AUSTRALIA
Jerusalem Post
BY TAMARA ZIEVE APRIL 20, 2017
The Australian Federal Police said Tuesday that it is assessing a request by victims of sexual abuse at a Chabadrun institution in Melbourne to investigate allegations that one of its senior officials provided false evidence to the Royal Commission last month regarding the school’s handling of the allegations.
Rabbi Chaim Tsvi Groner had been called to appear before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s 53rd case study last month, following an investigation into the Yeshiva Center in East St.
The commission heard from two victims and their relatives that Rabbi Zvi Telsner, as the former head rabbi of Yeshiva Center, had delivered sermons attacking child sexual abuse victims and their families, encouraging other members of the community to ostracize them and discouraging victims from reporting their abuse to the police or media.
During the hearing last month, Groner – a member of the Yeshiva Board as well as Telsner’s brother-in-law – was questioned over Telsner’s current role at the Yeshiva.
Telsner stepped down as head of the Yeshiva in September 2015, stating that his “conduct toward victims and their families did not demonstrate the values or behavior…necessary of a rabbi in my position.”
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.