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Seventeen children removed from Jewish ‘cult’ with history of sex abuse
Several leaders of the Lev Tahor group have previously been imprisoned for kidnapping children
November 25, 2025 10:09
Several leaders of the Lev Tahor group have previously been imprisoned for kidnapping children
November 25, 2025 10:09Seventeen children have been removed from a Jewish cult with a history of child sex abuse.
The rescue was made in Colombia on Sunday when authorities freed the children from Lev Tahor, an extreme Orthodox sect sometimes labelled the “Jewish Taliban”.
The group was founded in Jerusalem in the 1980s, and its founder, current leader and other senior figures have previously been imprisoned for kidnapping children.
It has been listed as a cult by Israel, whilst it has hopped from continent to continent, evading investigation, according to the Times of Israel.
The several-hundred-strong group is reported to be led by a handful of central figures, with the vast majority of members allegedly held against their will.
It adheres to an extremely stringent interpretation of the Torah and kosher dietary laws, locking members away from the outside world.
The men spend most of their time in prayer, whilst women have to cover their entire body in black robes akin to the burqa, starting from the age of three.
For years, Lev Tahor has faced allegations of child abuse, including denying education, beatings, forced marriages and rape.
Colombian authorities said: “We have rescued 17 boys, girls and teens."
According to the Times of Israel, authorities said that five of the minors rescued were identified as missing persons, for whom Interpol had issued “yellow notices”.
Last year, in December, Guatemalan authorities took 160 minors into protective custody from a Lev Tahor farm. Many of the children claimed they had been abused.
Guatemalan public prosecutor Dimas Jimenez said in press conference at the time that they were rescued over suspicion of “forced pregnancy, mistreatment of minors and rape”.
Lev Tahor has always denied the allegations it has faced.
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