I have a wonderful 10 year old daughter now. I watch her grow and am amazed by what I see. Even with everything she’s been through, she is smart, confident, and innocent. She knows she’s beautiful because I tell her all of the time. She knows she is loved because I say it every time […]
Category Archives: news-articles
JCC camp supervisors warned last year about fired aide
Republished from the Detroit Free Press Officials confirmed today that supervisors at the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit day camp failed to alert senior management last summer after an employee expressed concerns about the same camp counselor who was accused by authorities earlier this month of abusing young children. Michael Layne, a spokesman for the Jewish Community Center, said in a […]
Out of the darkness
All I saw was depression, anxiety, fear, and nightmares. I saw no way out. I was raped and molested for 11 years by family members. The pain was unbearable. I felt so, so alone and never felt safe to share the horrors I had endured. I reached rock bottom. The only person I felt safe […]
107 Haredi Rabbis Declare: Report Child Abuse to Police
One-hundred-and-seven rabbanim and dayanim have contributed their signatures to a kol koreh (public pronouncement) affirming the halachic obligation of all Jews to immediately report and notify secular law enforcement when they know of an instance of child abuse. The kol koreh is a historic watershed, due to its unprecedented, broad-based support from a large number […]
Two weeks ago in Monticello, my life changed forever
On Sunday August 9, JCW held an evening of education and awareness surrounding child sexual abuse. This was the 10th such event of the year with each previous event drawing massive crowds (over 3300 people in total). For whatever reason, only a small handful of people showed up for the event in Monticello. It was […]
Ex-leader of UK Jewry briefly in court over child molestation allegations
Republished from Times of Israel A former British lawmaker diagnosed with severe dementia appeared briefly in court Friday after being threatened with arrest if he failed to attend a hearing on charges of sex crimes against children. Greville Janner came to Westminster Magistrates’ Court after the failure of a last-minute attempt to appear via video […]
6 Reasons To Reveal Childhood Sexual Abuse
By Dr. Margaret Rutherford, Clinical Psychologist. Republished from the Huffington Post There are some stories I hear as a therapist I would never repeat. Not only because of confidentiality. Because I don’t want someone else, who has not been listening and learning for 20 years, to have to cope with the horror of how parents […]
Grooming Children for Sexual Molestation
By Gregory M. Weber, originally published on The Zero You’re a thief—a con artist. You recently met an elderly widow with a good–sized bank account fueled by pension and dividend checks. In sharp contrast, your own financial engine is running on fumes. You decide to take her money. So you befriend the lady. You run […]
Detroit JCC camp counselor charged for filming naked boys in locker room
(JTA) — A counselor at a JCC day camp in suburban Detroit was charged with producing child pornography after allegedly filming prepubescent boys in the JCC locker room and sharing the photos online. Matthew David Kuppe, 21, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, was arraigned in federal court Thursday and charged with production, distribution, receipt and possession of child […]
More than 1,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses Have Been Accused of Child Sex Abuse in Australia — And Police Never Knew
Originally published in Vice News A government inquiry underway in Australia has revealed that more than 1,000 members of the Jehovah’s Witness Church there have been accused of child sexual abuse since 1950 — yet none of them have ever been reported to the police. Church elders had a strict policy of keeping all complaints […]
Sexual Abuse of Children Remains Prevalent, Unreported, Study Says
A recent study, performed on behalf of “Lauren’s Kids” this past April, both reveals and confirms some disconcerting sexual abuse data. Lauren’s Kids, a South Florida 501(c)(3) founded by Lauren Book (a victim of sexual abuse for 6 years), “educates adults and children about sexual abuse prevention through in-school curricula, awareness campaigns and speaking engagements […]
Police reopen case after former British Prime Minister Edward Heath accused of pedophilia in 1990s
Police Monday named Sir Edward Heath as a suspected pedophile in the most dramatic twist yet in the ongoing investigation into allegations of historic child abuse. Appealing for potential victims of the late former Prime Minister to come forward, Wiltshire Police revealed that he had been named in relation to offences concerning children. The force […]
