I am not judging the guilt of the Baltimore rabbi, but it should not have taken the publication of stories by The Jewish Week before he was removed (“Sex Abuse Charges At Camp Test Community’s Response,” Jan. 19). He is alleged to have been involved in enough incidents that should have sparked questions in a reasonable person’s mind.
Schools, synagogues and camps owe a very high duty of protection to the innocent children who’ve been placed in their care. The highest standards of behavior must be the benchmark of keeping personnel who come in contact with children. When dealing with adults who may have violated the health, safety and welfare of children, institutions should not make employment decisions using the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard of guilt, but instead they should rely on the preponderance of the evidence. The unanswered question in this case is what were the rabbis, board members and other institutional supervisors doing when all of these events were occurring?
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