Special Report: Sexual Molestation

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Another Survivor’s Tale

The JEWISH TIMES received a call on Wednesday, April 25, from a second woman who claimed she was molested by the late Ephraim Shapiro.

She was 11 and ½ and taking private bat mitzvah lessons with the Rabbi Shapiro at Agudas Achim.

“He would cop a feel,” the 68-year-old woman, who asked for anonymity, said. “He’d try to get underneath my sweaters. I was a little skinny Minnie. I didn’t know from this stuff. We didn’t talk about these things.”

“I never thought about it all of these years, I never told anybody,” she continued. “That’s the trouble with the Jewish people, we sweep everything under the rug. It’s a shame this wasn’t told while he was living. He was a scumbag.

“I didn’t want to have any more with Jewish learning,” she added. “I was sick of the whole damn thing. I knew he should not touch me, but he did. I remember his grubby hands. But Agudas Achim was a second home to my grandfather. I used to hate to go there. I hated it. But I had to go.

“They gave me a white Bible when I graduated.”

To comment on related stories, visit Phil Jacob’s blog at: http://blogs.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/philjacobs/

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