Rabbi/Teacher, Cheider School - Buitenveldert, Netherlands
Tel Aviv, Israel
CALL TO ACTION: Tell Israeli officials to stop playing games and to extradite Ephraim S. so that way those he allegedly harmed will have their day in court. If he is innocent of the charges, let the Dutch courts decide.
Rabbi Ephraim S. allegedly molested at least three boys at the a Chabad days school in the Netherlands over a two year period. A six-year-old child disclosed he was molested in the schools "dark room". Shortly after the allegations were made public, Ephraim S. fled the Netherlands for Israel.
Rabbi Ephraim S. allegedly molested at least three boys at the a Chabad days school in the Netherlands over a two year period. A six-year-old child disclosed he was molested in the schools "dark room". Shortly after the allegations were made public, Ephraim S. fled the Netherlands for Israel.
One of the children's father's wants to know why the teacher was allowed to massage pupils on a regular basis without the school putting a stop to it, while others have claimed the school was not fully forthcoming to parents, saying in an email only that an unnamed teacher had been suspended for “inappropriate behavior.”
According to friends of Ephraim S., he is attempting to join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
According to De Telegraaf daily, Israeli police have placed no restrictions on Ephraim S.’ movement and he has given private lessons to pupils in Israel.
According to De Telegraaf daily, Israeli police have placed no restrictions on Ephraim S.’ movement and he has given private lessons to pupils in Israel.
If you or anyone you know have more information on this case, including the identity of Ephraim S., please forward it to The Awareness Center. We are also looking for volunteers who can help translate articles from Dutch to English.
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Table of Contents:
2013
- Abuse at Jewish school (05/21/2013)
- "This man has stolen a pencil" (05/21/2013)
- Teacher accused of sexual abuse at Amsterdam Jewish school (05/212013)
- Misbruikzaak op joodse school (Abuse Case on Jewish school) (05/212013)
- Dutch-Israeli teacher suspected of molesting Jewish pupils in Amsterdam (05/212013)
- Zedenzaak op joodse school A'dam (Morals Case on Jewish school Amsterdam) (05/212013)
- Zedenzaak op joodse scholengemeenschap Cheider (Morals Case on Jewish school Cheider) (05/212013)
- "Jewish school held abuse under wraps' (05/22/2013)
- Teacher gave Cheider massage in darkroom (07/31/2013)
- Dutch Orthodox School Still Roiled by Abuse (08/01/2013)
- After Molestation Accusations, Dutch Jewish School Adopts Unusual Response (08/12/2013)
2014
- Dutch ask Israel to extradite teacher accused of sexual abuse (01/28/2014)
- Israel asked to extradite teacher accused of abuse at Jewish school (01/28/2014)
- OM vraagt uitlevering Ephraim S. in misbruikzaak (01/28/2014)
- OM asks Israel to extradite Ephpraim S. (01/28/2014)
- Prosecution asks Israel to extradite Ephraim S. (01/28/2014)
- Holland Wants Accused Orthodox School Molester Extradicted From Israel (01/30/2014)
Also see:
- Policies For inclusion on The Awareness Center's Sex Offender's Registry
- Listing Alleged and Convicted Sex Offenders
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Abuse at Jewish school
RTV-NH - June 21, 2013
AMSTERDAM –– A former teacher at the Jewish school in Amserdam Cheider suspected of fornication with multiple students.
The school has reported in 2012 against the teacher. Police have received several reports of children who were abused. The teacher was suspended last year, after which he would have gone to Israel. The Dutch Justice has asked Israel for help. What is in that letter rogatory, was not disclosed.
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"This man has stolen a pencil"
RTV-NH - June 21, 2013
AMSTERDAM Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs and board member of the Jewish school Cheider speaks following the suspension of a teacher of "inappropriate unacceptable behavior". The Rabbi will not say exactly what happened. However, that this man, at least "has stolen a pencil."
The school has reported in 2012 against the teacher. Police have received several reports of children who were abused. The teacher was suspended last year, after which he would have gone to Israel. The Dutch Justice has asked Israel for help. What is in that letter derogatory, was not disclosed.
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Teacher accused of sexual abuse at Amsterdam Jewish school
Dutch News - June 21, 2013
According to one report, S had sexual contact with a 16-year-old pupil. Other pupils came forward with similar stories after S was dismissed, the paper said.
S has refused to comment on the claims.
Dutch News - June 21, 2013
According to one report, S had sexual contact with a 16-year-old pupil. Other pupils came forward with similar stories after S was dismissed, the paper said.
S has refused to comment on the claims.
A former teacher at the Cheider orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam has been accused of sexually abusing pupils by a number of parents, the Telegraaf reports on Friday.
The teacher, in his 20s and named as Ephraim S, moved to Tel Aviv after he was sacked for ‘inappropriate behaviour’. The Netherlands has now officially asked Israel for its help in the case, the Telegraaf says.
