Case of Cantor Mark Horowitz

Case of Cantor Mark Horowitz

Cantor Mark Horowitz

Cantor, Temple Am in Amherst - Getzville, NY
Bureau of Jewish Education, Temple Beth Tzedek - Amherst, NY

Executive Director - Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative, New York City, NY

Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies and Fine Arts at Canisius College - Buffalo, NY

Officer Kevin Maria, was an undercover police officer, reported that  Cantor Mark Horowitz followed him at Ellicott Creek Island Park and grabbed the officer's groin.

Cantor Mark Horowitz is the Executive Director of the Bureau of JECEI (Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative). and an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies and Fine Arts at Canisius College.

Back in 2005 an associate of the Jewish Life Network contacted The Awareness Center suggesting they wanted to fund our organization. As the talks continued the stipulation for funding was that we would remove the case Cantor Mark Horowitz from our list of alleged and convicted sex offenders.  After further investigation into the case and learning that Cantor Horowitz was the executive director of on of the programs funded by the Starlight foundation and upon discussing the matter with officers involved with the case, The Awareness Center refused to remove Horowitz from our listing –– especially since Horowitz refused to follow our protocols to be removed.  The end result was that The Awareness Center was blackballed from receiving funding from many Jewish philanthropic organization.  The Jewish Life Network at the time was an offshoot of the Steinhardt Foundation.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents: 

1994

1. Retired Priest Charged with Public Lewdness   (07/30/1994)

1995

1.  Cantor Charged with Sex Abuse in County Park  (05/21/1995)

2005

1. Canisius College - Faculty
2. Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI)
3. Canisius College - IFA Conference (06/ 9-12/2005)
4. Group discusses lewdness in parks (10/18/2005)
5. Basking Ridge's Zimmer pre-K is selected for national program (10/2005)
6. Cantor Charged with Sex Abuse in County Park  (05/21/1995)
7. Canisius College - Faculty
8. Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI)
9. Canisius College - IFA Conference (06/ 9-12/2005)
10. Group discusses lewdness in parks (10/18/2005)
11. Basking Ridge's Zimmer pre-K is selected for national program (10/2005)

2007

1. New Fellows Program to "Guarantee The Future" of Jewish Early Childhood Education (05/312007)

____________________________________________________________________________________

Retired Priest Charged with Public Lewdness
By Jay Tokasz

Buffalo News, The (NY) - July 30, 2004

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo removed a retired priest from active ministry Thursday after his arrest on a public lewdness charge Wednesday in Ellicott Creek Park.

Town of Tonawanda police charged the Rev. Charles M. Werth, 76, following an undercover sweep in the park aimed at indecent behavior.

Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz, diocesan administrator, removed Werth from ministry after the arrest and it's unlikely he will function again as a priest, according to a diocesan official.

It was the second time Werth has been arrested in Ellicott Creek Park. In 1994, he pleaded guilty to exposure, a violation, in Tonawanda Town Court.

At the time, Werth was serving as pastor of St. Barnabas Church in Depew. He was fined $295, ordered to stay out of the park and to get counseling.

Werth is scheduled to be arraigned on the latest charge on Aug. 18, according to his lawyer, Phillip A. Thielman.

Thielman said he would not discuss the "merits of the charges" or how Werth would plead.

Police said Werth was arrested about 3:15 p.m. in a park men's room allegedly engaged in a lewd act.

During the sweep, police made three other separate arrests of men from Lockport, North Tonawanda and the Town of Tonawanda.

Werth was not accused of sexual abuse or involvement with a minor. "There have not been any accusations against Father Werth involving children or young people," said Kevin A. Keenan, diocesan spokesman.

After his arrest in 1994, the diocese suspended Werth's priestly faculties -- which means he could not celebrate Mass or sacraments or wear priestly garments.

Ordained in 1953, Werth has served at several parishes. He resigned as St. Barnabas pastor in 1994 and retired in 1995.

In 1998, after counseling, the diocese restored his priestly faculties, and Werth functioned as many retired priests do, filling in at parishes and celebrating Masses in the absence of vacationing or ill priests.

Thielman said his client "has been under continuing counseling since the previous incident" and hoped to remain in good standing with the church. ____________________________________________________________________________________

Cantor Charged with Sex Abuse in County Park
The Buffalo News - May 21, 1995

A Getzville cantor was arrested on sexual-abuse charges Friday afternoon after he fondled a plainclothes police officer in a county park, Amherst police said.

Mark Horowitz, 42, a cantor at Temple Beth Am in Amherst, was taken into custody at 4:58 p.m. when Officer Kevin Maria said Cantor Horowitz followed him at Ellicott Creek Island Park and grabbed the officer's groin.

Cantor Horowitz was issued a ticket to appear June 5 in Town Court.

Residents in both the Town of Tonawanda and Amherst portions of the county park have repeatedly complained of lewdness, and police began intense surveillance efforts there last summer.

