Prominent members of the Melbourne Jewish community lied to the police, covered up an alleged child abuse scandal and protected a man accused of repeatedly molesting children from a school in St Kilda East, a court has been told.
Newspaper Says Chabad ‘Protected’ Child Abuser
Prominent members of the Melbourne Jewish community lied to the police, covered up an alleged child abuse scandal and protected a man accused of repeatedly molesting children from a school in St Kilda East, a court has been told.
Locksmith and security guard David Samuel Cyprys, 43, was yesterday charged with 16 counts of indecent assault and 13 counts of gross indecency claimed to have been committed between 1984 and 1991.
Twelve alleged victims – who were aged between seven and 17 at the time the crimes are said to have occurred – knew Cyprys through Yeshivah College, where he worked as a security guard. Some also took karate lessons taught by Cyprys after school.
Detective Senior Constable Lisa Metcher said Cyprys was supported by ”high-standing members of the Jewish community” who did not say anything when the alleged offending was canvassed. ”They failed to act in any way to protect children and the matter has been swept under the carpet,” Senior Constable Metcher told Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Asked on what she based this, Senior Constable Metcher said: ”Based on the lies told to police and information that has been twisted and covered up.”
She said there was a high risk these supporters would help Cyprys flee the country if he was released on bail. Cyprys had told her he was ”unable to locate his passport”.
”The accused is still connected with people who would probably make it possible for him to leave the country if that was what was required for him to do,” she said.
The court heard that five of the alleged victims were from Victoria and another five were from New South Wales. Police were travelling to the United States to obtain statements from another two.
Most of the alleged offences occurred in Melbourne, but some allegedly took place at Yeshivah school camps in NSW.
In 1992, Cyprys pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault. He was fined $1500 but no conviction was recorded.
Senior Constable Metcher said the Moorabbin child abuse taskforce was receiving between five and 10 phone calls a day in connection with the case and it was possible that publicity after the court case would generate more. ”We believe there are other victims and complainants that will come forward,” she said. ”A lot of anonymous complainants are still deciding whether to come forward and make a statement.”
The court was also told of concerns that Cyprys lived with his 14-year-old son and spent time living with his new partner, who had three children aged four, eight and 13. ”These children have been subject to child protection notification,” Senior Constable Metcher said.
The prosecution asked that any bail conditions ban Cyprys from unsupervised contact with any child under 16, including his own two children and three step-children.
However, defence lawyer Alex Lewenberg said a parent should not lose the right to have contact with their children unless the children were in danger.
”There is the entitlement of the child to see their parent. Whatever condition might be imposed we ask permission to facilitate continued contact with the son and daughter,” Mr Lewenberg said.
He also opposed a surety being imposed as a bail condition, saying Cyprys had been ostracised in the community as a result of media coverage.
”His ability to secure surety is limited if non-existent,” Mr Lewenberg said.
However, magistrate Luisa Bazzani said she would only grant Cyprys bail on the condition he pay a $50,000 surety to ensure his return to court.
She ordered him to report to police in St Kilda every day, not to contact any prosecution witnesses other than police and not to leave Victoria.
A further bail condition was that he have no contact with any child under 16 without exception unless supervised by child protection authorities.
This included contact with his children and the children of his partner. ”It is up to the Department of Human Services to nominate an appropriate supervisor,” Ms Bazzani said.
Ms Bazzani said Cyprys would not be released on bail until he surrendered his passport and any other travel documents to police.
Cyprys was remanded to reappear on December 2.
Mendel
al these Rabbonim should be locked up, If the Rabbonim the world over will say “we the Ultra Jewish People will not tolerate Abuse of children” then we the people have to make a stand to protect our children, and if that means putting Rabbonim it the frame then so b-it.
so sad
why did HaShem create such a horrible ilness for ppl to be attracted to children? im seriously starting to have doubts..nothing makes sense anymore! :”(
someone inspire me please
Saturday Girl
OMG…a slap on the wrist. Oz is as bad as US a far as protecting our children from depraved individuals. Would he be protected by his Community? I believe yes, and even aid him to get to Israel to escape the US Courts. When are we going to realize that ALL persons have the urges of Evil Inclination and need great strength from HaShem to hold back. It is well known that child predators and child sexual abusers are not rehabitable and need to be put away in prison for life without parole.