Private tuition
S now gives tuition to children in Israel, sources told the paper. The public prosecution department has apparently confirmed the school made a formal complaint against him.
The Cheider school in Amsterdam caters for children aged two to 18 and has some 200 pupils. Children have to obey a strict dress code and there are separate lessons for girls and boys.
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Misbruikzaak op joodse school
AMSTERDAM - Een voormalige docent van de orthodox-joodse scholengemeenschap Cheider in Amsterdam wordt door meerdere ouders van misbruik beschuldigd.
Nederland heeft justitie in Israël officieel om hulp verzocht in de zaak. Ephraim S. vertrok naar Tel Aviv nadat hij van de school werd weggestuurd vanwege ’ongepast grensoverschrijdend gedrag’. Naar verluidt zou S. seksueel contact hebben gehad met een zestienjarige leerling.
In Israël geeft de twintiger nu bijles aan kinderen. Dit melden bronnen rond het onderzoek. Het OM bevestigt dat de school aangifte heeft gedaan tegen Ephraim S.
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By Iris Cohen and Ruben Koops
(English Translation by Google. If you are able to help us with a better translation please contact The Awareness Center)
In Israel the twenties now provides tutoring to children. Report this sources around the research. The prosecution certifies that the school has done against Ephraim S. declaration.
Dutch-Israeli teacher suspected of molesting Jewish pupils in Amsterdam
By JTA
By JTA
JTA - June 21, 2013
THE HAGUE, the Netherlands –– Dutch police asked Israel for help in investigating the actions of a Tel Aviv teacher suspected of molesting pupils at an Orthodox Jewish school near Amsterdam.
The man, identified only as Ephraim S., immigrated last year to Israel after being fired from his job as a teacher at the Cheider school in Buitenveldert near Amsterdam, De Telegraaf daily reported on Friday. The school has 200 pupils aged two to 18.
According to De Telegraaf reporter Iris Cohen, the suspect, who is in his twenties, was fired from the Dutch school for “inappropriate conduct” but currently gives private lessons in Israel.
The paper reported that a number of families and pupils filed complaints with the police against the teacher, including a 16-year-old who said he had “sexual contact” with the suspect. The man left the Netherlands for Israel after the complaints were filed, but before authorities had issued an arrest warrant.
Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, Holland’s chief interprovincial rabbi and a member of the school’s board, said the school, which also sought charges against the teacher, went by the book as soon as the allegations surfaced.
“From the second the first complaint came in, we consulted the lawbook and did everything in accordance to it so nothing gets swept under the carpet here,” he told JTA.
The suspect worked for about a year as a teacher for the primary school, he added. Jacobs told De Telegraaf that the case “aroused panic in some teachers, who are now afraid their children have also been molested.”
De Telegraaf contacted the suspect through his attorney, who declined to comment on the allegations. Jacobs said the man had denied the allegations when they first surfaced.
There was no indication yet whether the Netherlands would seek the man’s extradition.
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NOS - June 21, 2013
Street View - Google |
Meerdere kinderen van scholengemeenschap Cheider hebben melding gemaakt van ontucht, zegt het OM. Volgens de krant durfden veel kinderen pas te vertellen over het misbruik nadat de leraar naar Israël was vertrokken. De school heeft aangifte gedaan tegen de docent.
Nederland zou justitie in Israël officieel om hulp hebben verzocht in de zaak. Het OM bevestigt dat niet.
"Ongepast grensoverschrijdend gedrag"
Vorig jaar werd de leraar door de school weggestuurd vanwege "ongepast grensoverschrijdend gedrag". Volgens de krant heeft hij seks gehad met een 16-jarige leerling. Hoeveel kinderen na zijn vertrek melding hebben gedaan van seksueel misbruik is onbekend.
Op de joodse school zitten zo'n 200 leerlingen van 2 tot 18 jaar.
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Morals Case on Jewish school Amsterdam
NOS - June 21, 2013
(Translated using google)
A former teacher of an Orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam is suspected of sexual abuse. This confirms the prosecution in response to a report in The Telegraph.
Several children of school Cheider have reported sexual abuse, the prosecution says. According to the newspaper dared many children only to tell about the abuse after the teacher had gone to Israel. The school has filed a report against the teacher.
Netherlands would do justice to formally requested assistance in the case in Israel. The prosecution does not confirms.
"Inappropriate unacceptable behavior"
Last year the teacher by the school expelled because of "inappropriate unacceptable behavior". According to the newspaper, he had sex with a 16 year old student. How many children did the sexual abuse reported after his departure is unknown.
The Jewish school about 200 students are from 2 to 18 years.
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Zedenzaak op joodse scholengemeenschap Cheider (Morals Case on Jewish school Cheider)
Cheider. Foto RD, Anton Dommerholt
Een ex-leraar van de orthodox-joodse school het Cheider in Amsterdam wordt verdacht van seksueel misbruik van twee leerlingen.
