1. We just got a fax from Torah Umesorah introducing a program called T.O.P.S. Topics on Personal Safety. Instructors are being trained to introduce this program into our elementary schools. his may be another tool to educate and empower the children to speak up.
2. A parent of a seven year old girl called with an allegation against a bus driver. We recommended that the parents contact the Jewish Board of Family Services in Boro Park. They have sensitive social workers and also have a special liaison in the police department.
3. Lasr year a parent said that a “Rabbi” stayed in their house. The two girls told their parents that he took them on his lap… They prosecuted and he is in jail and getting help. He was a known offender from another country, and yet he was allowed his freedom. The girls were traumatized and are getting counseling. They are very fearful and won’t go upstairs alone in their own home.
4. We need to be able to tell these children that he is locked up! When there is no doubt, the molester should be prosecuted to the fullest. It would be a deterrent to the “respectable” molesters if they were afraid of all the negative publicity and jail sentence.