A mother in the Lev Tahor community who is the subject of a child protection proceeding sent a letter to media outlets Friday afternoon decrying the actions of Chatham-Kent Children's Services and calling out for help.
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Amnon Levi interviews Aryeh Laver, a 21-year-old Israeli whose mother joined the extreme Jewish group, Lev Tahor, then living in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, Canada. According to accounts of former members, the group practices underage marriage, corporal punishment, semi-starvation, and mind control with psychiatric medication. The show aired in November, 2012.
Since the show aired, five children of an ex-member have been removed. On November 27, 2013, Montreal judge Pierre Hamel ruled that 14 additional children should also be removed. In advance of the ruling, the group moved to Chatham-Kent, Ontario, claiming that they were being forced to teach subjects that conflict with their religious beliefs. Ontario has not upheld the Quebec ruling but a hearing is scheduled for January 10, 2014
The timing for the hasty flight, days before the child welfare hearing where a Quebec judge ordered the removal of 14 children to foster care, has generated speculation the sect was aware of the impending judgment. The group has since defied the foster care order and a hearing is set for December 23 to decide jurisdiction now that the children are in Ontario.
Two additional children, whose identities are protected by the Canadian Child and Welfare Services Act, were removed earlier this week, though quickly reunited with their families under terms that include mental health treatment for the parents, reports the Toronto Star.
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