During 1994, dozens of men were arrested and charged with committing or attempting lewd acts at Ellicott Creek Park in the Town of Tonawanda and Ellicott Creek Island Park in Amherst. A Depew priest was arrested last August and a county judge last June.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Canisius College - Faculty
November 11, 2005
www.canisius.edu/finearts/faculty.aspMark Horowitz
B.M. Manhattan School of Music
B.S.M. Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Ed.M. SUNY at Buffalo

Cantor Mark Horowitz received his early musical training at the Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts. His advanced studies were at Indiana University and the Manhattan School of Music where he was a piano performance major. He received his cantorial investiture from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's School of Sacred Music and a master's degree in education from SUNY at Buffalo. As a pianist, he has performed in both solo and chamber recitals throughout the country and has appeared with orchestras in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, New York State, Ohio and in Israel. As a tenor, he has presented many solo and ensemble recitals throughout the United States and Israel. Cantor Horowitz has served congregations in Greenwich, CT, Roslyn, New York and in Buffalo. He is presently the Executive Director of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Buffalo and Chaplain at the Weinberg Campus. Currently he teaches in both the departments of Religious Studies and Fine Arts at Canisius College and is serving as advisor to the Chamber Music Ensembles.  

____________________________________________________________________________________

Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI)
http://www.jewishlife.org/programs.html#jecei

Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation
6 East 39th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10016
tel: 212 279 2288
fax: 212 279 1155
info@jewishlife.org

At Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, we recognize the power of early childhood education in inculcating Jewish identity and beginning a life-long commitment to Jewish learning and life. Moreover, outstanding Jewish preschools have the capacity to not only enrich a child's identity, but to inspire an entire family to choose Jewish living. Simply put, an excellent Jewish preschool experience is a gateway for the whole family to increased Jewish education and involvement in the synagogue and community.

Jewish Life Network / Steinhardt Foundation, in partnership with The S. Daniel Abraham Foundation, The Helen Bader Foundation, The Harold Grinspoon Foundation, Ben and Esther Rosenbloom Foundation, The Schultz Family Foundation, UJA-Federation of New York and Combined Jewish Philanthropies/JCCs of Greater Boston, has begun a national initiative designed to create models of excellence in Jewish early childhood education, increase the number of families with children attending quality Jewish early childhood centers, and raise the number of families continuing to engage in Jewish learning and living after pre-school. To accomplish this, granting, mentoring, accreditation, co-branding, and marketing processes will be developed and implemented with the aim of transforming Jewish pre-schools into centers of Jewish educational excellence.

Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI)

 At Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, we recognize the power of early childhood education in inculcating Jewish identity and beginning a life-long commitment to Jewish learning and life. Moreover, outstanding Jewish preschools have the capacity to not only enrich a child’s identity, but to inspire an entire family to choose Jewish living. Simply put, an excellent Jewish preschool experience is a gateway for the whole family to increased Jewish education and involvement in the synagogue and community.

Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, in partnership with S. Daniel Abraham Foundation, The Harold Grinspoon Foundation, Ben and Esther Rosenbloom Foundation and UJA-Federation of New York, has begun a national initiative designed to create models of excellence in Jewish early childhood education, increase the number of families with children attending quality Jewish early childhood centers, and raise the number of families continuing to engage in Jewish learning and living after pre-school. To accomplish this, granting, mentoring, accreditation, co-branding, and marketing processes will be developed and implemented with the aim of transforming Jewish pre-schools into centers of Jewish educational excellence.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Canisius College - IFA Conference
Identity _ Faith _ Advocacy
June 9-12, 2005
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:S1R5wiVyxxgJ:www.canisius.edu/images/userImages/stfgrad/Page_7722/Brochure.pdf+%22Mark+Horowitz%22+cantor&hl=en


Keynote Speakers
Identity

Cantor Mark Horowitz is an ordained cantor in the Jewish faith and has been an active leader in the Jewish community for several years.  In addition to his duties as cantor.  Mark has provided spiritual counseling for the homosexual Jewish community.  He currently serves as executive director of the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative, a national education foundation based in New York City.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Group discusses lewdness in parks
by Gene Warner - NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Buffalo News, The (NY) - October 18, 2005


They came to an Elmwood Avenue church Monday night, about two dozen gay activists and supporters, to discuss a complex issue that has confounded the gay community for years:

What to do about the arrests -- and resulting publicity -- of men charged with public lewdness or sexual abuse in Ellicott Creek Park and other parks.

Madeline Davis, co-founder of Rainbow Elders of the Niagara Frontier, summed up the predominant thought of the small crowd in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo.

"The gay community is very concerned about these arrests and the psychological well-being of people who stay in the closet so long that they become desperate," she said. "We worry about them, and we want to help them."

Earlier, Danny Winter, the other co-chair, explained the stakes for those men who get caught and have their arrests publicized.

"They lose their jobs. Their families break up. They're scarred for life. And sometimes they even commit suicide over a minor offense."

Six panel members, including Town of Tonawanda Police Detective Lt. James S. Szabo III, discussed everything from police practices in the park to the psychological factors leading gay men, some of them prominent, to risk getting caught and being outed.

"Most of them are in the closet, I'd estimate about 99 percent," said attorney James Rolls, who has represented some of the arrested men. "These are people who hide who they are. Many of them are married, or used to be married and have kids. . . . They don't have avenues for their sex drive, so they go where they can for sexual gratification."

Szabo strongly suggested that Town of Tonawanda police make arrests only when the exposure, public lewdness or sexual abuse is blatant.

"There are no gray areas with us," he emphasized.

