The Jewish Chronicle reports that Rabbi Nisson Friedman, 26, son of Chabad 
Rabbi Manis Friedman, has been removed from teaching at Yeshiva Boys School of Pittsburgh after a lengthy investigation of child sexual abuse. He is a suspect in several alleged incidents. Though no arrest has been made yet, it is considered “inevitable.”
Nisson Friedman is suspected of sexually assaulting at least three boys while employed by the school and the Pittsburgh Police Sex Assault Team has indicated that they are “absolutely certain” there are additional victims. Claims of assault against Friedman are coming from parents in Pittsburgh as well as from other communities.
Nisson Friedman is the son of the very well known Chabad personality Rabbi Manis Friedman who in a January 2013 video trivialized the effects of child sexual abuse (CSA) and mocked CSA victims. Manis’ comments received waves of negative publicity, and resulted in the Chabad-Lubavitch organization trying to distance themselves from him.
Something interesting the Jewish Chronicle article mentions regarding Nisson Friedman is:
Attempts to contact Friedman were unsuccessful. A member of his family who did not want to be identified noted that Friedman himself is a victim of child sexual abuse.[Ed.-bold]
By whom? Very often victims are abused by members of their own family. And it is often that victims of child sexual abuse become abusers themselves. This leads me to view Manis Friedman’s trivializing of child sexual abuse in a different perspective. The father of the suspect in a multi-incident child sexual abuse investigation, trivialized the effect of CSA and mocked victims. If his own son was a victim (and now a suspect), how is it that Manis Friedman lacked compassion for other victims?
There is one aspect to this case which differs greatly from other CSA cases within the Chabad community. The school acted in a number of positive and proactive ways and reported the problem to outside authorities. They called Deborah Fox, founder of Magen Yeladim, a national organization based in California that works to prevent child abuse. She recommended a call to Child Protective Services. Fox said:
They really followed through in every way. They were exemplary and a model for how a school should handle a very dramatic situation. Nobody wants this to happen, but if it does, you have to know how to deal with it.
The article also notes other circumstances common in CSA cases within the Chabad community, notably that Nisson Friedman was connected to additional institutions (including Camp Gan Israel summer day camp), and a connection to a prominent or influential figure in the movement.
Fox noted the particular “sensitivity” in this case, praising the school for acting in accordance with proper protocol despite outside pressures. Friedman is connected to several Jewish institutions throughout Pittsburgh. Moreover, Friedman hails from a renowned Lubavitch family and is the son of an influential Minneapolis-based rabbi.
Despite Nisson Friedman’s connections, Yeshiva Schools employed the same vetting procedure before hiring him as it does for all its other potential employees, according to Rosenblum. That vetting includes procuring FBI clearances, checks with the Department of Homeland Security and personal interviews.
Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, the principal of Yeshiva Boys School said, [we] “knew we had to report it,” and “We have training every year on mandated reporting from a secular group that tells us our legal responsibilities.”
If they knew their moral responsibilities, a “secular group” may not have to train them. But that they take such training is a good thing since Chabad’s treatment of children (and their families) in sexual abuse cases doesn’t have a very good track record at all.
The article seems heavy (repetitively so) in support of the school. The school deserves a lot praise, which the article makes more than abundantly clear. The apparent swiftness of action is remarkable, including the reporting of the earliest known incident to the parent body of the school. And, the article implies, there is an unusual community support in this case, as opposed to the common ‘sweep it under the rug’ approach. There is no mention of how victims and their families are being treated within their communities. Often times they are subject to blame and shunning.
After my many experiences with Chabad shluchim, I will never take them at face value again. Never. There is always a ‘rest of the story’ to look for. Chabad is aware that the child sexual abuse spotlight is upon them ever more frequently. In Australia, coast to coast USA, Israel, and elsewhere worldwide, Chabad related CSA cases are being exposed. They know they have a problem. Even if many in the organization don’t consider child sexual abuse a significant problem (and I hope this school truly does), they know the legal, financial, and publicity fallout can present a major blow to their organization. This may be an indication of a change of approach that would help improve a damaged image.
I think doing the right thing, is doing the right thing, regardless of the motivation. And for that, we should be very relieved to see how this unfortunate case is unfolding. But considering Chabad’s history in dealing with CSA, I think it’s a smart consideration to ask why? Why now? Why Friedman? I hope it’s for all the right reasons, but I won’t take it on faith in Chabad integrity that it is.
Chafraud-Depravitch 
Manis Friedman’s original comments on CSA:
Post-outcry lip service:
More forgiving and less experienced consumers would buy it. I don’t.
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“And it is often that victims of child sexual abuse become abusers themselves”
Please include the statistics for that statement. From the research I’ve done that is incorrect and a false assumption.
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Brocha Mishulovin,
MOST abused children do NOT become offenders. But it is often enough (among males – the majority of offenders by far) that eliminating CSA would significantly reduce the “cycle” that is observed in an estimated 35%.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11731348
“RESULTS:
Among 747 males the risk of being a perpetrator was positively correlated with reported sexual abuse victim experiences. The overall rate of having been a victim was 35% for perpetrators and 11% for non-perpetrators. Of the 96 females, 43% had been victims but only one was a perpetrator. A high percentage of male subjects abused in childhood by a female relative became perpetrators. Having been a victim was a strong predictor of becoming a perpetrator, as was an index of parental loss in childhood.”
It’s by mo means a majority, but often enough.
I know you’ve spoken up for children’s rights in this area, and so possibly have seen cases that demonstrate the phenomena. We had a poster here whose child was abused sexually and he observed his child acting out on other children. And according to a family member statement in the article about Friedman, that cycle phenomena may be true in his case.
It’s not an easy subject to study and gathering data is difficult, But there is a pattern, and it is a risk factor, even if not causal.
I think it’s also important to note that belief and support of victims has been shown to reduce the risk that a victim will go on to become a perpetrator. That is something that ultra-Othodox populations (and others) have to improve greatly.
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It is a horrible thing for you to state that most victims of child sex abuse become abusers themselves. What a horrible thing to say. You are making the person a victum twice. What a most terrible thing to say. I have absolutely no respect in the stronfest terms for someone who would make such a terrible statement and to put out your crazy and false statics makes it even worse and more harmful. Shame on you in the strongest words. I don’t care how important a person is that makes such a statement they are very wrong and would never in a million years convence me otherwise. Shame on you.
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Dianne C, You said: “most victims of child sex abuse become abusers themselves.”
I said: “often that victims of child sexual abuse become abusers.”
Take your finger pointing to the nearest mirror.
And it doesn’t appear that you care about what happened to Nisson Friedman. Which, as far as I know, is NOTHING.
Do you have a bigger problem with my blog post, or the fact that another Chabad pervert gamed the system and avoided arrest and punishment?
Perhaps your concerns are best pointed toward an organization that protects child molesters and runs A LOT of schools and preschools.
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Has there still been nothing done? I’ve looked online and don’t see anything about him past his initial removal by the school. The school did so well with how they handled everything. It’s awful that authorities did not follow through with arrest and conviction, if in fact they never did. Even worse if the religious elite allowed this to continue by shielding him.
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