Australian lawyer suspended for rebuking child sex abuse victim

Melbourne attorney Alex Lewenberg is banned from practice for 15 months for rebuking a victim of child sexual abuse who cooperated with police on the basis that “Jewish people should not assist police investigating another Jewish person.”

Lewenberg made the comments twice in 2011 while representing now-convicted child sex abuser David Cyprys, who is currently serving a prison sentence after being found guilty of raping one boy and molesting eight others when employed at the Melbourne Yeshivah Centre and College.

He made the comment once while in court for a bail hearing and once in a telephone conversation with an abuse victim that was secretly recorded.

The judgment delivered by Judge Pamela Jenkins at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal contains the contents of a written apology from Lewenberg to the victim known only as AVB, in which Lewenberg wrote: “I apologize to you for what I said and I deeply regret the real hurt and harm those words have caused you.”

In imposing the ban on practicing law, Jenkins notes that it was the fifth time Lewenberg had faced disciplinary action. She also orders Lewenberg to complete legal education course in ethics and professional responsibility.

— JTA