Jewish school refused to report teacher abuse until pressured by minister

An orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam refused to bring charges against a teacher accused of sexually abusing five pupils until pressured by the then education minister, the NRC reported on Tuesday.

Ephraim S will appear in court next month, almost six years after the offences were committed and two years after his extradition from Israel to face the charges.

The NRC says that parents first reported their suspicions about S to the Cheider school in June 2012 but it was not until October, following the intervention of the minister and school inspectors, that the school made an official complaint.

Schools are required by law to report abuse to the police, but the school’s board wanted to deal with the case internally and in line with Jewish laws, the paper said.

S who was in his mid 20s at the time of the offences, moved to Tel Aviv after he was sacked for ‘inappropriate behaviour’. Reports at the time said he had been sexually involved with a 16-year-old pupil.

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.