AUSTRALIA
The Age
January 24, 2015
Rachel Kleinman
Orthodox Jewish communities in Sydney and Melbourne are bracing themselves for royal commission hearings into how yeshivas dealt with child sex abuse.
Police have been swamped with reports of child sex abuse following evidence given in public hearings, as well as stories told in numerous private sessions.
Commissioners investigating institutional responses to child sexual abuse have reported more than 480 cases to police forces across the country since hearings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began in 2013.
More cases may emerge from new hearings due to start soon in Melbourne. Melbourne and Sydney’s Orthodox Jewish communities are bracing themselves for the hearings, which will examine how Orthodox yeshiva centres dealt with numerous cases of child sexual abuse across decades.
The commission will look at the handling of individual cases involving Aron Kestecher and convicted sex offenders David Samuel Cyprys and David Kramer, who both pleaded guilty and were jailed in 2013. All were employees of St Kilda East’s exclusive Yeshivah College or its umbrella Yeshivah centre.
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