A Cry For Help - Update on the Case of David Kramer

© (2008) The Awareness Center
July 14, 2008

(St. Louis) June 26, 2008 -- David Kramer pled guilty to 2 counts of sexual molestation of a minor and was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

Below is a portion of the remarks made by the victim's father as part of the Impact Statement that was stated before the judge. The father felt that these remarks were worthy for the broader Jewish community to hear.

...this sentence sends an important and much needed message to the Jewish community, and society at large: namely; there shall be zero tolerance of sexual abuse and molestation of children. We the parents, leaders and clergy have to stand up for our children, and put our children first. Certain rabbis can't continue to shield predators. Parents have to report predators who assault their children. People in the Orthodox community must know: molestation is wrong and evil. Instead of the focus being on raising money for high priced attorneys to defend the predators --- let's support our children and put them first.

As a reaction to the case of David Kramer, Rabbi Ze’ev Smason was involved in the creation o of 'Our Precious Children' -- a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Jewish survivors of child sexual abuse in the St. Louis area.

Rabbi Smason shared:

I was stunned both by the community resources and money that were gathered and collected for David Kramer and his defense fund AND the deafening silence when it came to verbal and monetary support for the child survivor, his family, and Our Precious Children. The family told me that every morsel of support that they did receive, though, was greatly appreciated. Now that the sentence has been handed down, we're all hopeful that there's a degree of closure and the child survivor and family can move on.

There are other cases of sexual abuse and sex offenders here in our community. The obstinance of parents and clergy is stunning. For example, I warned one family who often hosts a certain “alleged” sex offender who was kicked out of his home by his wife. The husband of this host family said, 'we'll continue to keep having him over as a guest. I watch him carefully, and he doesn't show any interest in my children.' In another case, a family I know whose daughter was molested didn't report the abuse because ''our rabbi told us not to report it."

The needs of the survivor and family require support both for rape crisis counseling, as well as encouragement from the community to let the survivors know that they are not alone.

The Awareness Center often hears similar stories shared by Rabbi Smason in Jewish communities throughout the world.

Both The Awareness Center and Our Precious Children need your help so that we can continue to do the work we do.