While the tone of the evening was highly conciliatory, one audience member questioned Szabo's assertion, suggesting he knew from experience that the undercover police officers' criteria weren't so stringent. Audience members also questioned whether any entrapment was involved, and whether police target gays, but not heterosexuals, for overt sexual practices.

Szabo rejected that suggestion.

"Since I've headed up this operation, nobody has gotten away with any sexual activity in the park," he said. "It's just a job we do. We're not picking on one segment of the community."
____________________________________________________________________________________

Basking Ridge's Zimmer pre-K is selected for national program
by Elaine Durbach, NJJN Bureau Chief/Central
October 2005 - New Jersey Jewish News
 

Cantor Mark Horowitz - accused of groping a police officer

A preschool in Basking Ridge has been selected to participate in a national effort aimed at transforming early childhood programs into `'centers of Jewish educational excellence."

The Zimmer Preschool at the Chabad Jewish Center is one of 13 preschools around the country chosen for the new project, the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative. The 13 schools represent a range of educational philosophies, denominational affiliations, settings, and communal conditions.

Funded by a group of major Jewish philanthropic foundations and organizations, JECEI is intended to help make preschools more rewarding places for young students and more engaging for their parents. According to those spearheading the project, such engagement leads to more involvement in Jewish life and, through such involvement, to stronger Jewish communities.

"There are thousands of Jewish preschools out there, and the fact that they selected us is wonderful," said Malkie Herson, educational director at the Jewish Center, which includes the Zimmer preschool, the synagogue's religious school, and other programs. "When we were first asked to join, we were feeling proud of ourselves. It's always nice to know other people agree with your assessment."

The 13 sites will receive grants, and trained coaches skilled in early childhood education, Jewish education, and school transformation practices will be assigned to guide the school's projects funded by the grants. The school directors will participate in a training program with the JECEI staff. Schools that successfully complete the initiative will receive national recognition and will be named as JECEI centers.

The project is based on research that concludes that Jewish early childhood education is a vital building block for a positive Jewish identity and long-term Jewish commitment for children and parents. A press release announcing the new venture states: "When a family is engaged by the Jewish early childhood center in a rich and meaningful way, the experience translates into increased and ongoing involvement for the whole family."

JECEI principals say that research indicates that parents with children in Jewish early childhood programs are more likely to attend synagogue, participate in local Jewish communal activities, travel to and support Israel, send their children to Jewish day schools, and be involved in Jewish life.

"We can create an educational experience that involves the entire family and enriches Jewish home life," says JECEI executive director Cantor Mark Horowitz in the statement.

Herson said that so far, she and her staff appreciate the way JECEI has provided each school with a coach — to observe them, offer suggestions, and serve as a resource for ideas and supplies. Although the school is eligible for a JECEI grant as part of the program, Herson said, she does not expect to receive it until 2006, nor does she know the amount of the grant.

Herson also met with early childhood professionals from the other 12 schools. She said the group spent three days in a hotel, getting to know one another and discussing children and educational theories and activities.

"It was an unbelievable feeling of cohesiveness and support," Herson said. "We are partnering all together. We were like kids in overnight camp. We formed amazing relationships with people as passionate and caring about the same things as I am" — educating young children.

The funders aim to raise more than $3 million for the first three years of the initiative. Philanthropists Michael Steinhardt and Harold Grinspoon are chair and president, respectively, of the JECEI board of directors. In addition to the Jewish Life/Steinhardt Foundation and Grinspoon Foundation, partners include the S. Daniel Abraham Foundation, the Helen Bader Foundation, the Ben and Esther Rosenbloom Foundation, the Schultz Family Foundation, UJA-Federation of New York, and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies/ JCCs of Greater Boston.

"The innovation and research they have and bring to our school in a very personal way is amazing," Herson said. "It's emotional and educational support. We've always believed in quality Jewish education, and we wanted to make it as good as can be. Our educational philosophy is to hone a child's natural creativity and curiosity — that curiosity is what will make him or her a learner."

Various successful educational models will be considered for inclusion in the JECEI blueprint, especially the work done at the Reggio Emilia schools in northern Italy, which are regarded as "particularly consonant with Jewish values and Jewish life," according to the press statement.

The philosophy fits in with what Herson and her husband, Rabbi Mendy Herson, who is executive director of the Basking Ridge synagogue, are trying to accomplish — reaching out to families.

"Parents very often come to our school because our reputation precedes us, and they come despite the fact that we're a Jewish school," Malkie Herson said. "We're that child-focused. Jewish preschools have a wonderful reputation for being very loving, but it's not enough. It's also important that children learn and grow in the most optimal way. I tell parents the teachers don't teach — they help children learn. It's not semantics — it's a world of difference."

Herson said she was pleased to see several preschool families who previously did not attend synagogue at Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services.

The other schools in the pilot program are in Dallas; New York City; Stamford, Conn.; Baltimore; Boston; Deerfield, Ill.; Chevy Chase, Md.; San Rafael, Calif.; North Miami Beach, Fla.; Great Neck, NY; and Phoenix.

