A former student and boarder at The Talmudical Academy, a Jewish boarding school in Baltimore County, sued the school for sexual abuse claims in the 1970s.
The complaint states Rabbi Ephraim Shapiro, a former dorm counselor at the school, groomed, raped and sexually abused the victim for years.
“Rabbi Shapiro had unrestricted access to our client and other children because he worked as a dormitory counselor at the Academy,” attorneys for the alleged victim said. “For decades, there has been widespread news coverage of Rabbi Shapiro’s sexual abuse of children while working at the Academy. As a result, our client has suffered for years.”
The lawsuit falls under the Maryland Child Victims Act, signed into law in 2023 and which does away with the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases.
The attorneys said this is the first known civil lawsuit against The Talmudical Academy.
“By the time our client was prepared to speak out as an adult, he was far beyond the statute of limitations,” his lawyers explained. “The Child Victims Act allowed our client to pursue justice.”
Lawsuit against The Talmudical Academy
The victim, who was a student, resided at The Talmudical Academy, a Jewish Orthodox boarding school in Pikesville, from 1971 to 1974. He says the abuse occurred when he was between the ages of 14 and 17.
Rabbi Shapiro, the lawsuit alleges, was reinstated by the Academy in 1972 after accusations that he was sexually abusive to young students during his initial tenure at the school in the 1960s.
The suit alleges Shapiro, who was directly in charge of younger students and had unrestricted access to them, groomed and manipulated the students until he earned their trust, ultimately resulting in years of sexual assault.
All the sexual abuse — including molesting and forced kissing — occurred at The Talmudical Academy, the lawsuit alleges.
The unidentified survivor, who resides in Florida, also blames the school for negligence, sending its students off campus and hitchhiking to reach shops in the vicinity.
The suit claims the survivor departed campus, as staff members were aware, to visit a nearby kosher grocery store. When trying to hitchhike, as was the advised method of transportation, a driver invited him to ride with him. The driver is said to have raped and assaulted the survivor before taking him to the store.
The lawsuit claims the school was negligent and did not properly look out for the students when they were in school care.
The other victims of sexual abuse were documented in a 2007 Baltimore Jewish Times article.
The Talmudical Academy released a statement to WJZ in which it indicated that it is familiar with the complaint.
“The named plaintiff employee in the lawsuit is deceased and has not been associated with the school for several decades,” Executive Vice President Rabbi Yaacov Cohen said. “While we cannot discuss the specifics of the case because of ongoing litigation, we do want to stress that this charge does not involve any current students, staff, or faculty. The safety and well-being of our students is always, and remains, our top concern. As always, we will remain committed to maintaining a safe learning environment, at all times, for every one of our students.”
What is the Child Victims Act?
The Child Victims Act, eliminating the statute of limitations and providing for victims to receive up to $890,000 per instance of abuse, was enacted into law in 2023.
4,500 victims have since submitted claims, which could leave the state liable for billions of dollars.
Democratic Delegate CT Wilson, who is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, proposed amendments to House Bill 1378, which would reduce the payment cap per claimant to $400,000.
It would also mandate an alternative dispute resolution process to vow transparency in these payments.
“I wanted to ensure that whatever we’re doing today, we do not so badly harm our state that we have to resort to bankruptcy,” Wilson said. “Because although the victims do need a chance to be heard and they do need to increase financially, billions and billions of dollars is not something we can afford to do.”
Lawsuits brought against McDonogh School
Earlier this month, more than a dozen former students of The McDonogh School, a Baltimore County private school, made accusations of sexual abuse against former school officials that go back to the 1960s.
The victims report they were sexually abused by former dean Alvin Levy, former Spanish teacher Robert Creed, and two additional faculty members while attending the school between the 1960s and 1980s.
Four lawsuits have been brought against the school, alleging school administrators were aware of the abuse and did nothing to protect the students.
A 10-page lawsuit outlines a former student’s story of being repeatedly sexually assaulted by former dean Levy, when alone on weekends. The lawsuit alleges the victim was 10 years old when abused.
In 1992, Levy was indicted on sexual abuse charges filed by another former student. Levy, however, died before his trial was to take place.
Lawyer Ari Casper said an investigation into the McDonogh School decades later found that five former teachers, including Levy and former Spanish teacher Robert Creed, allegedly sexually abused two dozen students between 1940 and 1980, and that the Board of Trustees and former school officials failed to act properly.
Maryland Jewish boarding school sued over sexual abuse claims by former student in 1970s.
