ISRAEL
Haaretz
By Alona Ferber | Dec. 1, 2014
Following accusations of sex assault and fraud, four religious seminaries in Jerusalem have agreed to refund tuition to 13 American families.
The four girls seminaries — Pninim, Binas Bais Yaakov, Chedvas Bais Yaakov and Keser Chaya, which are located in Jerusalem and have a large number of American students — were sued in August in Chicago in a class action suit filed by families demanding their money back for the current academic year, after they became aware of sexual assault allegations against the rabbi who was running the seminaries at the time.
The plaintiffs, who did not claim Rabbi Elimelech Meisels had assaulted their daughters but who pulled their daughters from the seminaries after allegations by other girls surfaced, reached an out-of-court settlement with the seminaries last month. The seminaries agreed to refund tuition fees for the current academic year, the plaintiffs’ attorney Shneur Nathan confirmed to Haaretz.
Meisels, who is described in the suit as an American with a residence in Jerusalem, was accused by plaintiffs of sexually assaulting an undetermined number of American and Canadian girls at the seminaries between 2004 – around the time he “founded or co-founded” the seminaries – and 2014. Meisels has denied the allegations, according to an August article by JTA. Through his attorney, Meisels declined to comment to Haaretz.
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