fp
They let him out???????? for real people what a crazy world these people are sick cant stop what they are and need to be locked up and treated but they almost never can be cured and along the way every child they touch becomes there victim for life
lets not put down groner for this
the newspaper also said the shomrim 6 were guilty! since when do we go according a newspaper, that is going according to 1 lady who will say anything to make the jews look bad.
if u r a pubescent male of any age 13+
if u r a pubescent male of any age 13+ & u discover that u have the signs of Deviant OCD.
dont wait till you fall to the Obsessive Compulsion, go seek help at once so that u will prevent many victims down the line!!
there is no real prevention mechanism in place today, to preempt those who will be future perps,
(a certain percentage of pubescent males will be perps! either due to genetic predisposition or having been abused themselves as a child)
CURSED WITH TWISTED FORM OF OCD=LOK M UP
A heroin addict will risk everything & stop at nothing!!! such is URGE for certain COMPULSIONS!
A heroin addict will do just about anything to get his/her fix!
even if they risk Jail-time, Divorce, Job-loss, Public-humiliation, the loss of family friends etc
why will they destroy their life?!
Dont they know the consequences?? dont they care about their loved ones??
it is misguided & ignorant assume that a man attracted to children will be deterred by means of Threats Public humiliation, Boycott, Physical beatings incarceration etc
must i list numerous examples of Rabbis Priests Politicians CEOs Lay people who saw what happened to all their predecessors yet couldn’t/wouldn’t be deterred…
the ONLY solution is to CURE them if there even exists such a cure (the Rebbe seemed to believe so re attraction deviations)
if and until the PREDATOR is not cured they should be locked up!
dare i say, they should do so voluntarily if they have any decency & compassion for others, they should voluntarily submit themselves into a facility which is locked up!!
.....
i agree with number 5. The newspapers make up all kinds of things to make Jews look bad.
To Mendel
@Mendel: Hashem created us with the ability to choose and He wants us to choose good- but the punishments for murder, theft, etc are in the same Torah because some ppl may choose otherwise. The world is here for us to fix(or otherwise) with our own free will- Malochim are basically robots. Our free will is why we deserve reward for doing good in bad internal and external environments. As for the accusations of lying we don’t know at all. No names or incidents were brought to the court, just accusations, and the lawyer in court may either have made it up to be sure he doesn’t leave, or is twisting statements made by ppl who didn’t know anything to be called lies. Chazak brother.The problem is with us, and we have the power to fix that.
In Oz
He is a locksmith. No point locking him up!
TRUTH
Predators cannot be cured…..unfortunately the cover ups will always continue…it is up to US to stop this
deja vu
But that is exactly what is presently happening in CH!
Prominent members and leaders of the Chabad community here
have and are presently lying to the authorities, twisting facts on their head, and using their power and contacts to protect serial molesters in CH who also come from the prominent families.
They have succeeded in greatly proliferating the number of CH victims, and causing unimaginable anguish to so many Chabad families.
I wish these “respectable” people my sincerest curses this Elul, as the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Rayatz told such people to their faces: When your turn comes to suffer most terribly, only then will you do teshuvah. I you are one of the many victims, then you understand what I’m talking about…
CH is an ocean of burning tears that is spilling across the global Chabad.
ce
parents everywhere should have one family member dropping in to these after school programs and whatever the kids are doing.
How tragic that these people cannot get themselves to go for help. If one person would go for help and others know, then others would get the confidence to go for help, too. HaShem Yerachem
chr
yosi jacobson on his site has mega information about this. dr.drizin has a 6 or 8 part series on molestation that is very informative. http://www.theyeshivah.net
the yeshiva center asked for this!
the yeshiva center headed by rabbi groner asked for all of this trouble, and clearly without any doubt at all! tried covering this predator and others too! rabbi groner himself put in as much effort as possible to cover up these incidents and the predators for his own kovod and for the kovod of the yeshiva center. whilst totaly ignoring and the fact that tens of kids were being molested and continued to be molested as a direct result of rabbi groners failiar to report and take care of this responsibly!
qustion
these alligations are from when he was 16 years old…. hes 43 now in 1984 he was 16… seams a young age to have messed up the rest of his life. did he do any thing when he was older???????
from Melbourne
As usual everyone is flying off the handle and jumping to conclusions and other metaphors.
Anyone who knows this person knows that he may have offended when he was young but has not offended for many, many years. Those of you who know him know that he is a wonderful father.