____________________________________________________________________________________

New Fellows Program to "Guarantee The Future" of Jewish Early Childhood Education
The Covenant Foundation - May 31, 2007 

Special Projects | Early Childhood Education

New Fellows Program to "Guarantee The Future" of Jewish Early Childhood Education

18 "Leader-Activists" from across US Named JECEI-Covenant Fellows 

JECEI Partners with Bank Street, Harvard, and the Covenant Foundation to provide Summer Institutes, Seminars, Mentorship, Trip to Israel


JECEI (the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative) and The Covenant Foundation announced the names today of 18 promising "leader-activists" chosen for intensive training and mentorship under the new JECEI-Covenant Fellows Program, created to "guarantee the future of Jewish Early Childhood Education" in North America.

Training Exceptional Leaders
The new program responds to studies showing that 79% of Jewish early childhood education directors will reach retirement age within 5-10 years. "The Fellows program addresses an urgent need," says JECEI's Executive Director, Cantor Mark Horowitz. "If we're going to keep Jewish early childhood education alive, excellent, and keep our families and children in Jewish learning environments, we need to train promising young educators to become exceptional leaders in the field."

To that end, 18 Jewish early childhood educators have been chosen as Fellows. They are: Peter Blair of Seattle, Washington; Sarah Cunin of Reno, Nevada; Ellen Dietrick of Charlottesville, Virginia; Julie Eisman of Waterford, Michigan; Anna Hartman of Atlanta, Georgia; Kathy Kaberon of Evanston, Illinois; Shosh Korrub of Deerfield, Illinois; Sandra Levi of North Miami Beach, Florida; Valerie Lustgarten of Aventura, Florida; Veronica Maravankin of Wellington, Florida; Michal Mendelow of Stamford, Connecticut; Beth Raz of Oak Park, Michigan; Rivkie Spalter of Mequon, Wisconsin; Marcy Stieglitz of Los Angeles, California; Rebecca Swartz of Boulder, Colorado; Debbie Weinberger of Silver Spring, Maryland; Jordana Weiss of Southfield, Michigan; and Hannah Williams of Atlanta, Georgia.

A "Wraparound Support Network"
In collaboration with Bank Street College of Education, a recognized leader in child-centered education, and Project Zero at Harvard University, the JECEI-Covenant Fellows Program will include two summer institutes and frequent seminars featuring cutting edge leadership development, systemic thinking, and dialogue-based Judaic learning. In addition, the support services for this group of eighteen will include monthly phone conferences and guided online discussion groups as well as individual mentorship.

"Much as we believe an excellent Jewish Early Childhood Center encompasses not only the child and the family, but the community as a whole, we plan to give the fellows the same sense of a wraparound support network throughout their experience as JECEI-Covenant Fellows," says Horowitz. The Fellowship also includes a trip to Israel to meet with counterparts in order to share work, familiarize the participants with the land, and study at some of Israel's foremost Early Childhood Centers.

Harlene Appelman, Executive Director of The Covenant Foundation, says that this type of mentorship and training is integral to the future of Jewish education. "We are investing in a cadre of leaders who will have what they need to work together," she says. "Through intensive training, regular meetings and travel, the cohort will create a group of colleagues on whom they can depend and turn to for advice."

About the Sponsors:
The Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI) was launched in 2005 to create a group of vanguard Jewish early childhood centers across North America using the best practices of early childhood, adult, and family education, the most recent studies in brain development and social/emotional learning, and the accumulated lessons of organizational change efforts throughout the educational world. JECEI works to realize a vibrant vision of early childhood education framed by and embedded within foundational Jewish values that are meaningful and compelling to contemporary Jewish families seeking supportive communities and the highest quality education for their children.

The Covenant Foundation was established in 1990 to celebrate and support innovative approaches in Jewish education. It pursues this vision through two programs: the Covenant Awards, which honor individual accomplishment by outstanding Jewish educators, and the Covenant Grants, which support innovative programming.
 

____________________________________________________________________________________

FAIR USE NOTICE
Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Case of Andrew Josephs

 Case of Andrew Josephs
(AKA: Case of the Unnamed Teacher at Michael Sobell Sinai School)

 
Hebrew Teacher - Parklands Court, Edgware, UK

Teacher at Michael Sobell Sinai School - Kenton, England

 

Andrew Josephs was teacher at the Michael Sobell Sinai School when allegations of sexual assault against children was originally made. 

He was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison.  He was also disqualified from working with children, having any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 or using the internet to access pornography. 

Andrew Josephs will also remain on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.
 
Originally charged with five counts of indecent assault, possession of indecent photographs of children, three of sexual assault of a child and two of abuse of trust between December 8, 2003, and August 4, 2004.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs. 
 

Table of Contents:   

2004

1. Assault Allegations  (08/19/2004)

2006

1. Edgware teacher charged with assaults on children   (02/08/2006)
2. Jewish Teacher 'Abused Boys In Lessons  (02/08/2006)
3. Paedophile teacher jailed  (03/21/2006)
4. Teacher jailed for abusing 12-year-old boys  (03/21/2006)
5. Two-Year Sentence For Teacher  (03/23/2006)
6. Teacher jailed for abusing 12-year-old boys  (03/23/2006)
7. Private teacher jailed for sex attacks on boys  (03/23/2006)
8. Jewish media round-up (03/26/2006)

2007 

1. Would you let a child abuser back into your shul?  (03/09/2007)
2. Stanmore bans child sex offender from shul  (05/11/2007)
3. Synagogue bans sex offender from premises (05/13/2007)

____________________________________________________________________________________

Assault Allegations

by TJ Reporter

Totally Jewish.com (UK) - August 19, 2004

A teacher at the Michael Sobell Sinai school was at the centre of a police investigation this week amid allegations of sexual assault against children.