Het openbaar ministerie heeft vrijdag bevestigd dat de school aangifte heeft gedaan tegen de leraar. De man, Ephraim S., werd vorig jaar zomer al geschorst. De reden daarvoor was de verdenking dat hij seksueel contact had met een 16-jarige leerling. De twintiger zou daarop naar Israël zijn verhuisd.
Vicevoorzitter van het Cheider, opperrabbijn Binyomin Jacobs, bevestigde vrijdagmorgen desgevraagd dat de school vorig jaar al aangifte heeft gedaan tegen de man, die leraar was in een van de groepen van de basisschool van het Cheider. Volgens Jacobs gaat het voor zover bekend om twee verdenkingen van ontucht: met de 16-jarige jongen en met een jongere jongen die in de klas van S. zat.
Tegenover de school ontkent de man het seksueel misbruik. Jacobs benadrukt dat de school vanaf het begin volgens het protocol heeft gehandeld. „We hebben de man destijds meteen geschorst en een crisisteam gevormd. Binnen een uur was ik zelf in Amsterdam.”
De Nederlandse justitie zou Israël officieel om hulp hebben verzocht in de zaak. Het openbaar ministerie wil dat niet bevestigen.
In Tel Aviv zou S. nu bijles geven aan kinderen, schreef De Telegraaf vrijdag op basis van „bronnen rond het onderzoek.” Ook biedt hij volgens de krant zijn diensten als privéleraar aan via advertenties op internet. Opperrabbijn Jacobs kan dat niet bevestigen. „Wij hebben geen contact meer met de man.”
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Zedenzaak op joodse scholengemeenschap Cheider (Morals Case on Jewish school Cheider)
Reformatorisch Dagblad - June 21, 2013
(Translated to English using Google)
A former teacher of the Orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam Cheider is suspected of sexual abuse of two students.
The prosecution has confirmed Friday that the school has done to the teacher. Return The man, Ephraim S., last summer was already suspended. The reason was the suspicion that he had sexual contact with a 16-year-old student. The twenties would then have moved to Israel.
Vice Chairman of the Cheider, Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, confirmed Friday morning request that the school has already done to the man, who was a teacher in one of the groups of primary school the Cheider. Return last year According to Jacobs goes so far as known for two suspected adultery: the 16-year-old boy and a younger boy in the class of S. Sat.
Opposite the school denies the man the sexual abuse. Jacobs emphasized that the school has acted from the beginning. According to the protocol "We have the man then immediately suspended and formed a crisis. Within an hour I was myself in Amsterdam. "
The Dutch justice would Israel have officially requested assistance in the matter. The prosecution would not confirm.
In Tel Aviv S. would now provide tutoring to children, wrote De Telegraaf Friday based on "sources close to the investigation." according to the newspaper he also offers his services as a tutor via advertisements on the Internet. Chief Rabbi Jacobs can not confirm. "We have no more contact with the man."
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Zedenzaak op joodse scholengemeenschap Cheider (Morals Case on Jewish school Cheider)
Cheider. Foto RD, Anton Dommerholt
Een ex-leraar van de orthodox-joodse school het Cheider in Amsterdam wordt verdacht van seksueel misbruik van twee leerlingen.
Het openbaar ministerie heeft vrijdag bevestigd dat de school aangifte heeft gedaan tegen de leraar. De man, Ephraim S., werd vorig jaar zomer al geschorst. De reden daarvoor was de verdenking dat hij seksueel contact had met een 16-jarige leerling. De twintiger zou daarop naar Israël zijn verhuisd.
Vicevoorzitter van het Cheider, opperrabbijn Binyomin Jacobs, bevestigde vrijdagmorgen desgevraagd dat de school vorig jaar al aangifte heeft gedaan tegen de man, die leraar was in een van de groepen van de basisschool van het Cheider. Volgens Jacobs gaat het voor zover bekend om twee verdenkingen van ontucht: met de 16-jarige jongen en met een jongere jongen die in de klas van S. zat.
Tegenover de school ontkent de man het seksueel misbruik. Jacobs benadrukt dat de school vanaf het begin volgens het protocol heeft gehandeld. „We hebben de man destijds meteen geschorst en een crisisteam gevormd. Binnen een uur was ik zelf in Amsterdam.”
De Nederlandse justitie zou Israël officieel om hulp hebben verzocht in de zaak. Het openbaar ministerie wil dat niet bevestigen.
In Tel Aviv zou S. nu bijles geven aan kinderen, schreef De Telegraaf vrijdag op basis van „bronnen rond het onderzoek.” Ook biedt hij volgens de krant zijn diensten als privéleraar aan via advertenties op internet. Opperrabbijn Jacobs kan dat niet bevestigen. „Wij hebben geen contact meer met de man.”
