Rabbi Yosef Feldman’s Abuse Stance ‘not Private’

By Jessica Rapana
The Australian
September 18, 2015

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A rabbi who told a royal commission there was too much “hype” surrounding child sex abuse and that pedophiles should receive greater leniency for historical ­offences says the questioning of his personal views by the body’s assisting counsel went too far.

Counsel for Rabbi Yosef Feldman Greg Smith yesterday submitted to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that questioning and submissions on his personal views surrounding the appropriate reporting of sexual abuse, punishments for offenders and media coverage had gone ­beyond the commission’s terms of reference.

Rabbi Feldman had made comments at a public hearing in February, from which he later backed down, suggesting Jewish leaders should not publicly encourage victims to go to police as it fed media “hype” that caused “fake victims” to make allegations.

It was also revealed that Rabbi Feldman had sent a series of emails to other rabbis in 2011, when abuse allegations involving Yeshivah College in Melbourne became public amid a police investigation, arguing that Jews with information about child sex abuse allegations should see a rabbi rather than police. He also suggested pedophiles should not necessarily go to jail for historical child sex abuse if they had reformed.