 

Michael Sobell Sinai School

The allegations relate to secondary age youngsters receiving home tuition and the alleged victims were not pupils at the Kenton school.

 

A spokesman for Brent council said: "Allegations of sexual assault on secondary age children receiving home tuition, who are not pupils at Michael Sobell Sinai, have been made against a teacher at the school.

 

"No-one has yet been suspended, but appropriate action is being taken by the school and Brent local education authority."

 

A police spokeswoman said: "Barnet and Enfield child protection unit is investigating allegations of sexual assault on two 12-year-old boys in the Barnet and Harrow area by a private tutor."

 

She said the allegations were reported to police on 3 August, and a 27-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the inquiry.

 

The man was bailed to return to Colindale police station next month pending further inquiries.

---

 

Edgware teacher charged with assaults on children City Neighbours - February 8, 2006


Andrew Josephs, 27 year old teacher of Parklands Court, Edgware will be appearing at Brent Municipal Court at the end of March
 
He was charged in August with multiple counts of indecent assault on boys, sexual activity with boys, possession of indecent photographs of children and abuse of a position of trust.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Jewish Teacher 'Abused Boys In Lessons'


LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) - A 12-year-old schoolboy has told how he was sexually abused by his Jewish teacher during his bar mitzvah lessons.
 
Hebrew teacher Andrew Josephs, 28, allegedly 'groomed' him and other boys under the cover of preparing them for their Jewish coming of age ceremony.
 
One of the children, now 14, told how Josephs, who also ran a local youth football team, would grab his groin if he answered a religious question incorrectly.
 
The boy also said his teacher plied him with gifts and sweets then asked to see his private parts to check that he was 'physically mature' enough for his bar mitzvah.
 
Josephs also had a stash of photos of half-naked boys sleeping and wrestling and a collection of stories with titles like Daredevils In Speedos, featuring 'intimate relationships' between boys and men, the court heard.
 
In a video interview played to the jury, the boy told Wood Green Crown Court: "He said 'to do this you have to be a man.' 'You have to have pubic hair.' I said 'Where?' and he said 'your privates.' So he asked me if I had and I said 'yes.'
 
"He said 'Can I have a look at your pubic hair to see if your a man?' Then he touched it.
"I was quite nervous because I did not feel it was right at the time and my mum had not mentioned that he was going to do that. I was scared, worried and sad."
 
The boy, who had attended several lessons with Josephs, went on: "Normally in lessons when I'm reading and I get a word wrong he puts his hand where my privates are and grabs it around there. So I kept trying to get the word right. I was really worrying. I was really panicking."
 
The court also heard how Josephs took the boy on trips away and would wrestle and pillow fight with him and his friends in their room.
 
After one such trip Josephs sent the boy a text message reading: "I'm sorry I never got to say good night", the court heard.
 
The alarm was raised after the boy confided in his mother who then called police.
 
Simon Connolly, prosecuting, said Josephs abused another pupil, also 12, at the paid-for lessons.
 
Mr Connolly said: "The Crown says what the defendant is doing is in fact grooming these children. He is behaving in a way that as adults we all know is not normal or appropriate, but the child does not know this. He is normalising it so that the young lad does not know whether it is right or wrong.
 
"The second boy also gives a similar account of touching and so forth."
 
Josephs invited the third boy to his flat in Edgware, north west London, to watch action movie The Matrix, the court heard.
 
Mr Connolly said: "Is this the defendant contriving an opportunity to be alone with the little boy? As he got up to go to the toilet the defendant reached around behind him and grabbed his bottom."
 
Describing CDs of photographs seized from Joseph's address, Mr Connolly said: "We see a boy asleep, not fully clothed. The next photo is of boys tussling on a bed. We say these are obviously images of interest to somebody sexually interested in children."
 
Josephs also had 13 stories, downloaded from the internet site gaycafe.com, which featured elicit affairs between pre-teens and grown men, the curt heard.
 
Mr Connolly told the court that one, called The Unconventional Family, began: "I'm not sure when I first realised my fascination with boys and their incredible bodies. I do know my most intense fascination is with boys aged 10 to 13."
 
Although the stories were in themselves not illegal, Mr Connolly added: "They all show a specific interest in sexual activity with young boys. Seven out of 13 of the stories are about sexual activity between teachers and the children in their care."
 
Josephs, who hung his head throughout proceedings, told police he had the stories because a friend had written them.
 
He denies five counts of indecent assault, three of sexual assault of a child and two of abuse of trust between December 8, 2003, and August 4, 2004. He claims the boy's have concocted their stories.
 
The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues

__________________________________________________________________________________

Paedophile teacher jailed
National Union of Teachers - March 21, 2006 

A teacher who sexually abused two 12-year old boys has been jailed by London's Wood Green crown court. 

Andrew Josephs, 28, was sentenced for two years and nine months for four counts of indecent assault on the victims. 

The boys were abused by Mr Josephs during private lessons at the teachers' house, with charges of the possession of indecent photographs of children also given. 