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Zedenzaak op joodse scholengemeenschap Cheider (Morals Case on Jewish school Cheider)
Reformatorisch Dagblad - June 21, 2013
(Translated to English using Google)
A former teacher of the Orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam Cheider is suspected of sexual abuse of two students.
The prosecution has confirmed Friday that the school has done to the teacher. Return The man, Ephraim S., last summer was already suspended. The reason was the suspicion that he had sexual contact with a 16-year-old student. The twenties would then have moved to Israel.
Vice Chairman of the Cheider, Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, confirmed Friday morning request that the school has already done to the man, who was a teacher in one of the groups of primary school the Cheider. Return last year According to Jacobs goes so far as known for two suspected adultery: the 16-year-old boy and a younger boy in the class of S. Sat.
Opposite the school denies the man the sexual abuse. Jacobs emphasized that the school has acted from the beginning. According to the protocol "We have the man then immediately suspended and formed a crisis. Within an hour I was myself in Amsterdam. "
The Dutch justice would Israel have officially requested assistance in the matter. The prosecution would not confirm.
In Tel Aviv S. would now provide tutoring to children, wrote De Telegraaf Friday based on "sources close to the investigation." according to the newspaper he also offers his services as a tutor via advertisements on the Internet. Chief Rabbi Jacobs can not confirm. "We have no more contact with the man."
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Zedenzaak op joodse school Amsterdam (Morals Case on Jewish school Amsterdam)
Een oud-leraar van een orthodox-joodse school in Amsterdam wordt verdacht van seksueel misbruik. Dat bevestigt het Openbaar Ministerie (OM)
HVNL - June 21, 2013
Meerdere kinderen van scholengemeenschap Cheider hebben melding gemaakt van ontucht. Veel kinderen zouden pas durven te vertellen over het misbruik nadat de leraar naar Israël was vertrokken. Tegen de betreffende docent is aangifte gedaan door de school. Hij is in 2012 geschorst.
Op de joodse school zitten zo’n tweehonderd leerlingen van 2 tot 18 jaar.
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Zedenzaak op joodse school Amsterdam (Morals Case on Jewish school Amsterdam)
A former teacher of an Orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam is suspected of sexual abuse. This confirms the Public Prosecutor (OM)
HVNL - June 21, 2013
Several children of school Cheider have reported fornication. Many children would only dare to tell about the abuse after the teacher had gone to Israel. Against the teacher was registered by the school. He was suspended in 2012.
The Jewish school about two hundred students are from 2 to 18 years.
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"Jewish school held abuse under wraps'
RTV-NH - June 22, 2013
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Teacher gave Cheider massage in darkroom
RT - NH - July 31, 2013
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"Jewish school held abuse under wraps'
RTV-NH - June 22, 2013
AMSTERDAM A number of parents of children in the Orthodox Jewish school Cheider has filed a claim against the school board.Parents blame the board that the abuse case that the school has played under the cap to keep.
It reports the Telegraph. In June last year, the teacher was Ephraim S.expelled from school because he would have had a 16-year-old student of the Cheider sexual relations. A few weeks later, was registered by the school. Some parents believe that the school has been waiting here. too long According to sources in the Jewish community, the board would knowingly new allegations of abuse by S. have taken. seriously Chief Rabbi Benyaimin Jacobs says the Education Inspectorate advised not equal to the police.
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RT - NH - July 31, 2013
AMSTERDAM A teacher accused of sexual abuse of school Cheider Buitenveldert school had a dark room in which he rubbed several young children.
Children under 10 years old declaring therein that the 25-year-old Dutch teacher took them to a room they descriptive of themselves as the 'dark room'. There they were massaged by him. A child would have to go there for example to come as it had been in the classroom. Pressure to rest Writes The Telegraph on the front page, that confidential documents in his hands. 's Orthodox Jewish school teacher suspended for 'inappropriate transgressive behavior "after a teacher would have warned. the school several months earlier The man left after his suspension to Israel, where he now Dutch tutoring to children.
Dutch Orthodox School Still Roiled by Abuse
By Cnaan Lipshiz
JTA - August 1, 2013
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By Cnaan Lipshiz
JTA - August 1, 2013
AMSTERDAM — (JTA) — More than a year after his alleged molestation by a male teacher, 6-year-old Ehud (not his real name) still won’t tell everything he knows about the sex scandal rocking Amsterdam’s Cheider, the Dutch capital’s only Orthodox Jewish school.
Ehud says the teacher, identified by Dutch media only as 25-year-old Ephraim S., used to touch him in a corner of the classroom known as “the dark room,” according to written testimony obtained by JTA. The teacher’s lawyer has declined to comment on the specific allegation but has denied any wrongdoing by his client.
Last month, after the Dutch media reported on a different abuse case at Cheider allegedly involving Ephraim S., Ehud asked his father whether the police would confront the teacher about “all the dirty things he did.” Ehud would not elaborate, but a child psychiatrist later determined he had undergone non-genital molestation — and perhaps worse.
