Reformed paedophiles not a threat to society, rabbi tells royal commission

By Shannon Deery
Herald Sun
February 9, 2015

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/reformed-paedophiles-not-a-threat-to-society-rabbi-tells-royal-commission/story-fni0fee2-1227213254940

A RABBI has defended paedophiles, saying some should be left alone if they haven’t offended for decades.

In a stunning outburst to the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, Rabbi Yosef Feldman said he didn’t agree that paedophiles who had repented and not reoffended risked jail time if they were prosecuted.

“Someone who’s done teshuva (repented), ending up in jail for many years, I didn’t think is a good thing,” he said.

“Obviously we’re terribly concerned about the victims.

“Is it just a situation where we punish someone for what they did 40 years ago even though they’ve changed totally?

“They’re not a threat to society and everything else ... of course according to law you’re supposed to, I never said it shouldn’t be done according to law.

“But I’m certainly not happy about it. I’m not happy about it. I’ve said this again and again. I done know why this is an issue.”

The comments came after it was revealed that Rabbi Feldman questioned a victim of abuse after he made a complaint about his friend Daniel “Gug” Hayman.

Rabbi Feldman said he wanted to ask the victim what the purpose of the complaint was and whether he would feel happy if Hayman was jailed.

Hayman was later convicted of indecent assault but was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

The rabbi said he was not happy when Hayman was arrested and charged because he hadn’t offended for more than 20 years.

“I was worried he would end up in jail for many years.”

Rabbi Feldman said given the opportunity he would lobby the government so repented paedophiles would be shown more leniency.

“There should be a lot more leniency on people who have shown they haven’t offended, in the last, decades ago, and they have psychological analyses saying that is the case,” he said.

“Especially if they have tendencies and done act on them, this is extremely good.

“If people have repented and shown they have repented ... it’s encouragement to others.

“I think it’s an encouragement to others that they’ll want to do the right thing because they’ll be treated well in society.”

Rabbi Feldman sparked widespread criticism last week when he said he didn’t know it was illegal to touch the genitals of a child.

His lawyer told the commission today that reporting of the comments had led to him receiving death threats.

The hearing continues.