Touro University excludes alleged sex pervert Menachem Kiwak from classes

Three months after an adjunct professor was arrested for sexually abusing a patient in his private practice, Touro University raised the issue with students and faculty for the first time, claiming he was listed as teaching an ethics course this fall due to a “clerical error.”

Menachem Kiwak, a counseling professor who was arrested in May, was quietly placed on leave at the end of the last school year.

But it was only when the Washington Post reported last week that he would soon be teaching a course that Touro finally commented on the allegations against him.

According to records, twenty students had registered for the online course “Professional, Legal and Ethical Issues in Counseling,” which is scheduled to begin on September 3.

The internal advertisement sparked a storm of indignation among some professors; one of them described it as an “absolute farce”.

Touro called it a “clerical error” and said Kiwak remains on leave.

The university desperately sought a replacement and hired a psychotherapist from Florida who specialized in women's issues.

But on Friday, she abruptly resigned after reading the Post article about Kiwak, saying Touro never informed her of his firing.

“This speaks for the integrity of the institution,” she said, asking to remain anonymous.

On Monday, Touro sent an email to the university community confirming the “allegations of sexual assault” against Kiwak.

“The alleged incident occurred off campus and did not involve a Touro student,” the statement said, adding that Kiwak “does not currently have any teaching or other responsibilities at Touro.”

Some faculty members believe Touro tried to keep the scandal under wraps because Kiwak's mother-in-law, Faye Walkenfeld, is the head of the behavioral sciences department where he works and is “a big shot at the university.”

Walkenfeld was one of two Touro officials who interviewed the Florida consultant.

“It is crazy and puzzling that such an established university as Touro would respond in such a sloppy and disorganized manner to the arrest of a teacher for alleged sexual abuse,” said Asher Lovy, director of Za'akah, an organization that supports victims of sexual abuse in the Jewish community.

“The safety of their students is obviously not their top priority, but instead they are protecting their own reputations and the families of their department heads,” Lovy said.

Kiwak was accused by a patient of forcing her to perform sexual acts. He has pleaded not guilty.