Detective Sergeant Diane Lesley, told the Guardian after sentencing: "Andrew Josephs was a respected member of the community entrusted with the care of children. 

"These offences were a grave abuse of that position of trust." 

The investigation into Mr Josephs' conduct was launched in August of 2004 after parents complained that he had indecently touched their son. 

Mr Josephs has now been banned from working with children and has been given a further offences prevention order to stop him having unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Teacher jailed for abusing 12-year-old boys
Guardian Unlimited - Tuesday March 21, 2006 

A teacher who sexually abused two boys during private lessons at his home was jailed today. 

Andrew Josephs, 28, was jailed for two years and nine months at London's Wood Green crown court on four counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual activity with boys.
His victims were both 12-years-old when he attacked them at his home in Edgware, west London, two years ago. 

His conviction is "a testament to the courage of the boys involved," Detective Sergeant Diane Lesley said after sentencing. 

Police launched an investigation in August 2004 after a parent complained that Josephs had inappropriately touched her son during a tutoring session. 

Other boys later came forward to police with complaints. 

Ms Lesley said: "Andrew Josephs was a respected member of the community entrusted with the care of children. These offences were a grave abuse of that position of trust. 

"Other victims of child abuse should be encouraged not to suffer in silence, but to speak out and help us put a stop to this." 

Josephs, who privately tutored 12 and 13-year-old boys at his home, was sentenced to two years imprisonment for four counts of indecent assault on boy A, and nine months for two counts of sexual activity on boy B. 

He has been banned from working with children. A further sex offences prevention order was made to stop him from having unsupervised contact with children under 16 and using the internet to access pornography. 

Josephs was charged with four counts of indecent assault on boys, four counts of sexual activity with boys, five counts of possession of indecent photographs of children and three counts of abuse of a position of trust in March last year. 

The Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the possession of indecent child photographs charges before the trial. 

The judge directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts on abuse of the position of trust charges. 

__________________________________________________________________________________

Two-Year Sentence For Teacher
By TJ Reporter
(UK) Totally Jewish - Thursday 23rd of March 2006 

A Jewish teacher who sexually abused two bar mitzvah students during tutoring sessions at his home was this week jailed for more than two years. 

Andrew Josephs, 28, of Edgware, was last month found guilty at Wood Green Crown Court of four counts of indecent assault on one boy and two counts of sexual activity on a second child. Both boys were 12-years-old at the time of the incidents. 

Joesphs was also disqualified from working with children, having any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 or using the internet to access pornography. He will also remain on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely. 

Detective Superintendent Diane Lesley said: "This result is a testament to the courage of the boys involved. Andrew Josephs was a respected member of the community entrusted with the care of children, these offences were a grave abuse of that position of trust." 

Parents have been advised to exercise caution when choosing to leave an unaccompanied child at the home of any private tutor.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Teacher jailed for abusing 12-year-old boys
Press Association - Tuesday March 21, 2006 

A teacher who sexually abused two boys during private lessons at his home was jailed today. 

Andrew Josephs, 28, was jailed for two years and nine months at London's Wood Green crown court on four counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual activity with boys.
His victims were both 12-years-old when he attacked them at his home in Edgware, west London, two years ago. 

His conviction is "a testament to the courage of the boys involved," Detective Sergeant Diane Lesley said after sentencing. 

Police launched an investigation in August 2004 after a parent complained that Josephs had inappropriately touched her son during a tutoring session. 

Other boys later came forward to police with complaints. 

Ms Lesley said: "Andrew Josephs was a respected member of the community entrusted with the care of children. These offences were a grave abuse of that position of trust. 

"Other victims of child abuse should be encouraged not to suffer in silence, but to speak out and help us put a stop to this." 

Josephs, who privately tutored 12 and 13-year-old boys at his home, was sentenced to two years imprisonment for four counts of indecent assault on boy A, and nine months for two counts of sexual activity on boy B. 

He has been banned from working with children. A further sex offences prevention order was made to stop him from having unsupervised contact with children under 16 and using the internet to access pornography. 

Josephs was charged with four counts of indecent assault on boys, four counts of sexual activity with boys, five counts of possession of indecent photographs of children and three counts of abuse of a position of trust in March last year. 

The Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the possession of indecent child photographs charges before the trial. 

The judge directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts on abuse of the position of trust charges. 

__________________________________________________________________________________

Private teacher jailed for sex attacks on boys
By Marcus Dysch
Edgware Times - March 23, 2006 

A teacher from Edgware who gave private tuition to children at his home was this week jailed for two years and nine months for sexually abusing two boys. 

Andrew Josephs, 28, of Parklands Court, Edgware Way, Edgware, was found guilty at Wood Green Crown Court on February 27 of four charges of indecent assault and two counts of sexual activity with boys. 

He was sentenced on Tuesday for the assaults on the boys, who were both aged 12 at the time of the incidents in 2004, and was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely. 

Josephs was jailed for two years for four indecent assaults on one boy, and a further nine months for two incidents of sexual activity on a second child. 

The conviction followed a detailed investigation by Barnet police's child abuse investigation team. 

Detective Sergeant Diane Lesley, speaking for the team, said: "This result is a testament to the courage of the boys involved. 

"Andrew Josephs was a respected member of the community entrusted with the care of children these offences were a grave abuse of that position of trust. 

