Lev Tahor, a Jewish sect located in Quebec, Canada, came under scrutiny from child welfare officials in 2013 amid concerns of psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, improper education, medical neglect, and underage marriages. The sect’s children were homeschooled, and officials learned that girls were not receiving the same education as boys, that the children were only being taught Yiddish and Hebrew, and that the children were not being taught math, among other subjects.
The sect initially relocated to Ontario in November, 2013, to avoid the probe in Quebec and to avoid Quebec’s homeschooling laws, but began leaving Canada for Guatemala in March, 2014, creating a mess for immigration officials. They were ejected from Guatemala in August 2014. While some children were temporarily removed by child welfare officials in Canada, officials’ requests to remove all of the children en masse were denied.
Location: Quebec, Canada
Date: Investigation spanned 2013 to 2014
