Head of Jewish School Did Not Know He Had to Report Child Abuse, Inquiry Hears

By Melissa Davey
The Guardian
February 5, 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/06/head-of-jewish-school-did-not-know-he-had-to-report-child-abuse-inquiry-hears

The former director of an Orthodox Jewish school “didn’t have a clue” that one of his staff members massaging the genitals of a young student might be a criminal matter, the royal commission has heard.

Rabbi Yosef Feldman said when he found out a teacher’s aide at the Sydney Yeshivah’s Gedolah college had been accused of sexually abusing a child in 2002, his ignorance of secular law meant he didn’t view it as a criminal offence.

Feldman said he was not aware of laws around mandatory reporting of child abuse, and he did not feel he needed training because “sex abuse is not common”.

“My role in general is to look at things from a Jewish law perspective,” Feldman told the royal commision into institutional responses into child sex abuse on Friday. “I’m not in the business of thinking of how society would deal with issues.”

Feldman said it meant he never thought of telling police that AVL – his cousin – had told him he intended to leave the country hours after finding out he would be reported to police.

Feldman was challenged by commissioner Robert Fitzgerald, who said as the director of a school, Feldman had a responsibility to be aware of what constituted child abuse and of mandatory reporting laws.

“By 2002 all schools were well aware of sexual abuse within schools, in NSW there were mandatory reporting requirements, and you as a director would have been aware of that,” Fitzgerald said.

Feldman responded: “At the time I may not have been aware.”

Feldman had been director of the college for about a decade in 2002, the commission heard.

The former director of an Orthodox Jewish school “didn’t have a clue” that one of his staff members massaging the genitals of a young student might be a criminal matter, the royal commission has heard.

Rabbi Yosef Feldman said when he found out a teacher’s aide at the Sydney Yeshivah’s Gedolah college had been accused of sexually abusing a child in 2002, his ignorance of secular law meant he didn’t view it as a criminal offence.

Feldman said he was not aware of laws around mandatory reporting of child abuse, and he did not feel he needed training because “sex abuse is not common”.

“My role in general is to look at things from a Jewish law perspective,” Feldman told the royal commision into institutional responses into child sex abuse on Friday. “I’m not in the business of thinking of how society would deal with issues.”

Feldman said it meant he never thought of telling police that AVL – his cousin – had told him he intended to leave the country hours after finding out he would be reported to police.

Feldman was challenged by commissioner Robert Fitzgerald, who said as the director of a school, Feldman had a responsibility to be aware of what constituted child abuse and of mandatory reporting laws.

“By 2002 all schools were well aware of sexual abuse within schools, in NSW there were mandatory reporting requirements, and you as a director would have been aware of that,” Fitzgerald said.

Feldman responded: “At the time I may not have been aware.”

Feldman had been director of the college for about a decade in 2002, the commission heard.