Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Crown Heights Beis Din: Must report abuse claims to secular authorities.

In the past four months the Crown Heights Jewish Community has seen as many sexual abuse-related arrests and reports as there have been in the past 20 years. A Crown Heights victims’ advocacy group called CH Watch has documented at least four arrests in the past four months. What has lead to this drastic upsurge in reporting child sexual abuse? What was the game changer that turned the tide, leaving the offenders running for cover and the victims openly speaking to the police? In a courageous move on July 11, 2011, the Crown Heights Rabbinical Court (Beit Din) issued a public letter requiring its members to report credible claims of sexual abuse to the police.

Other rabbinical authorities have also encouraged their members to go the police, but what was unique here is the fact that the Crown Heights Beit Din made the matter public and not only allowed its members to report directly to the police, but required it.[...]



2 comments :

  1. Old psak from that BD. What's news?

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Old psak from that BD. What's news?"

    It would seem that the news is that the pesak is being followed resulting in a significant increase in reporting.

    ReplyDelete

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