Ehud is one of at least three boys from Cheider whose parents say were molested in the past two years by Ephraim S., who left for Israel shortly after the accusations were first made. Dutch police were informed of the complaints soon after they were made and have opened an investigation.
“Of course we went to police straight away,” said Binyomin Jacobs, a senior Dutch rabbi and spokesman for the school. “Not doing so would have endangered the children.”
At a time when Jewish schools in New York, Paris and Melbourne are facing scrutiny over their handling of sex abuse allegations, the Cheider scandal appears to be a rare case in which Jewish school administrators promptly turned the matter over to law enforcement authorities.
At Yeshiva University in New York, administrators have been slapped with a $380 million federal lawsuit for allegedly failing to respond to claims over many years of improper sexual contact between faculty and students at its high school for boys. In February, the principal of the Beth Hanna elementary school for boys in Paris was indicted for failing to report sexual abuse by a teacher.
But the Dutch school appears to have gone by the book: The matter was quickly reported to police. Some attribute the reaction to a growing awareness that sex abuses charges are not to be swept under the carpet.
“This is most definitely an example of how recent scandals had an impact on religious communities,” said Robert Chesal, a Netherlands-based American Jewish journalist who has written extensively about sexual abuse in religious communities.
Chesal cites sexual abuse accusations against Catholic priests in Ireland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands in 2010 as watershed events that led to far greater openness on abuse cases in religious communities in Europe. The revelations, he said, “generated an awakening to the terrible effects of sexual abuse and lack of accountability, which spread across religions.”
“Maybe these people are very responsible and would have responded so quickly and effectively anyway,” Chesal said of Cheider’s administrators. “But after what has happened for the last 2 1/2 years in this country, I’m certain it has heightened the awareness and had an impact on the time of reaction.”
In Holland, the Catholic scandal led to the first publication, in 2012, of how Abraham Rijxman, a former rector at Amsterdam’s Maimonides High School, was forced to resign in 1971 due to allegations of molestation. Soon after, the Jewish community’s welfare institution set up a hot-line for reporting sexual abuse.
After the Paris indictment, the Council of European Rabbis, in which Jacobs plays a prominent role, issued a strongly worded statement instructing Jewish schools to “stop covering up sexual abuses and go to police immediately.” The statement was seen as rejecting the applicability to sex abuse cases of the religious concept of mesirah, a traditional prohibition on reporting fellow Jews to secular authorities.
The first serious complaint against Ephraim S. came in June 2012 and alleged that the teacher had unspecified sexual contact with a 16-year-old student, according to Holland’s Telegraaf daily. A few days later, parents of two additional students reported alleged abuse to the school.
All three cases were reported to Dutch police. Ehud’s parents also filed a separate complaint against Ephraim S. Forensic child psychologists from the University of Amsterdam who examined Ehud in December concluded he fell prey to “grooming” — a professional term for an act of pedophilia that does not involve penetration or genital contact. But more serious molestation also may have occurred, the psychiatrists wrote.
“Sometimes he rubbed my neck and it hurt,” Ehud told the psychologists, according to a copy of the report obtained by JTA. “He always massaged my neck and it hurt a lot.”
Ehud, who is described in one report as handsome, articulate and affectionate, has refused to answer further questions about the dark room.
Despite Cheider’s quick reporting of the charges, some parents still have questioned the school’s handling of the affair. Ehud’s father says he wants to know why the teacher was allowed to massage pupils on a regular basis without the school putting a stop to it, while others have claimed the school was not fully forthcoming to parents, saying in an email only that an unnamed teacher had been suspended for “inappropriate behavior.”
They also have questioned why Ephraim S. was permitted to leave the Netherlands for Israel last November when he was already the target of a police investigation.
A spokesman for the Dutch Justice Ministry told JTA that while Ephraim S. was suspected of sexual abuse, no travel injunction had been imposed on him. The spokesman added that Dutch police were in contact with Israeli authorities but would not elaborate. Israel Police declined a request for comment.
According to the Telegraaf, Ephraim S. was offering private lessons in Israel through an online education portal. Several of his acquaintances in Israel told JTA he wants to clear his name in the Netherlands but is busy preparing to enter the Israel Defense Forces.
Back in Amsterdam, the families of the alleged victims are dealing with the psychological fallout from the alleged abuse. Ehud’s father says he hopes in time his son will reveal more about what happened in the dark room during lessons with Ephraim S.
“I hope there was no penetration, but clearly Ehud just isn’t ready yet to speak about it,” the father said. “I hope he will be ready to work through it soon, to minimize the damage done.”
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After Molestation Accusations, Dutch Jewish School Adopts Unusual Response
JTA - August 2, 2013
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — More than a year after his alleged molestation by a male teacher, 6-year-old Ehud (not his real name) still won’t tell everything he knows about the sex scandal rocking Amsterdam’s Cheider, the Dutch capital’s only Orthodox Jewish school.
