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A young man leads a group of children from the Lev Tahor, a radical Chasidic
sect, to their current home in Chatham, Ontario.

Abuse Allegations

After Ontario hearing, two toddlers
are returned to Lev Tahor family.

Postmedia News

A

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14 December 26 • 2013

JN

bruise on a toddler's cheek
triggered a court hearing
that resulted in the little girl
and her brother being returned to their
parents after five days in foster care.
The controversy took place in Chatham,
Ontario, about 50 miles east of Detroit.
Chatham-Kent Children's Services
apprehended the 1-year-old girl and
her 4-year-old brother from the ultra-
Orthodox, anti-Zionist Chasidic sect
Lev Tahor on Dec. 12. Lev Tahor
means "a pure heart" in Hebrew.
On Dec. 17, Ontario Court Judge
Stephen Fuerth ordered the toddlers to
be returned to their community on the
condition that no one physically disci-
pline the children and that the parents
consent to unannounced visits from
child protection workers.
Other conditions, worked out by
children's services and the parents'
lawyer, include that the children not be
taken out of Chatham-Kent and that
their parents give children's services
two weeks' notice of any change of
address.
Lawyer Chris Knowles said the
parents agreed to the conditions, not
because they admit that they did any-
thing wrong but because they want
their children back.
"Their primary concern is that their
children be returned to their care:'
According to information presented
in court Dec. 17, a children's services
worker who was visiting the Lev Tahor
community noticed the bruise on the
little girl's face. The girl's mother sug-
gested it was just marker.
Children's services had the child
examined by an emergency room
doctor, who concluded the mark was
indeed a bruise. A second physician,
examining a photograph of the mark,
confirmed the ER doctor's finding.

Child protection workers appre-
hended the little girl and her 4-year-
old brother.
Children's services had five days to
bring the matter before a judge. The
purpose of the court appearance was
to decide where the children should
reside while the hearing is before the
courts.
"The injury to the child is relatively
minor; Fuerth said, adding that it
is common for youngsters to suffer
bumps and bruises. "It's what toddlers
do best:' the judge said.
But, he added, "any unexplained
injury can be cause for concern"
The judge noted that the doctor
who examined the little girl concluded
that, apart from the bruise, the child
appeared "otherwise healthy"
Fuerth also read from the children's
services' own files in which a worker
reported that the children's mother
seemed "at ease with her children" and
"attended to her children appropriately"
The children's mother is about to
give birth to another child.
This isn't the first time children
have been ordered removed from the
community. Last year, five children
from one family were ordered into
foster care after their father, Nathan
Helbrans, a son of the sect's founder
Shlomo Helbrans, left the community
and complained of abuse there.
Last month, a Quebec Youth Court
judge ordered the removal of 14 chil-
dren, ranging in age from 3 months
to 16. The 14 children remain with
their families because most members
of the sect fled the province ahead of a
court date. They traveled by bus from
their homes in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts,
Quebec, 60 miles north of Montreal,
to Chatham, about nine hours away.

❑

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