Lev Tahor, ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect, quietly moves to Guatemala
Lev Tahor, ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect, quietly moves to Guatemala
Of the 200 sect members, only half a dozen families remain in Chatham, Ont.
CBC News Posted: Aug 23, 2014 2:03 PM ET| Last Updated: Aug 23, 2014 2:13 PM ET
Most of the members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect Lev Tahor have moved from Canada to Guatemala amid allegations of child abuse.
Of the nearly 200 members of the sect, a half-dozen families remain in Chatham, Ont., where the group has been based since November 2013. The members left in Canada include some of those who have been involved in a custody dispute with the region's children's services authorities for several months.
Radio-Canada's sources said the bulk of the families began leaving Canada one by one starting in June to join some of the members involved in the custody battle who had left for Guatemala in March.
The sect picked up and moved to Chatham from Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Que., last November after Quebec's youth protective services (known by its French acronym, the DPJ) initiated steps to remove 14 of the children. One of the children was a mother to a young child herself.
Case workers at the DPJ's department in nearby St-Jérôme, Que., alleged that some of the children experienced physical punishment, had poor hygiene and were not being educated according to the province's curriculum.
More:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lev-tahor-ultra-orthodox-jewish-sect-quietly-moves-to-guatemala-1.2744971