Ehud says the teacher, identified by Dutch media only as 25-year-old Ephraim S., used to touch him in a corner of the classroom known as “the dark room,” according to written testimony obtained by JTA. The teacher’s lawyer has declined to comment on the specific allegation but has denied any wrongdoing by his client.
Last month, after the Dutch media reported on a different abuse case at Cheider allegedly involving Ephraim S., Ehud asked his father whether the police would confront the teacher about “all the dirty things he did.” Ehud would not elaborate, but a child psychiatrist later determined he had undergone non-genital molestation — and perhaps worse.
Ehud is one of at least three boys from Cheider whose parents say were molested in the past two years by Ephraim S., who left for Israel shortly after the accusations were first made. Dutch police were informed of the complaints soon after they were made and have opened an investigation.
“Of course we went to police straight away,” said Binyomin Jacobs, a senior Dutch rabbi and spokesman for the school. “Not doing so would have endangered the children.”
At a time when Jewish schools in New York, Paris and Melbourne are facing scrutiny over their handling of sex abuse allegations, the Cheider scandal appears to be a rare case in which Jewish school administrators promptly turned the matter over to law enforcement authorities.
At Yeshiva University in New York, administrators have been slapped with a $380 million federal lawsuit for allegedly failing to respond to claims over many years of improper sexual contact between faculty and students at its high school for boys. In February, the principal of the Beth Hanna elementary school for boys in Paris was indicted for failing to report sexual abuse by a teacher.
But the Dutch school appears to have gone by the book: The matter was quickly reported to police. Some attribute the reaction to a growing awareness that sex abuses charges are not to be swept under the carpet.
“This is most definitely an example of how recent scandals had an impact on religious communities,” said Robert Chesal, a Netherlands-based American Jewish journalist who has written extensively about sexual abuse in religious communities.
Chesal cites sexual abuse accusations against Catholic priests in Ireland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands in 2010 as watershed events that led to far greater openness on abuse cases in religious communities in Europe. The revelations, he said, “generated an awakening to the terrible effects of sexual abuse and lack of accountability, which spread across religions.”
“Maybe these people are very responsible and would have responded so quickly and effectively anyway,” Chesal said of Cheider’s administrators. “But after what has happened for the last 2 1/2 years in this country, I’m certain it has heightened the awareness and had an impact on the time of reaction.”
In Holland, the Catholic scandal led to the first publication, in 2012, of how Abraham Rijxman, a former rector at Amsterdam’s Maimonides High School, was forced to resign in 1971 due to allegations of molestation. Soon after, the Jewish community’s welfare institution set up a hot-line for reporting sexual abuse.
After the Paris indictment, the Council of European Rabbis, in which Jacobs plays a prominent role, issued a strongly worded statement instructing Jewish schools to “stop covering up sexual abuses and go to police immediately.” The statement was seen as rejecting the applicability to sex abuse cases of the religious concept of mesirah, a traditional prohibition on reporting fellow Jews to secular authorities.
The first serious complaint against Ephraim S. came in June 2012 and alleged that the teacher had unspecified sexual contact with a 16-year-old student, according to Holland’s Telegraaf daily. A few days later, parents of two additional students reported alleged abuse to the school.
All three cases were reported to Dutch police. Ehud’s parents also filed a separate complaint against Ephraim S.
Forensic child psychologists from the University of Amsterdam who examined Ehud in December concluded he fell prey to “grooming” — a professional term for an act of pedophilia that does not involve penetration or genital contact. But more serious molestation also may have occurred, the psychiatrists wrote.
“Sometimes he rubbed my neck and it hurt,” Ehud told the psychologists, according to a copy of the report obtained by JTA. “He always massaged my neck and it hurt a lot.”
Ehud, who is described in one report as handsome, articulate and affectionate, has refused to answer further questions about the dark room.
Despite Cheider’s quick reporting of the charges, some parents still have questioned the school’s handling of the affair. Ehud’s father says he wants to know why the teacher was allowed to massage pupils on a regular basis without the school putting a stop to it, while others have claimed the school was not fully forthcoming to parents, saying in an email only that an unnamed teacher had been suspended for “inappropriate behavior.”
They also have questioned why Ephraim S. was permitted to leave the Netherlands for Israel last November when he was already the target of a police investigation.
A spokesman for the Dutch Justice Ministry told JTA that while Ephraim S. was suspected of sexual abuse, no travel injunction had been imposed on him. The spokesman added that Dutch police were in contact with Israeli authorities but would not elaborate. Israel Police declined a request for comment.
According to the Telegraaf, Ephraim S. was offering private lessons in Israel through an online education portal. Several of his acquaintances in Israel told JTA he wants to clear his name in the Netherlands but is busy preparing to enter the Israel Defense Forces.