"Other victims of child abuse should be encouraged not to suffer in silence but to speak out and help us put a stop to this." 

Josephs was also disqualified from working with children and a Sex Offences Prevention Order was made to stop him from having any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16. He was also banned from using the internet to access pornography. 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 
Jewish media round-up
by: Leslie Bunder
Something Jewish - March 26, 2006 

The Jewish Chronicle reports that a primary school teacher who was giving barmitzvah lessons has been jailed for 33 months for sexually abusing two barmitzvah students. Andrew Josephs, 28 was found guilty on six counts relating to offences committed to the boys. The Agency for Jewish Education has said it will be "tightening up procedures".

__________________________________________________________________________________

Would you let a child abuser back into your shul?
By Leon Symons
Jewish Chronicle -  March 9, 2007 

A leading Orthodox congregation sent members a questionnaire last week to seek their views on whether to admit back into the synagogue a convicted child-sex offender who is due to be released this summer from prison. 

Stanmore United Synagogue, in North-West London, acted over Andrew Josephs, a synagogue member and former teacher at Michael Sobell Sinai primary school in Kenton, who was jailed in February last year for sexually abusing two barmitzvah boys he was teaching. He was found guilty under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 at Wood Green Crown Court, and sentenced to two years and nine months. He is due to be released on licence. 

Synagogue warden Dr Nigel de Kare Silver told the JC this week: "We had to prepare for this man's release for the safety of everyone in the community, including him. This was a discussion that had to happen. Doing nothing was not an option. It's for the community to give its view about the direction in which we should go." 

Dr de Kare Silver, a GP, said that verbal threats against Andrew Josephs had already been made. "He could come into the synagogue and someone could hit him. Conversely, if someone sat behind him and wound him up, he could turn round and hit them. We had to consider all of this." 

The board has set up a committee, including Rabbi Mendel Lew and youth director Rabbi Andrew Shaw, to draw up a new child-protection policy. It has also sent to 350 members who might be most affected, including families with children and young adults, a letter seeking views on the circumstances under which Andrew Josephs would be allowed to enter the synagogue. 

"We asked the United Synagogue what we should do and they said it was local decision-making. At the time of the conviction, we said we needed help and guidance to draw up a youth and protection policy. This is a very big synagogue with a large youth population."
Options under consideration and set out in the shul's letter include:

• Josephs could attend only the main adult service and be chaperoned all the time;
• He must leave immediately after the end of the main service;
• He would not be allowed into any other area of the synagogue or any synagogue-organised activity off the premises, including corridors, community centre, kiddushim and clubs.

Any breach of the conditions could lead to a permanent ban. The letter ends with a questionnaire asking recipients if they were in favour of Josephs having no access, or conditional access, if it were decided he could attend. They were also asked whether they would "feel comfortable continuing to attend the synagogue with your children". 

Dr de Kare Silver said that before drawing up the policy document, the committee had consulted widely with Josephs' family, lawyers, human-rights experts, the police and the probation service. There were also discussions with the United Synagogue about the conditions pertaining to Josephs, rather than the policy document. 

"We asked the US if there was a policy and they said they were writing one. But nothing happened, so we made our own. The policy gives the honorary executives the discretion to ban anyone from the synagogue. It is such a substantial step to contemplate. We have been working hard as a group of people to do the best for our congregation. 

"It was not our intention, at the outset of our discussions, to ban him. We wanted to draw up criteria under which he could return to the community." 

Dr de Kare Silver added: "We considered human-rights issues and the Human Rights Act. We understood from lawyers in the community that we had to balance the rights of the individual with the rights of groups. They both have to be looked at. 

"It has taken a long time to produce this. There is no witch hunt against Josephs, but we were aware that we needed something in place."

__________________________________________________________________________________

Stanmore bans child sex offender from shul
By Leon Symons
Jewish Chronical - May 11, 2007 

A leading Orthodox synagogue has chosen to ban indefinitely a convicted child sex offender, due to be released from prison later this year, who wanted to return to pray in its congregation. 

Andrew Josephs, 29, a member of Stanmore Synagogue in North-West London and a former teacher at Michael Sobell Sinai primary school, was convicted in February last year of sexually abusing two barmitzvah boys he was teaching. He was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court to two years and nine months in prison, and is due to be released in July. 

In a letter to the synagogue's members, warden Dr Nigel de Kare Silver said the decision to ban Josephs had been reached only after a lengthy consultation exercise carried out by a specially appointed committee. 

Dr de Kare Silver said: "Following this consultation exercise and further discussions with the board of management and the United Synagogue, the special committee recommended that the honorary executive and ministers exclude the individual concerned from synagogue premises and activities, and that such exclusion should be indefinite." 

He said the recommendation had been accepted by all parties and that Josephs and his family had been told. 

The letter also made it clear that "any other individual who has been charged or convicted of similar offences... unless individual circumstances require otherwise, that individual will also be excluded from the synagogue premises". 

The special committee, which included synagogue ministers Rabbis Mendel Lew and Andrew Shaw, consulted police, probation services, child agencies and the United Synagogue. 

Initially the synagogue asked the US if it had a child-protection policy and was told it did not, so it drew up its own. A draft document from the US, setting out its own guidelines on child protection, was published last week at the same time as Stanmore's decision went out to its members. 

