Michelle Coleman, the executive director of the Jewish Community Council
of Victoria (i.e., Melbourne, Australia), has abruptly resigned, apparently because of her relationship with pedophile David Cyprys and her mishandling of the issues surrounding his case.
Chabad Rabbi Avrohom Glick, left, and David Cyprys last year
I've just been told that Michelle Coleman, the executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (i.e., Melbourne, Australia), abruptly resigned.
Coleman is the live-in girlfriend of David Cyprys, who has a record of sexually abusing children and who is currently indicted on more than 40 counts of child rape and sexual abuse, most of which took place at or near to Chabad's Yeshiva Centre, where Cyprys worked.
During the many months of the Cyprys case, the JCCV has been silent on the issue of child sexual abuse – except for a statement issued under fire last year that was full of inaccuracies and what some called lies – and it did nothing to offer help to any of the alleged victims (there are at least 12, although two of them are out of the country and not all of the rest are currently in Melbourne).
But in an interview one week ago, a JCCV official praised Chabad for issuing and incomplete apology. The 'apology' also claimed that Chabad had cooperated with the police investigation, a claim that is demonstrably false, as police have testified.
That brought additional criticism on the JCCV.
Additionally, after years of silence, the JCCV is set to vote next week on a statement regarding child sexual abuse and child safety.
That, along with the JCCV's mishandling of the entire issue until now and Coleman's status with Cyprys, may have finally led to Coleman's resignation.
In the early 1990s, Chabad community leaders allegedly helped get David Cyprys a sweetheart plea deal in an earlier molestation case. Here is the deal, which is similar to what Rabbi Yehuda Kolko was given by the Brooklyn DA after what was allegedly intervention in Kolko's favor by senior rabbis affiliated with Agudath Israel of America: