not require nonpublic, religious
schools to report sex abuse to state child welfare authorities.
My February 2007 letter to the State Legislature makes a modest
proposal. We are asking for neither an “all person” nor an “all clergy”
mandatory reporting law – just one for nonpublic-school employees. In
this manner, we hope to create a consensus and avoid an inevitable
confrontation with ultra-conservative elements who would object to a
broad mandatory reporting law.…
Finally, my letter asks for a nonpublic-school disciplinary
system that is comparable to the public school system. All nonpublic
schools should be required to have child safety and abuse prevention
plans. All nonpublic-school employees should be registered with the
State Education Department, and when credible complaints of abuse or
violence are filed, disciplinary hearings should be held. Our yeshivas
have no such apparatus, and it is thus no surprise that sexual
predators have been known to move from one yeshiva to another.
Has this effort been endorsed by Orthodox rabbis? No:
Who, after all, could reasonably object to a law that essentially
establishes every school, public and nonpublic, in our state as a safe
oasis for children? Such a law would be entirely consistent with the
ancient common-law doctrine of in loco parentis (Latin for “in place of
the parent”). When a school assumes physical custody of a child, it is
in loco parentis, and owes the same high duty of care that a parent
ordinarily owes a child.…
I have asked our major frum organizations – the Rabbinical Council of
America, the Orthodox Union, and Agudath Israel – for their support of
these latest proposals. So far, there has been silence.
In other words, even after Rabbi Baruch Lanner and the NCSY-OU scandal, the OU and the RCA are silent and have not backed these simple measures to protect children.
What can you do to help? Pasik writes:
The RCA is holding its annual convention from April 29 through May 1 at
the Jewish Heritage Museum in Manhattan. I have submitted a proposed
resolution – as I did at the RCA’s 2005 convention for the then-yet
to-be-passed background check law – in support of the new laws proposed
in my February letter to the Legislature and in this article.
You can make a difference by e-mailing RCA officials your
thoughts (see the “Contact Us” section on the RCA website at
www.rabbis.org). You can also make a difference by e-mailing New York’s
legislative leaders from the websites of the State Assembly and Senate.
Let your voice be heard, so that when God asks Ayeka? – when He
asks where you stand in the battle to protect our children’s bodies and
souls – you can answer without guilt or self-doubt.
Pasik has no suggestions for ways to address Agudath Israel of America's silence. I have one that should be used to deal with Agudath Israel, Igud HaRabbonim, Agudath HaRabbonim, and rabbinic organizations of the hasidic world, including Chabad – ostracism. Cut them off financially and religiously. Do the same to the RCA and the OU, unless Pasik's resolution passes and is enforced. Do not pay your dues. Do not donate. Do not socialize with or honor leaders or members.
We need to stop funding and honoring thugs, even when their "first name" is "rabbi."
UPDATE: The RCA passed a resolution backing Pasik's suggestions. It's online here. Official haredi organizations have not, but some members (not leaders) of Satmar publicly supported in early June, 2007 a bill proposed by the NY State Legislature to mandate background checks in private religious schools.
