PSA - Sex abuse at Washington Hebrew

[Anonymous]

I am not trying to blame her. But if she had information back in 2016 and did not go to the police, I’m troubled. She has stated several times that she had information and I was wondering why she didn’t go to the police at that time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not trying to blame her. But if she had information back in 2016 and did not go to the police, I’m troubled. She has stated several times that she had information and I was wondering why she didn’t go to the police at that time

The person answered that; sounds like the allegation was not quite as serious and DJ made him/her feel like his/her concerns were unwarranted.
This is exactly how cultures of sexual abuse percolate...leadership is dismissive, victim are made to feel like they are at fault or their concerns/allegations are ridiculous and the perpetrators keep getting away with it.
Blame school leadership, not the victims.

[Anonymous]

We are all victims here: but if she had information of any kind dealing with child abuse, she should have gone to the police. We are quick to blame school administrators, but if someone had information of any kind of child abuse, it is their duty to go to the police so that there could be a proper investigation by the proper authorities so that all of our children could be protected. This is our village

[Anonymous]

I second the above person, any allegation should have been brought to the polices attention

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I second the above person, any allegation should have been brought to the polices attention

I hope that this finger pointing and judgment doesn't discourage others from stepping forward. What is the point in shaming people into what should and shouldn't have been done? Keep more victims closeted? If that's your intention - great job.

[Anonymous]

Has there been any discussion amongst parents or the synagogue board of directors about hiring an outside investigative firm to determine what the administrators knew and when they knew it? An internal investigation isn’t going to cut it.

[Anonymous]

I’m not trying to shame anyone or stop people from coming forward: however, this one person on this forum said that had proof of sexual misconduct back in 2016: she is vague about the incident: I’m wondering; why didn’t she go to the police. Something that obviously affected her greatly, yet she didn’t pursue a police investigation. I’m very concerned about her judgement or her real concern

[Anonymous]

I believe the police are investigating ant timeline of knowledge. I heard there are two detectives on the case

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not trying to shame anyone or stop people from coming forward: however, this one person on this forum said that had proof of sexual misconduct back in 2016: she is vague about the incident: I’m wondering; why didn’t she go to the police. Something that obviously affected her greatly, yet she didn’t pursue a police investigation. I’m very concerned about her judgement or her real concern

Seems like there are several people on this forum (I’m not one of them) who reported incidents earlier. Without knowing what the incidents were, it’s hard to say if they should have gone to the police, especially after the director allegedly invalidated their concerns. No parent wants to believe such a thing is happening to their child. So if a trusted professional who works with children, such as the director of the school, tells you that your concerns are unfounded, I think there would be many parents relieved to hear that and move on. Doesn’t make them bad parents with bad judgement. It makes them human.

[Anonymous]

I believe, if there was prior knowledge, it will come out in the police investigation: I know we are all looking for someone to blame, it would make this ordeal a little easier to stomach. But, in truth, until the police have finished conducting their investigation, we won’t know what happened. I know that the parents are going through hell, I know I am, but I also think that the teachers and administration are devestated, also. I hope as a community we will be able to heal. I pray for that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not trying to blame her. But if she had information back in 2016 and did not go to the police, I’m troubled. She has stated several times that she had information and I was wondering why she didn’t go to the police at that time

You are simply wrong (and mean). There are a lot of behaviors that are suspicious or weird, but not necessarily illegal! Any sane person would bring them to the school’s attention. This school happens to be run by some one who was not interested in listening.

To the poster who is being maligned, the vast majority of us are with you, trust me! We are in this together. Love to your family and child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not trying to shame anyone or stop people from coming forward: however, this one person on this forum said that had proof of sexual misconduct back in 2016: she is vague about the incident: I’m wondering; why didn’t she go to the police. Something that obviously affected her greatly, yet she didn’t pursue a police investigation. I’m very concerned about her judgement or her real concern

Seems like there are several people on this forum (I’m not one of them) who reported incidents earlier. Without knowing what the incidents were, it’s hard to say if they should have gone to the police, especially after the director allegedly invalidated their concerns. No parent wants to believe such a thing is happening to their child. So if a trusted professional who works with children, such as the director of the school, tells you that your concerns are unfounded, I think there would be many parents relieved to hear that and move on. Doesn’t make them bad parents with bad judgement. It makes them human.

I absolutely second this. You need to stop blaming these parents. They did their best at the time, and i doubt you would have done something different.

[Anonymous]

So you are telling me that if you suspected child abuse and the school did nothing, you would have let it go? You are wrong about me, if I suspected child abuse, my first stop would have been the police.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you are telling me that if you suspected child abuse and the school did nothing, you would have let it go? You are wrong about me, if I suspected child abuse, my first stop would have been the police.

We don't know any of the details of what the alleged abuse is and obviously with the on going investigation the people who know can't give details now. It could have been something very vague that seems odd but not actual abuse. Something that a school should take seriously and not ignore but that police would have nothing to do with. I very much doubt the perpetrator started with something overtly abusive.

[Anonymous]

This whole last set of posts is problematic. There are one or more people reporting they raised concerns to DJ and were dissatisfied with the response. If the issue were so clear cut or serious at that time (2016) it seems like either they should have complained to the administration higher up (if nothing else about DJ’s response) or if really red flags to the police. That fact that this did not happen to me means it likely wasn’t that clear cut even if concerning? I have to assume that and I have to assume that DJ didn’t see them as red flags either because whatever you think, who would ignore a potential child predator when running a school. It just makes no sense to keep harping on this piece.

Also any OPs with information about what was flagged in 2016 and concerns about the response, please make sure to call the lawyer for the temple. The police are investigating the predator. It’s the Temple’s job to investigate whether any red flags were missed. I was told by the lawyer today (paraphrasing here)that in speaking with over a hundred parents, no one stated that there were any concerns about this teacher before this information came to light in August. Maybe he’s protecting the temple (his job) but part of his job is to internally investigate how this happened and fix it, so it seems odd to me he would say something so direct if it’s not true. If you have this information, please call the lawyer in addition to the police.