Cyprys jailed for eight years
David Cyprys pleaded guilty to sexually abusing eight boys at Melbourne’s Yeshivah Centre and was found guilty of by a jury of raping a 15-yr-old boy when he was involved with the Centre. Today he was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment with a none-parole period of five and a half years.
David Cyprys
The founder of child sexual abuse advocacy group Tzedek Manny Waks was one of 45-yr-old Cyprys’s victims. He told J-Wire: “I feel vindicated and I feel that justice has been done.” In a document presented to the court Waks said that he was repeatedly sexually abused by Cyprys between April 1989 and September 1990. In the statement, Waks declared that he had made complaints to Rabbi Yitzchok David Groner about the assaults and was told that “he was personally dealing with the matters that I had raised and that I should not discuss with anyone else about what I had told him”.
In sentencing Cyprys County Court Judge Peter Wischusen said that Cyprys had used force against some of his victims.
The court was told that that Cyprys started offending when he was 15 and that the crimes had taken place between 1983 and 1991. The students at the Yeshivah College in St Kilda were aged between seven and fourteen.
The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) hopes that the sentencing today of David Cyprus to imprisonment for rape and child sexual abuse will give a sense of comfort and closure to the victims and restore their faith in the justice system. They should know that they are not alone and that the community is on their side.
Child sexual abuse is an abhorrent crime and cannot be tolerated in our community. The protection of our children’s safety, health and welfare must be our primary concern.
Nina Bassat AM, President of the JCCV said “We are very aware that much work still needs to be done in the community and applaud the many and diverse Jewish community organisations which have signed up to the five sessions of training which JCCV will be conducting in 2014 to assist them in improving their Child Protection Policies and Procedure
Child protection expert, Katherine Levi will be delivering the training. Katherine has 20 years of experience working with youth at risk and is a past CEO of both the Australian Council for Children and Youth Organisations (ACCYO) and Big Brothers-Big Sisters.
Any instances of child sexual abuse or of suspected child sexual abuse must be reported to Victoria Police or in cases where the immediate safety of a child is concerned to the Child Protection Crisis Line on 13 12 78. Other help lines and advice services are listed on the JCCV Child Protection Directory which is available on the JCCV website: www.jccv.org.au
The Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence, Inc.issued the following statement:
We hope that the victims of Mr. Cyprys take comfort and have found closure in the sentence and feel that justice has been served.
The Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence has been raising awareness of the realities of sexual assault and facilitating prevention programs in the Jewish Community for the past 8 years. By working together as a community we can help victims of sexual assault to heal and prevent further crimes of this nature.
If you are a victim of Family Violence or Sexual Assault or are concerned for someone else, please contact the JTAFV for confidential support, information and appropriate referrals.
Manny Waks was one of Cyprys’s victims. He founded Tzedek, an advocacy group focused on child sexual abuse. Tzedek has made the following statement:
Tzedek would like to acknowledge and thank the courageous victims/survivors in this case. It is a monumental day for the Australian Jewish community and a great day for justice.
While justice has been served in relation to the crimes committed by David Cyprys, there is still some way to go in terms of achieving full justice. We intend to hold the Yeshivah Centre leadership to full account as well.
Manny Waks, founder and CEO of Tzedek, stated:
“This is a huge day both for the Jewish community and personally. It’s been decades coming and I am pleased that finally justice has been served. Hopefully the victims can move forward with some peace of mind – there is no doubt that today’s developments will greatly assist in the healing process.”
Tzedek takes this opportunity to call upon anyone with information regarding child sexual abuse to come forward.
Yes, well said Simon. Justice has been served to a degree, in this case, thank G-d. The perp. ultimately did not get away with it, as he had planned and hoped.
It is, of course, up to the victim to forgive and it seems that one of Cyprys’ victim, Manny Waks, is satisfied that justice has been done. However, frankly a punishment of 5.5 years imprisonment doesn’t seem sufficient for the magnitude of the crime ie multiple instances of child sexual abuse. I note that convicted white collar criminals who may have lost other peoples’ money or engaged in insider trading face comparable or even worse prison sentences. It seems that the message the courts are giving to the Nation is that property crimes are far worse than crimes involving threats to Life or the well being of other People. This would be contrary to the Jewish tradition which places the most emphasis on protection of Human Life.
I mean to qualify that only the Judge who is across all the facts is able to adjudicate on this particular case of David Cyprsys. So I am not passing judgement on this individual who we all pray will atone for his crimes and be completely rehabilitated in due course. I am merely stating a general feeling in the Community that crimes against the Person in our Country seem to be dealt with far less severely than crimes against Property and that this sends out the wrong deterrent message.