Back in Amsterdam, the families of the alleged victims are dealing with the psychological fallout from the alleged abuse. Ehud’s father says he hopes in time his son will reveal more about what happened in the dark room during lessons with Ephraim S.
“I hope there was no penetration, but clearly Ehud just isn’t ready yet to speak about it,” the father said. “I hope he will be ready to work through it soon, to minimize the damage done.”
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Dutch ask Israel to extradite teacher accused of sexual abuse
Haaretz - January 28, 2014
Ephraim S. moved to Israel 18 months ago after being fired on allegations of sexually abusing minors at Cheider, an Orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam.
The Dutch public prosecution department is requesting a man living in Israel and suspected of sexually abusing minors at Cheider, an Orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam where he taught, be extradited by Israel.
According to the Dutch News, the teacher, Ephraim S., denies allegations against him. His lawyer claims he will resist the extradition back to The Netherlands. He moved to Israel a year and a half ago after being fired in Amsterdam for "inappropriate behavior," and has been tutoring here.
The Cheider school in Amsterdam has 200 students aged two-18 and lessons are separate for boys and girls. According to the report after S engaged in inappropirate sexual conduct with a 16-year old pupil and other students have come forward since he was dismissed.
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Israel asked to extradite teacher accused of abuse at Jewish school
Dutch News - January 28, 2014
he Dutch public prosecution department has asked Israel to extradite a 26-year-old teacher who is suspected of sexually abusing children at the orthodox Jewish school Cheider in Amsterdam.
The teacher, named as Ephraim S, moved to Tel Aviv after he was sacked for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ over 18 months ago.
According to one report, S had sexual contact with a 16-year-old pupil. Other pupils came forward with similar stories after S was dismissed, the Telegraaf says. The school has not commented on the allegations.
Dress code
The Cheider school in Amsterdam caters for children aged two to 18 and has some 200 pupils. Children have to obey a strict dress code and there are separate lessons for girls and boys.
S, who denies the claims and said through his lawyer he will resist extradition, now gives tuition to children in Israel, sources told the paper.
The case has taken so long to come to extradition because of the 'extremely high demands' Israel places on the evidence, the Telegraaf says.
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OM vraagt uitlevering Ephraim S. in misbruikzaak
door Iris Cohen
Telegraaf - January 28, 2014
(English Translation below - translated by Google)
AMSTERDAM - Het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) heeft Israël om uitlevering gevraagd van Ephraim S., de 26-jarige docent die verdacht wordt van kindermisbruik op de orthodox-joodse scholengemeenschap Cheider. Daarmee nadert de ontknoping in de zedenzaak, waarvan het strafrechtelijk onderzoek al ruim anderhalf jaar voortsleept.
S. vertrok in het najaar van 2012 naar de Israëlische stad Tel Aviv, nadat de ultraorthodoxe school in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert hem had geschorst wegens ´ongepast grensoverschrijdend gedrag´. De school zweeg in alle tallen over wat zich had voorgedaan, maar naar verluidt zou S. seksueel contact hebben gehad met een 16-jarige leerling. Nadat meerdere ouders S. beschuldigden van seksueel misbruik van hun kinderen, ging het Cheider over tot aangifte en stelde het OM een strafrechtelijk onderzoek in.
Dat pas na anderhalf jaar een officieel uitleveringsverzoek is ingediend, ligt volgens het OM aan de „extreem hoge eisen die Israël stelt aan uitlevering. Er moet voldoende bewijs en grond zijn om een verzoek in te kunnen dienen. Dat is er nu,” aldus een woordvoerder. Over de specifieke inhoud van de verdenkingen, bijvoorbeeld hoeveel slachtoffers S. heeft gemaakt, wil het OM geen uitspraken doen. Uit vertrouwelijke stukken die de Telegraaf in handen heeft, bleek eerder al dat S. kinderen van onder de tien jaar zou hebben gemasseerd in een donkere kamer binnen de school.
Wanneer Israël instemt met de uitlevering zal Ephraim S. in Nederland worden gearresteerd. Afhankelijk van zijn verhoor kan de rechter-commissaris besluiten hem in voorarrest te houden. Het OM kan nog niet zeggen wanneer het onderzoek volledig is afgerond. In Israël heeft S. vooralsnog alle vrijheid, en geeft hij onder andere privélessen Nederlands aan kinderen.
Een aantal ouders van kinderen op het Cheider diende kort na S. zijn vertrek een claim in bij de school. Zij verwijten het schoolbestuur te lang gewacht te hebben met het doen van aangifte, waardoor S. alle tijd kreeg om naar Israël te vertrekken.
Geert-Jan Knoops, de advocaat van Ephraim S., liet gisteren in een reactie weten dat zijn client zich tegen het uitleveringsverzoek zal verzetten.