This case hasn’t yet been proven in a court of law. He still has to go through a trial and, if he is guilty, must then face the consequences.
to 12
:”'( well said
Quesions.
I have a question.
If parents suspect that their child is being molested and do nothing about it until it is years too late, are they then also part of the problem? I guess the answer will be, OF COURSE!
to # 16
its not about himm its about bashing groner, the yeshiva and the frum community. he paid his price in 1992 and claims to have gone for therapy and never did anything wrong for the last 20 years. why would they bring this up again? only to bash yeshiva and groner
elliyahu
Terrible that no-one snitched on him all these years. I remember my friend telling me back in the 60s, when he was a little boy, he was offered a free massage from an older bar mitzvah boy… Before you knew it, the bar mitzvah boy was giving out body massages to at least a dozen little boys and one small sister was involved in this also. Eventually, the guy grew up, got married and moved out to Vancouver, never to return to this city. May Hashem have mercy on us.
TO SO SAD
I am one of those that were sexually abused in crown heights for many years. Yet, i continue to be frum. It’s hashem who gives us our obstacles in life. We must try to overcome them. Unfortunately many fail to do so. You must remember that it’s not judaism that’s at fault – It’s those that abuse and excuse themselves using the face of religion that are at fault. If we (the community) keep on continuing to cover the tracks of these pedophiles then we are at fault as well and only when things are open within ourselves can we fully eradicate this issue.
On the brighter side, there’s so much hashem has put on this earth for us to enjoy. There’s a really bright future ahead if you look at the possibility of what you or someone else can accomplish. You can be a part of making this world a better and brighter place for our children.
Saturday Girl
To #6……how many pre pubscent males or even females will go to their parents in a Cheredi/ Torah Observan grroups discuss these sexual thoughts with their families or just their fathers when they’re taught that nocturnal emissions is a terrible sin, yet it is part of normal sexuality of young men/men of any age? That is part of the subconscious brain mechanism and doesn’t mean the person is necessariy having sinful dreams.
#23
U need to learn some chasidus!
the ways of chasidus are very different than the “teacher” u r allegedly quoting!
POLITICALLY INCORRECT!
if these pedophiles dont choose to become pedophiles
(its caused by their genes or being molested as a child)
then
i feel really bad for them! bec there is no cure for this Obsession, & clearly it is as powerful as heroin addiction which will cause u to destroy your life just to get your obsession relieved!
sad for all people involved! spouse, children, everyone suffers! there must be a way to intervene when the abuser is still 15 16,
at least in this case he has gotten therapy and has not molested since 16 years of age! if so, why destroy his family, his children etc!
this sounds more like unrelated politics against Rabbi Groner by people who fried out or are Anti Groner for other reasons!
to: politically incorrect
the Rebbe does view orientation/attraction (deviation) as a curable disorder!
hence, those who really care about preventing future victims, they should shift strategy & create programs that focus on early detection & therapy for those who have such sort of challenges.
if all you focus on is Destroying the life & family of the Pedophile, you are not really sincere about doing the most to prevent abuse!
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
these pedophiles cant be beaten & threatened out of this disorder, they are best treated as people suffering from a “dangerous mental illness” surely they need to be locked up as long as they are not treated!
but don’t lock them up as vicious monsters, rather as dangerously mentally ill, its a very unfortunate disorder to be afflicted with!
For the protection of our children
One can function as a “wonderful father” and in the same lifespan function as a sexual predator in total secrecy. It may seem impossible, but the sick mentality has very secretive ways to function concurrently with an otherwise functional life. I am not saying that this individual has not healed and become healthy in this way, because for all I know he most assuredly has. What I am saying is that we need to understand that in some cases things are not always what they appear to be. If we do not educate ourselves in reality, then we are not going to rid our community of this destructive and everlastingly harmful behavior. We must come out of our naive stance. We must come out of denial. We are not perfect as a community, and we need to start owning up to that. It does not mean we are ALL perpetrators, but it DOES mean we all have to stand up and protect OUR children.
Solomon
A filthy child molester is a filthy child molester regardless of his nationality or religion. A representative of any religion who would do anything but expose a child molester to the community and the authorities is not a suitable person to represent any religion. If this guy is found guilty then the time he committed these most henious offences is irrelivent. Can we excuse those who committed attrocities during the holocaust simply because they are older or because much time has passed. Of course not. A crime against innocent people is a crime whenever it was committed and it must not go unpunished. If we support this degenerate in any way we pull down the perception of us all.