SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – A convicted pedophile who sexually molested students at a Chabad-Lubavitch school for boys in Melbourne launched an appeal.

David Cyprys, a karate teacher and security guard at the college, was sentenced to jail for eight years in December for sexually assaulting nine boys at Yeshivah College in the 1980s and 1990s. He must serve five-and-a-half years of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

A jury found him guilty of five charges of rape against one former student; he then pleaded guilty to a further 12 charges of assault against eight others.

Cyprys, 45, is now contesting his conviction for rape with the Court of Appeal. His wife, Michelle Coleman, said in a statement: “He is appealing the five counts of rape of which he was convicted by a jury. These five counts of rape refer to a single individual. I can say that it is the same individual who made a claim of touching, not rape, against David in 1991, to which David pleaded guilty and paid a $1,500 fine.”

The only one of the victims to go public was Manny Waks. “An appeal of this kind would no doubt have a detrimental impact on some of Cyprys’ many victims,’’ Waks said. “Many would want to move on from this difficult period but he is now causing us to relive the trauma he inflicted upon us.”

Waks added: “It also highlights the lack of remorse by Cyprys, something the judge pointed out during the case. I am confident that justice will prevail, again.’’

Also jailed last year for sex offenses at Yeshivah College was David Kramer. Basketball coach Shannon Francis, who is not Jewish, was jailed for offenses against girls at Maccabi Victoria.

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