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OM requests extradition Ephraim S. in abuse case
By Iris Cohen
Telegraaf - January 28, 2014
AMSTERDAM - The Public Prosecutor ( OM ) has asked Israel to extradite Ephraim S. , the 26 -year-old teacher who is suspected of child abuse in the Orthodox Jewish school Cheider . Thus approaching the denouement in the moral case , which the criminal investigation is dragged over eighteen years .
S. departed in the autumn of 2012 to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv , after ultra-Orthodox school in Amsterdam Buitenveldert was suspended for " inappropriate behavior borders " him. The school said nothing at all about numbers what had happened , but allegedly S. have had a 16 - year-old student sexual contact. After several parents S. accused of sexual abuse of their children went on to Cheider declaration and asked the prosecution in a criminal investigation .
That after eighteen months an official extradition request has been made , according to the public is the " extremely high standards that Israel imposes on extradition . There must be sufficient evidence and grounds to be able to submit a request. That there is now , " said a spokesman. On the specifics of the allegations , such as how many victims S. has made , like the OM make any statements . Confidential documents from the Telegraph in his hands , already showed earlier that S. children under ten years would have massaged in a dark room within the school .
If Israel accepts extradition Ephraim S. will arrested in the Netherlands. Depending on his trial , the judge may decide to keep him. Remand The prosecution can not say when the investigation is completed . In Israel, S. yet all the freedom , and he gives private lessons include Dutch children .
Some parents of children on the Cheider served shortly after S. leaving a claim with the school . They blame the school board to do with making a report , waited too long causing S. got all the time to go to Israel.
Geert-Jan Knoops , lawyer Ephraim S. , said yesterday in a reaction that his client would object . Against the extradition request.
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OM asks Israel to extradite Ephpraim S.
By Floris Noori
Dichtbij - January 28, 2014
AMSTERDAM - The Public Prosecutor (OM) has asked Israel to extradite Ephraim S., the 26-year-old teacher who is suspected of child abuse in the Orthodox Jewish school Cheider. Writes The Telegraph.
S. departed in the autumn of 2012 to Tel Aviv after school in Amsterdam Buitenveldert had been suspended because of 'inappropriate inappropriate behavior' him.
Reportedly S. would have had a 16-year-old student sexual contact. Several parents accused S. subsequent abuse of their children.The school did return.
That an extradition request has been made, after a half year criminal investigation is under the OM, extremely high demands that Israel imposes on extradition. "S. will oppose his lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops, against extradition.
The school in Buitenveldertbaan is frequented by Amstelveense children.
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Prosecution asks Israel to extradite Ephraim S.
RTV N-H - January 28, 2014
AMSTERDAM, the Prosecution has asked Israel to extradite the former teacher Ephraim S.Cheider of school.
The 26-year-old teacher is suspected of child abuse in the Orthodox Jewish school Cheider in Amsterdam. Writes The Telegraph.S. departed in the autumn of 2012 to Tel Aviv after school in Amsterdam Buitenveldert had been suspended because of 'inappropriate inappropriate behavior' him.
Reportedly, he would have had a 16-year-old student sexual contact. Several parents accused the teacher of them abuse their children.The school did return. That an extradition request has been made, after a half year criminal investigation is under the OM to "extremely high demands that Israel imposes on extradition." S. will oppose his lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops, against extradition.
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Holland Wants Accused Orthodox School Molester Extradicted From Israel
Did 'Ephraim S.' Abuse Students at Chaider School?
JTA - January 31, 2014
The Netherlands asked for the extradition from Israel of a Dutch teacher suspected of molesting pupils at an Orthodox school near Amsterdam.
The request was sent last week by the Public Prosecution Service of the District Court of Amsterdam, the court’s press officer, Franklin Wattimena, told JTA Thursday.
The 26-year-old man identified in Dutch media as Ephraim S., left the Netherlands for Israel in 2012 amid allegations that he molested several pupils at the Cheider school in Buitenveldert near the Dutch capital.
“We have been busy for a while with filing the request,” Wattimena told JTA. “The Israeli authorities place higher demands than what we are used to. We need, according to the Israeli legal system, to present more [proof] of plausibility with regards to the former teacher. The investigation continues.”
The prosecution service declined to specify what actions Ephraim S. is suspected of committing. One parent told JTA that Ephraim S. gave his son massages, and that Ephraim S. is also suspected of having relations of a sexual nature with a 16-year-old boy.
The suspect’s lawyer, Geert-Jan Knoops, has denied any wrongdoing on the part of his client. Knoops told the Volkskrant daily that he has filed a complaint against the prosecutors handling the case with the Justine Ministry’s supervisor. Knoops said that the prosecution has withheld evidence, keeping his client from defending himself against allegations in the media.
According to De Telegraaf daily, Israeli police have placed no restrictions on Ephraim S.’ movement and he has given private lessons to pupils in Israel.
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