Perth Rabbi's Abuse Claim Refuted

The J-Wire
May 20, 2013

http://www.jwire.com.au/news/perth-rabbis-abuse-claim-refuted/34487


Perth Rabbi Dovid Freilich told “The Australian” that he believed 95% of Australian rabbis dealt with sexual abuse matters internally…a claim challenged by the Rabbinical Council of Victoria.

The RCV has issued the following statement:

The RCV is the largest State Rabbinic body in Australia and has stated on numerous occasions that all cases of child abuse must be reported immediately to the Police. The Council’s resolution to this effect was adopted by the Rabbis of Victoria unanimously and bears the name of each Rabbi.

Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant, President of the RCV said that for several years now the RCV has been contributing to the fight against child sexual abuse. “The RCV’s widely publicised position that any and all cases of child abuse must be reported immediately to the Police and relevant authorities has appeared numerous times in Jewish and wider Australian media”, said Rabbi Kluwgant.

Therefore there is absolutely no basis to the statement attributed to a Perth rabbi (“Manny Waks pays the price for speaking about sexual abuse in an Orthodox Jewish community”, The Australian, May 18) that “95% of Australian rabbis prefer child sexual abuse be dealt with internally”.

We look forward to a full and swift retraction by those responsible for this erroneous claim.