The Australian government has extended the working time of the royal commission investigating child sex abuse in religious institutions and has given the commission $126 million dollars of new funding – more than the commission asked for – to continue its work. The Jewish anti-abuse organization Tzedek wants some of that money to be used to investigate Chabad.
The Age reports:
The government's decision to give an extra $126 million and a two-year extension to the royal commission into child sex abuse will allow more survivors to tell their stories, advocates say.
Attorney-General George Brandis on Tuesday announced the government would allocate the extra funds needed by the commission to complete its historic inquiry.
Senator Brandis also announced he had been asked to extend the commission's reporting deadline to December 15, 2017.
In its interim report in June, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse said it would need a two-year extension on its 2015 deadline and $104 million to finish its work.…
The soon to be outgoing CEO and founder of Tzedek, Manny Waks, who was abused at Chabad's Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne by Samuel David Cyprys, a Chabad hasid. Cyprys was a known pedophile when Chabad's Yeshivah Centre knowing that hired him to be its head of security and teach karate and martial arts to young students. Cyprys had a key to every door and lock in the complex and free movement throughout it.
When students and parents began complaining that Cyprys had molested or raped kids, Chabad allegedly covered it up and told parents that reporting such alleged crimes was mesirah (informing) – a serious crime in halakha that is strictly forbidden by Jewish law and which is severely punished, nowadays often with communal shunning but historically by death – and Cyprys continued to abuse kids.
Waks and other victims went to police as adults and Cyprys was convicted on (and pleaded guilty to other) multiple rape and abuse charges earlier this year. He has since been accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old fellow inmate.
On behalf of Tzedek, Waks – Cyprys' most public victim – issued the following statement today on the news that the Royal Commission had ben extended and given more funds to continue its work:
Tzedek welcomes today’s announcement by the Australian Government to extend the Royal Commission by an additional two years, and to provide it with the necessary resources to adequately complete their important task.
We hope and expect that the Royal Commission will now have sufficient capacity to hold a public hearing into a Jewish community institution in Australia. Sadly there have been numerous Jewish institutions implicated in this ongoing scandal and the Royal Commission provides the opportunity to examine what precisely has transpired, which is critical for the sake of justice and accountability, and for the prevention of these cases from recurring. Due to the sheer volume of confirmed incidents of child sexual abuse at the Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne – including allegations of cover-ups and intimidation of victims – it would seem appropriate that this institution is closely examined and ultimately held to full account for any misconduct.
We would like to take this opportunity to encourage all victims and survivors of institutional abuse and their families to engage in this unique process by sharing their experience with the Royal Commission. The feedback from all those who have already participated in this process has been extremely positive – I can personally attest to the professionalism and sensitivity in which the Royal Commission engages with victims and survivors. As a Royal Commission-funded support service, Tzedek is in a position to assist, support and advise, just as we have already done so with dozens of other victims.
Cyprys was not the only peophile working at Chabad's Yeshivah Centre.
Rabbi David Kramer taught there and abused kids there. Chabad again allegedly tried to stop parents from reporting the abuse to police and when it became clear that was no longer likely possible, Chabad helped Kramer flee the country. He allegedly went on abuse kids in Israel before moving to the US, sexually abusing a kid in St. Louis, and being reported to police by a non-Chabad rabbi.
Kramer was convicted, served a prison sentence, and was then deported to Australia to stand trial for the Chabad sex abuse there. He pleaded guilty.
And there are allegedly several other pedophiles in the Chabad community in Melbourne, but so far alleged victims have not pressed charges.
That may be in part because Chabad members and community leaders have harassed and persecuted the victims whose names are known to them and the families of those victims. Most of this abuse has been heaped on Manny Waks and his family and has draw extensive coverage in the Australian media.