December 2, 2012

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – An American Jew was extradited to Australia and charged with multiple counts of indecent assault and indecent acts with a minor at an Orthodox Jewish school.

David Kramer was surrendered by U.S. authorities on Nov. 29 and extradited to Melbourne, where he is accused of sexually abusing children at Yeshivah College between 1989 and 1992 when he was a teacher at the Chabad-run boys’ school.

The 52-year-old was remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to face the charges of 10 counts of indecent assault on minors and two counts of indecent acts with a child under 16, a Victoria Police statement said.

Manny Waks, a spokesperson for the alleged Jewish victims of child abuse in Australia, said: “I’m delighted that David Kramer has been extradited to Australia to face justice. Not I nor any of his victims that I’ve been in contact with ever really expected this day to arrive. It’s an important day for the victims and for the entire Jewish community.”

The chairman of the College Board at the time, Harry Cooper, confirmed to The Australian newspaper last year that the Yeshivah Center, which houses the Chabad headquarters in Melbourne, shipped Kramer off to Israel without reporting him to police soon after allegations against him emerged.

Kramer later went to America, where he was convicted and sentenced in 2008 to seven years in jail for sodomizing a 12-year-old boy in a synagogue in St Louis.

Earlier this year the Yeshivah Center “unreservedly” apologized to the victims for any “historical wrongs” and last week the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry met its leaders and received a “comprehensive briefing” about the college’s policies, processes and programs to prevent abuse and ensure allegations are reported to authorities. 

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