Principal of Chabad Jewish School in Paris Failed to Report Abuse: Report
The principal of a Jewish school in Paris was indicted for failing to report the sexual abuse of minors.
The television network RTL reported that a Paris magistrate indicted the principal, identified by RTL as Rabbi Benjamin M., 55, on Feb. 21 for “non-reporting of sexual abuse of minors under 15 years.”
Victims’ parents told the principal about the alleged fondling committed by a supervisor at the Chabad-Lubavitch Beth Hanna elementary school for boys last summer, according to RTL.
The supervisor was indicted in November after parents of the alleged victims filed complaints, the French news agency AFP reported, but the principal failed to also file a complaint as he was required by law.
The online edition of Le Nouvel Observateur, a French weekly, reported that the principal also is suspected of trying to dissuade parents from complaining to police – a claim denied by Haim Nisenbaum, a spokesman for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in France.
“Legally speaking, he [the principal] committed an error,” Nisenbaum is quoted as saying, but “there was no attempt to conceal anything.” Nisenbaum said the school, which is Orthodox, views the actions of the supervisor as “extremely serious.”
JForum, a French-Jewish news site, reported that the principal confronted the supervisor but deemed it unnecessary to file a complaint because he knew the parents had already done so.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
