Rabbi Shlomo Leib Mund, formerly of Montreal, was arrested on April 13 at Toronto’s Pearson airport while flying in from Israel to visit family for Passover. He was promptly charged with sexual assault, sexual interference with a victim under 16 years of age, and incest.
The reason behind the arrest was a warrant issued by Montreal’s police force. The accusations against Mund, now 79, date back 25 years, to when he was a well-known rabbi and teacher in Montreal’s ultra-Orthodox community. In the early 2000s, after Montreal’s rabbinical court investigated him for a sex crime complaint—not the same one that would ultimately lead to his arrest, however—he was effectively exiled from the community and moved to Israel. That case never went to the police.
The identity of the individual whose complaint led to Rabbi Mund’s arrest is under a court-ordered publication ban, since they were a minor when the crimes were committed. They spoke to The CJN Daily, but we’ve had to disguise their voice. You’ll also hear from Rabbi Saul Emanuel, the executive director of Montreal’s Jewish Community Council, about how the earlier complaints against Rabbi Mund were dealt with at the time.
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What we talked about:
- Listen to The CJN Daily episode about Lorie Wolf’s sexual assault in the community
- Listen to The CJN Daily episode about why so many sex crimes go unpunished
Credits
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.