Head rabbi at Melbourne's Yeshivah Centre resigns over handling of sex abuse

ABC News
September 1, 2015

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-01/yeshivah-centre-zvi-telsner-resigns-over-handling-of-child-abuse/6742062

Rabbi Zvi Telsner has announced he is stepping down.

Manny Waks, the whistleblower who exposed the sexual abuse of students at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne.

The head rabbi of Melbourne's Yeshivah Centre has announced he is stepping down, after months of pressure to resign over his handling of child sex abuse.

Rabbi Zvi Telsner appeared before the royal commission into child sex abuse in February, and while he denied shunning victims, he admitted he was complicit for not speaking out against it.

He has also told the royal commission he believed paedophiles and gay people could be "cured" by therapy.

In a letter sent to the "Yeshivah community members, friends and supporters" on Tuesday night, Rabbi Telsner apologised the way he had treated victims of child sex abuse.

"As a senior Rabbi at the Yeshivah Centre I acknowledge and endorse its values, policies and message of continued support and compassion for victims of child sexual abuse, their families and all of the community," Rabbi Telsner wrote.

"I recognise that my conduct towards victims and their families did not demonstrate these values or behaviour to the extent necessary of a Rabbi in my position.

"Accordingly, I have decided to stand down from my position as Rabbi at the Yeshivah Centre, effective immediately."

Manny Waks, who went public in 2011 with allegations he was repeatedly sexual abused as a boy at Yeshivah College and accusations of a cover-up, said the rabbi was "at the heart" of the scandal, and said his position had been untenable for a long time.

"He has caused immense pain and suffering to the victims, to our families, but also to the broader Jewish community — not just to the Yeshivah community — because he has tainted all of us," he said.

"So it was something that had to happen, it's a shame it took this long."

The Yeshivah Centre's Interim Committee of Management said they supported the Rabbi Telsner's resignation.

"At the Yeshivah Centre we are currently working hard to ensure that we have appropriate policies and processes in place to guarantee a safe environment for our children," the committee said in a letter to the community.

"[Rabbi Telsner's resignation] follows a recent event in which such values or behaviour to the extent required of a Rabbi in his position were not demonstrated.

"We support his decision and immediate resolve."

At a Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse hearing in February, Rabbi Telsner denied allegations he had criticised victims of child sexual abuse in two 2011 sermons.

The sermons were allegedly directed at a victim who gave evidence to the inquiry under the alias, AVB, as well as Mr Waks.

Both said they and their families had been shunned and subjected to ongoing bullying and intimidation for speaking out.

Rabbi Telsner accepted he could have corrected misconceptions about his preaching four years ago, after being accused of standing by and letting them fester.

"I don't believe it was in the wake of my sermons, and if any of my sermons caused them to believe that, I apologise profusely and regret that anyone took that message that I was meaning them," he told the hearing.

AVB was sexually assaulted at the age of 10 by convicted child abusers Daniel Hayman and David Cyprys in the 1980s, but he remained silent for 20 years.

Mr Waks said the resignation represented a sense of "vindication and justice" for the victims of child abuse within the Yeshiva.

"There is no doubt that today's important development would not have occurred if not for the determination and hard work of many," he said.

"The victims, our families and supporters deserve the greatest credit — during the period of the intimidation several of us endured — in some cases until this very day — it was literally a living nightmare."

He also acknowledged and thanked the Yeshivah ccommittee for addressing the issue with "professionalism and sensitivity".