Second Paedophile Convicted of Abusing Boys at Yeshivah College

By James Bennett
ABC - PM
September 17, 2013

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3850783.htm

[with audio]

MARK COLVIN: As the royal commission began focussing on the scouts, today came further evidence of the extent of the problem that the inquiry confronts.

In Melbourne, the Jewish faith is reeling after the conviction of 44-year-old David Samuel Cyprys for an almost decade-long run of abuse of boys at the respected orthodox institution, Yeshivah College.

He's the second paedophile to be convicted of abusing students at Yeshivah and in both instances evidence tendered in court suggested that those in charge were given ample warning, but chose to do nothing.

James Bennett reports.

JAMES BENNETT: David Samuel Cyprys' abuse of young boys began when Cyprys himself was only 14 and involved nine victims who Cyprus variously raped, molested and coerced into performing sex acts with himself and each other in the late 80s and early 90s.

One of those boys is victim M.

VICTIM M: It's all still so fresh and raw. It's a feel of relief, I feel vindicated for the public campaign. I do feel that this is going to assist many victims in the Jewish community who will now see that you can get justice. Even though this may have happened decades ago, it's never too late.

JAMES BENNETT: One month ago, David Cyprys went to court facing three separate trials. In the first a jury found him guilty of five counts of raping a 15-year-old boy.

Today, David Cyprys admitted to a further 12 charges of indecent assault and gross indecency relating to a further eight victims between 1982 and 1990.

David Cyprys worked variously as a security guard, locksmith, martial arts instructor and school camp leader at St Kilda's Yeshivah College. He used those roles to coerce his victims into exposing themselves to him and performing sexual acts on him and on one another under various guises, telling them the acts were punishments, martial arts training, or religious.

Victim M was molested in spiritual baths connected to the school, and says the experience has left an indelible mark on his faith.

VICTIM M: My whole belief in God has been something that I've been struggling with for decades, essentially since that time when I was abused.

So from my perspective it has shaken myself, and many of the other victims I've been in contact with, to the core. They're not sure where they stand, what religion means to them.

JAMES BENNETT: He says that's because he and other victims were made to feel like they'd done the wrong thing when they tried to report Cyprys' abuse while it was happening.

It's an all-too-familiar scenario.

In July, Rabbi David Kramer was jailed for abusing four boys at Yeshivah in the early 1990s.

Victoria Police criticised the school for helping Kramer escape to the US.

The magistrate who committed Cyprys to stand trial, meanwhile, described as unfathomable the assertion of then principal Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner that he had no knowledge of the allegations at the time, despite two parents testifying they'd told him Cyprys interfered with their children.

Victim M again:

VICTIM M: How could they, some of the Yeshivah leadership, really be concerned much more about the welfare of the perpetrator than they were with the welfare of the victims?

JAMES BENNETT: Will you be seeking compensation?

VICTIM M: That is something we are seriously considering.

JAMES BENNETT: Yeshivah College has told PM it can't comment because Principal Rabbi Smukler is on leave. Last week however, on the eve of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, Australia's most senior orthodox Rabbi Moshe Gutnick spoke to the ABC about a letter he sent to every synagogue in Australia, admitting the jewry's failings in dealing with sexual abuse.

MOSHE GUTNICK: It acknowledges a culture of cover up. In other words, I'm not talking about any specific incident or case, I'm talking about there was this feeling that it should be kept in-house and quiet and not shame the community, and that again was completely wrong.

JAMES BENNETT: David Cyprys' lawyer today told the County Court he wants his client to read the victim impact statements of the boys he abused before he's psychologically assessed for sentencing.

MARK COLVIN: James Bennett.