NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward
By Paul Berger
Yeshiva University has let go a recently hired Hebrew teacher following a Forward report that the teacher, Akiva Roth, had previous convictions for sexually inappropriate behavior with boys.
Y.U. said it had “erred” in hiring of Roth by “permitting the new hire to begin teaching before the screening process had been completed.”
Y.U. would not clarify whether Roth, 42, resigned or whether he was fired. Nor would the university clarify whether Roth had told administrators of his previous convictions when he was hired as a member of Yeshiva College’s Hebrew faculty at the end of this summer.
“While all appointments are subject to thorough background checks, the University erred in this case, permitting the new hire to begin teaching before the screening process had been completed,” a Y.U. spokesman, Matt Yaniv, said in a statement, released October 11. “Yeshiva University will continue to re-evaluate its hiring processes and work to close any gaps in our procedure.”
“After an extensive review of this matter, Mr. Roth is no longer employed by the University,” Yaniv added. “To our knowledge, he has not engaged in any inappropriate conduct during his time at Y.U.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.