New probe launched against pedophile teacher amid new allegations
A conversation in class about sentencing of pedophile teacher Shaul Shamai led 11 other children to talk about being inappropriately touched by him, prompting police to reopen investigation against him; outraged parents call for principal's dismissal amid claims of negligent inaction.
Police launched a new investigation Wednesday against pedophile teacher Shaul Shamai after new allegations were made against him by 11 additional children—just two days after he was convicted of the statutory rape of six young girls and sentenced to seven years in prison.
"For the Education Ministry, this is a fiasco akin to the Yom Kippur War," said the mother of a girl in the same class as some of Shamai's victims.
"The pedophile taught our kids for a year and a half. Not only has no one reported his actions, which seemed unusual, but they (the school) silenced it," the mother scathed.
"They asked the children not to spread rumors at the time, so they just kept quiet," she added.
The school's principal sent the parents an e-mail inviting them for a meeting with the teaching staff after a talk with the students about Shamai's sentence brought alarming details to light.
"Some of them said Shaul had touched them inappropriately when he was a substitute teacher," the principal wrote."Those pupils' parents were updated."
"We share the great concern these reports cause," she added.
The mother of one of the girls in class said that, "After the sentencing, a message on it was sent on WhatsApp, and the children spoke among themselves. One of the mothers turned to the homeroom teacher and asked for it to be addressed. Suddenly things came up, that Shaul touched other girls. There are things the girls didn't talk about at home."
She went on to say that the children "talked about touching, caressing, massaging and putting his hands" in inappropriate places. "They said he used to put his hand at the back of the head."
"What would've happened if the sentencing hadn't been reported yesterday? The kids might have never spoken about it," the mother added.
She said the parents' anger was now directed at the school's staff. "In our eyes, the entire staff failed—including the principal. She didn't take care of us. We have no trust in her, and we don't want her to be our school principal anymore," she stated.
Another mother shared that even after Shamai's deeds were made public, the school made no comment about it in classes where children were allegedly not involved.
"They should have raised an outcry. There was no treatment program for the children throughout the year. It's unclear why that class was not questioned. Everyone checked with their own personal children, saw that everything was fine and moved on," she revealed.
For the police and psychological service, she said, it was "very convenient to end up at that conclusion. I didn't hear of anyone asking the kids to recount what happened. Some sent children to a private psychologist, and some used the school's services."
"Allegations now concern the fact that no operative measures were taken to find out what happened in that class. The authorities did not endeavor to discover the truth. Everyone was fine with things staying the way they are. As far as we're concerned, we'll never know what happened," she added mournfully.
A father to a female student in a class where incidents were probed said, "We said from moment one there were more victims. He's a predator who didn't prey on any one place, but on a number of places."
"The system, the Education Ministry and the school all did their absolute best to minimize the incident. Why was a team of psychologists not sent in to question the second class? How can it be that a psychologist came in to talk to them two years after the fact?" he demanded.
Parents: Those who did not forewarn will pay
Following Shamai's verdict, the central parents' association of Tel Aviv-Jaffa demanded that the people who "failed in their primary duty of preserving our children's safety be summarily fired and will not work in positions relating to educating children again."
"We will not rest until we know all involved realize how much of an epidemic this is nationwide. We will make sure that is indeed done, so they can all identify such Shaul Shamai's no matter what form they take. Let anyone who had any bearing on this, whether with direct or indirect knowledge, and did nothing—to pay the price," the association concluded.
Judge Zvi Gurfinkel, who sentenced Shamai, criticized the fact that a report of a previous conviction in a similar case was not made known to the relevant authorities, allowing him to continue to serve as a teacher. "The offenses in this case were committed while the defendant was charged with sexual assault in another instance, all while serving as a teacher," he said.
"Regarding the prohibition on continued employment at an educational institution following a conviction on sexual offenses, the lion's share of responsibility is on the institution itself to bar such people from serving in any capacity. However, this does not exonerate the defendant of responsibility, as he should have terminated his employment immediately after his conviction," the judge added.
Gurfinkel further noted that a failure in reporting Shamai's conviction took place, which led to his continued employment at the school. "A way must be found," he stated, "to immediately report to the Education Ministry and other education institutions on any such convictions of sexual offenses."
