Face of Abuse: Manny Waks, who was a victim of sexual abuse, is now an advocate for child abuse victims in Australia.

A former senior Chabad leader in Sydney suggested that some of the Jewish victims of alleged child sex abuse in Australia may have consented.

Rabbi Boruch Lesches, who now heads the Lubavitch community in Monsey, N.Y., was a top leader at the Sydney Chabad for 20 years starting in the mid-1980s.

In recordings of a recent phone conversation with an individual familiar with child sex allegations against a man associated with Sydney’s Chabad community in the 1980s, Lesches said, ”We are speaking about very young boys … everybody says about the other one that he agreed to this.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

When queried about young boys consenting, he said, “You would be surprised.”

The report in Fairfax Media Sunday also quoted Lesches as threatening to banish the alleged perpetrator and one of his victims from the community unless the abuser could refrain from molestation.

”If not, both of them would have to leave,” Lesches was quoted as saying on recordings given to police investigating the case.

Lesches failed to report the alleged child sex abuser, who allegedly committed more offenses, and dismissed reopening the case now as a “can of worms.”

“When it is such a long time ago, everybody suffers,” he said. “If you start to do something about it, it will not be productive.”

The Rabbinical Council of Victoria issued a statement Sunday saying it was “appalled” by the comments.

“It is deeply regrettable and shocking that there still do exist some individuals out there on the fringe in the religious leadership world who take positions contrary to the clear-cut contemporary halachic approach on the matter of child sexual abuse,” said Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant, president of the council.

Manny Waks, a spokesman for Jewish child sex abuse victims, also said the comments were “absolutely shocking.”

“Unfortunately this attitude and some of the views are fairly prevalent within the fervently Orthodox community,” he said. “After so many exposes, surely this is now undeniable.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount