Yeshiva University Hires Former Solomon Schechter Teacher Convicted of Child Abuse

By Alex Napoliello
NJ.com
October 11, 2013

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/yeshiva_university_hires_convicted_sex_offender_who_taught_at_solomon_schechter_in_west_orange.html

Update: Yeshiva University has terminated Akiva Roth, according to a statement released by the university. The statement said the university admits it had "erred" by allowing Roth to begin teaching before his background check was completed.

Yeshiva University is facing scrutiny for hiring a former Solomon Shechter teacher convicted of child molestation.

Akiva Roth, 42, started at the school’s Yeshiva college unit in Washington Heights at the beginning of the academic year, according to a report from The New York Post.

In 1996, Roth was arrested for exposing and touching himself to 11 - and 12-year-old boys in his private bar mitzvah classes while he was a teacher at Solomon Schecter Day School, the report said. He pleaded guilty to four counts of lewdness against several male students, and received 10 years probation as a result.

At the time, Roth blamed the children he abused for “enticing him into this behavior,” adding he “has very little empathy for his victims,” according to the report.

A Yeshiva spokesman told The Post Roth’s hiring is under review and that the school “maintains an unwavering commitment to preventing sexual misconduct or harassment of any kind.”