‘Battle is over’: advocate’s relief as abuser sentenced

A convicted child abuser has walked away from court with a suspended prison sentence, leaving his victim pleased the case is finally over.

The battle is over for prominent victim advocate Manny Waks after his abuser was sentenced for sexually exploiting him at a Jewish holy festival close to four decades ago. “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof” – “Justice, justice you shall pursue” – is the Talmudic passage Mr Waks said had guided him throughout the ordeal. On Friday, he said that pursuit was complete.

Mr Waks was aged between 10 and 12 when Zev “Velvel” Serebryanski assaulted him at the Yeshiva Centre in Melbourne’s south-east sometime between 1986 and 1988.

Serebryanski (also known as “Zev Sero”), who was in his early 20s at the time, had developed a sexual interest in the then-child and sexually abused him upstairs one night during Shavuot.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Waks had described the assault as his first exposure to anything related to intimate touch. “I was an innocent young child,” he wrote. “The concepts of sex, sexuality and sexual abuse were completely foreign to me.”

He said the first abuse took place inside the family’s synagogue. “It is our place of worship and spiritual connection,” he wrote. “The first time Velvel sexually abused me was inside one of the most sacred sites in the Jewish community.”

In sentencing the now-62-year-old to a suspended jail term, Victorian County Court Judge John Kelly described Serebryanski’s actions as transgressive and predatory.

“It is an attack on innocence, an attack on childhood,” he said on Friday.

“You said you were only following your victim’s lead… that is a transparently absurd proposition.”

Mr Waks reported the abuse to police in 1996 and confronted Serebryanski about the allegations at his home in Brooklyn, New York, in February 2017.

In a recorded conversation, Serebryanski told Mr Waks he never wanted to harm him, he loved him and he had only wanted to do what the boy wanted.

Mr Waks said in his statement that Serebryanski’s claim amounted to victim-blaming. “Velvel still seems to believe that a child may consent to sex,” he wrote. “I was 11 or 12 years old at the time, Velvel was 23 or 24. This is the definition of victim-blaming. It is also the definition of a paedophile.”

Judge Kelly described the comments as damning and self-serving, saying any remorse was “eroded by paedophilic justifications”.

The judge accepted Serebryanski had served 99 days in a New York jail cell before he was extradited to face court in Melbourne in 2023.

His rehabilitation was also largely complete due to the years that have passed without further convictions, Judge Kelly said.

“I do not believe you will reoffend,” he said.

Judge Kelly told the court he needed to consider sentencing practices of the 1980s and noted prosecutors did not oppose a partially suspended sentence.

He ultimately jailed Serebryanski for three months but reckoned the period as already served, with the rest of his prison sentence wholly suspended for three years.

Mr Waks, an advocate for victims of child sexual abuse in Jewish communities, told AAP he was unsurprised by the sentence but relieved the case was closed.

“As of today, my battle is over,” he told AAP.

“It doesn’t mean I will stop advocating. I will always stand up on these important issues.”

In his victim impact statement, Mr Waks described the lasting toll of the abuse on his family and mental health. “The sexual abuse by Velvel has had a long-lasting and profound detrimental impact on me and my family,” he wrote, citing his PTSD diagnosis, his divorce after 19 years of marriage, the breakdown of his parents’ 45-year marriage, and his family’s departure from Australia.

“We left Australia reluctantly,” he wrote. “My family and I were driven out of the country by a targeted intimidation campaign, led by some of the most influential people in the community.”

He said his mental health had deteriorated so severely during that period that he considered himself “extremely lucky to be alive,” describing frequent depression, anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares and suicidal ideation.

Despite the toll, Mr Waks said his advocacy work had become part of his healing. “At times I even feel grateful to be in this position,” he wrote. “Not for being sexually abused but for becoming an advocate because of what I endured.”

In his statement, Mr Waks said his fight had never been motivated by a desire for revenge. “My ongoing battle has never been about revenge or retribution,” he wrote. “Rather, it’s about justice, accountability and prevention.”

Both of his abusers, Serebryanski and convicted rapist David Cyprys, had now been held to account, Mr Waks added.

Mr Waks, who joined the sentencing hearing by video link from Israel, said he was looking forward to moving on. “I’m really looking forward to finally putting all of this behind me and to move forward,” he wrote. “Justice has prevailed.”

Serebryanski ignored questions from reporters as he walked from the County Court on Friday.

He will only return to prison if he commits another offence within three years.

---

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

with: Tara Cosoleto/AAP on: 20/03/2026 13:12