Monsey: Sex-abuse charges dismissed against bus driver
SPRING VALLEY — Sexual-abuse charges against a Monsey school bus driver were dropped Friday after prosecutors said they could not prove their case. Shlomo Erps, 27, of Nancy Lane, was charged in June with a felony count of first-degree sexual abusethat accused him of molesting a 4-year-old boy who attended a private school in Ramapo. The child told […]
Surviving sexual abuse: Why sweeping it under the rug causes problems
The topic of child sexual abuse can be difficult to broach, but psychologists advise parents to continue addressing the issue after-the-fact. If the abuse is ignored or swept under the rug, psychologists warn it could damage the child victim’s development. Trauma sparks a certain physiological response in victims. Adrenaline, increased heart rate, and other symptoms […]
Jewish Community Watch Brings an Evening of Awareness on Child Abuse Prevention to the Catskills
JCW will host Child Abuse Awareness event at Chabad Landfield Avenue Synagogue in Monticello on Sunday August 9th at 7pm Jewish Community Watch (JCW), an organization dedicated to combating child sexual abuse in the Orthodox community, will hold an event in Monticello on August 9th to raise awareness about abuse in the community, to educate […]
Judge finds New Square rabbi not guilty in sex abuse case
A Rockland judge on Thursday found New Square rabbi Moshe Taubenfeld not guilty of allegations hesexually abused a boy over a five-year period. Taubenfeld, 55, also known as Mendel Zarkowsky, was charged with second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a felony. As he left the courtroom, his supporters started singing and dancing until court officers […]
Rabbi pleads to endangering welfare of a child, ends sex abuse case
Plea agreement met family’s wish that the boy not have to testify publicly against Rabbi Gabriel Bodenheimer. A Monsey rabbi accused of sexually abusing a 7-year-old boy pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lesser charge of endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors said the agreement met the family’s request to spare their son from having […]
Karp Trial Set for October
The trial of Rabbi Frederick “Ephraim” Karp, the Ohio rabbi charged with sexual abuse of a minor and related charges in Baltimore County, has been set for October. Although he was arrested in January and extradited to Baltimore County then, the case was postponed so that the defense could have additional time to review evidence […]
Closing Arguments Made in New Square Hasidic Abuse Trial
The defense and prosecution made their closing arguments on July 24 in the trial of a prominent Hasidic man from the upstate New York community of New Square who stands accused of sexually molesting a young neighbor from the age of eight till shortly after his bar mitzvah. “Let no man be judged by one […]
Testimony of rabbi’s daughter bolsters prosecution
NEW CITY – Rockland Rabbi Moshe Menachem Taubenfeld’s daughter took the stand for the defense Wednesday in his sex-abuse trial. Taubenfeld’s daughter broke down in tears as she described how her mother and brother were killed by a Hamas suicide bomber on a bus in Jerusalem in 2003. She was also on board, but survived […]
Rabbi Sentenced to Nine Years for Sexual Abuse of Teens
A Nazareth Court sentenced Rabbi Yaakov Deutsch from Afula to nine years in prison on Wednesday, after he was convicted on charges of sexual abuse against four teenagers – two boys and two girls – whom he taught. Deutsch was also sentenced with paying a 290,000 shekel ($75,895) fine. The full seriousness of Deutsch’s actions […]
Jewish sex abuse victims pressured not to assist police, secret tapes and emails reveal
Members of Australia’s Orthodox Jewish community who assist police investigating alleged child sexual abuse have been pressured to stay silent, secret tape recordings and emails obtained by Fairfax Media reveal. The details of the pressure being exerted on victims have emerged as the Royal Commission into child sex abuse prepares to hold public hearings next week […]
WATCH: Defense begins in Rockland rabbi’s sex abuse trial
NEW CITY – The defense began their case Monday in the high-profile sexual abuse trial of Rockland Rabbi Moshe Menachem Taubenfeld. As News 12 has reported, Laiby Stern told the judge that Taubenfeld sexually molested him when he went for counseling after the Sept. 11. attacks. Stern, now 22, claims the abuse carried on for […]
Victim in New Square sex abuse case testifies
A New Square man recalled in excruciating detail Friday how a neighbor instructed him to take off his pants and began molesting him on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was 8 years old. The alleged abuse didn’t stop until he moved out of the village more than five years later, the victim, now in his 20s, […]