CHATHAM, Ont. — Fourteen children belonging to Lev Tahor, an
ultra orthodox Jewish sect, have been ordered placed in foster care in Quebec.
But Ontario Court Justice Stephen Fuerth placed a 30-day
stay on the order to allow his decision to be appealed.
He also ordered that the children must remain in the Ontario
community of Chatham-Kent until taken to Quebec.
In making his decision Monday, Feurth sided with local child
protection officials who wanted to act on an order made in Quebec in November.
The group arrived in Chatham a week before the order was
made. They fled from Ste. Agathe-des-Monts, Que. in November after child welfare
officials would be going to court concerning the treatment of the children.
The children belong to three families. A publication ban is
in place banning their identifications.
At an earlier court hearing, the group’s lawyer, Chris
Knowles, indicated there is an appeal process that can be followed.
The 250 members arrived in Chatham where they had arranged
to rent small duplexes at Spurgeon Villa, just north of the city.
Since then, local Chatham-Kent Children’s Services have been
monitoring the settlement.
Quebec officials obtained the order to place the children in
temporary foster care after the group left the province.
Evidence at hearing spoke of feet funguses, beatings with
sticks, mental illness, arranged marriages for girls as young as 14 and
less-than-adequate education standards.
The group has denied all the charges and their lawyer argued
in court last month that the local child protection agency doesn’t have
jurisdiction to act on a Quebec order.
Lev Tahor, which means “pure heart” in Hebrew, is led by
controversial Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, who served two years in a U.S. prison for
kidnapping a boy he was trying to convert.
The group is ultra-conservative and anti-Zionist. They are
easily recognized by their unique traditional dress.
The women are completely covered in black robes, prompting
some to call the group the “Jewish Taliban.”
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