Ex-guard at Aussie Jewish school appealing rape conviction

Sex abuse victim and activist Manny Waks ‘confident that justice will prevail’

By JTA 24 February 2014, 1:01 pm

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Manny Waks, pictured with his father, Zephaniah, has led the campaign to expose sexual abuse in Melbourne's ultra-Orthodox community. (photo credit: Tony Fink via JTA)

SYDNEY, Australia — A convicted pedophile who sexually molested students at an Australian Jewish school for boys where he worked launched an appeal.

David Cyprys, a former security guard at Yeshivah College in Melbourne, was sentenced to a prison term of eight years in December for sexually assaulting nine boys in the 1980s and 1990s. A jury found him guilty of five charges of rape against one former student before he pleaded guilty to 12 charges of assault against eight others.

Cyprys, 45, is contesting the rape conviction in the Court of Appeal.
His wife, Michelle Coleman, said in a statement, “These five counts of rape refer to a single individual. I can say that it is the same individual who made a claim of touching, not rape, against David in 1991, to which David pleaded guilty and paid a $1,500 fine.”

The only victim to go public, Manny Waks, said the appeal “would no doubt have a detrimental impact on some of Cyprys’ many victims. Many would want to move on from this difficult period, but he is now causing us to relive the trauma he inflicted upon us.”

Waks added, “It also highlights the lack of remorse by Cyprys, something the judge pointed out during the case. I am confident that justice will prevail, again.”