Parents sue all-boys’ school over sexual abuse

In a legal first, the parents of a former student at Yeshiva University’s Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy in Brooklyn have filed a suit against the school for deceiving them into believing the school was a safe place for their son in spite of rampant sexual abuse.

Israel and Chaya Gutman argued in their suit that the Academy was liable for deceptive advertising practices which alleged the school was safe for their son, even though it hired and retained known sexual predators. The Gutmans argue that had they known the dangers, they would have never sent their son, who only revealed his abuse in 2012 after similar accusations were leveled against the Academy.

The lawsuit, which seeks to recoup tuition and other expense in addition to monetary damages for pain and suffering, is a last-ditch attempt to hold the Academy responsible for a culture of secrecy and complacency regarding abuse at the hands of former teachers. A previous $680 million class-action lawsuit was filed by 34 former students in 2013, but dismissed on the grounds that the incidents, which occurred from 1969 to 1991, were past the statute of limitations.