On the advice of the US trustees, Stanmore sent a questionnaire to synagogue members with children, asking whether Josephs should have either limited, or no access, at the synagogue. 

Stanmore's decision drew praise from the US and also the Reform and Liberal movements, which are drawing up their own joint child-protection document. 

The US document covers all aspects of child protection but falls short of recommending the total banning of convicted sex offenders from its synagogues. 

It states: "Children should be protected from those who have committed offences against children, even after any sentence of the court has expired." 

It adds that synagogues should be notified in advance of sex offenders' attendance, that they should be restricted to events where children are not present, and that they must be accompanied at all times, even to the bathroom. 

A US spokesman said: "The US is extremely respectful of the very difficult decision that Stanmore's honorary officers reached, taking into account all the relevant circumstances.
"The US document is advisory: it cannot be prescriptive because there are a number of communities which have particular circumstances about which they will need to react." 

Debi Penhey, communities consultant at Leo Baeck College, who is overseeing a child-protection policy for the progressive movements, commented: "I am not surprised the synagogue has banned him. I think one would have to, because the majority of people in a synagogue would be so scared and nervous. The welfare of the community as a whole has to come first."

__________________________________________________________________________________

Synagogue bans sex offender from premises European Jewish Press - May 13, 2007

LONDON (EJP)---A London synagogue has banned a convicted child sex offender from its premises indefinitely and plans to exclude all such offenders in future, the Jewish Chronicle reports today. 

Andrew Josephs, 29, who is currently serving a sentence of two years and nine months for sexually abusing two boys in his barmitzvah class, is due for release in July. 

But he will not be permitted to pray at the Stanmore Synagogue in North West London, where he is a member, because of parental fears about child safety. 

Josephs, a former primary school teacher, was convicted in February last year and had requested to return to the synagogue's congregation upon his release. 

A special committee appointed to decide his case recommended Josephs should be banned along with all those "charged or convicted of similar offences". 

Dr Nigel de Kare Silver, a synagogue official, said after discussions with the United Synagogue the decision was made to "exclude the individual concerned from synagogue premises and activities, and that such exclusion should be indefinite." 

Parents at the synagogue were asked in a questionnaire whether Josephs should be given limited or no access to the building. 

A United Synagogue spokesman said: "The United Synagogue is extremely respectful of the very difficult decision that Stanmore's honorary officers reached, taking into account all the relevant circumstances."

__________________________________________________________________________________

Stanmore bans child sex offender from shul
By Leon Symons
Jewish Chronicle - May 11, 2007
 

A leading Orthodox synagogue has chosen to ban indefinitely a convicted child sex offender, due to be released from prison later this year, who wanted to return to pray in its congregation.
 
Andrew Josephs, 29, a member of Stanmore Synagogue in North-West London and a former teacher at Michael Sobell Sinai primary school, was convicted in February last year of sexually abusing two barmitzvah boys he was teaching. He was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court to two years and nine months in prison, and is due to be released in July.
 
In a letter to the synagogue's members, warden Dr Nigel de Kare Silver said the decision to ban Josephs had been reached only after a lengthy consultation exercise carried out by a specially appointed committee.
 
Dr de Kare Silver said: "Following this consultation exercise and further discussions with the board of management and the United Synagogue, the special committee recommended that the honorary executive and ministers exclude the individual concerned from synagogue premises and activities, and that such exclusion should be indefinite."
 
He said the recommendation had been accepted by all parties and that Josephs and his family had been told.
 
The letter also made it clear that "any other individual who has been charged or convicted of similar offences... unless individual circumstances require otherwise, that individual will also be excluded from the synagogue premises".
 
The special committee, which included synagogue ministers Rabbis Mendel Lew and Andrew Shaw, consulted police, probation services, child agencies and the United Synagogue.
 
Initially the synagogue asked the US if it had a child-protection policy and was told it did not, so it drew up its own. A draft document from the US, setting out its own guidelines on child protection, was published last week at the same time as Stanmore's decision went out to its members.
 
On the advice of the US trustees, Stanmore sent a questionnaire to synagogue members with children, asking whether Josephs should have either limited, or no access, at the synagogue.
 
Stanmore's decision drew praise from the US and also the Reform and Liberal movements, which are drawing up their own joint child-protection document.
 
The US document covers all aspects of child protection but falls short of recommending the total banning of convicted sex offenders from its synagogues.
 
It states: "Children should be protected from those who have committed offences against children, even after any sentence of the court has expired."
 
It adds that synagogues should be notified in advance of sex offenders' attendance, that they should be restricted to events where children are not present, and that they must be accompanied at all times, even to the bathroom.
 
A US spokesman said: "The US is extremely respectful of the very difficult decision that Stanmore's honorary officers reached, taking into account all the relevant circumstances.
"The US document is advisory: it cannot be prescriptive because there are a number of communities which have particular circumstances about which they will need to react."
 

Debi Penhey, communities consultant at Leo Baeck College, who is overseeing a child-protection policy for the progressive movements, commented: "I am not surprised the synagogue has banned him. I think one would have to, because the majority of people in a synagogue would be so scared and nervous. The welfare of the community as a whole has to come first."

__________________________________________________________________________________

FAIR USE NOTICE

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. 

 

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 

 

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

____________________________________________________________________________________