The following is a historical case from 2021. If any of our Australian readers have any updates on an outcome or further details, please contact us on pokrovtruth@gmail.com or in the comments below.
Exclusive: Members of Australia’s Coptic Orthodox Church across three states have come forward with allegations they were sexually abused as children by church teachers and a priest over the past decade. Some were told there would be an investigation, but they’re still seeking justice.
Earlier this year, Hanna* saw photos and videos that turned her blood cold. They were of a lay teacher from her former church who she says repeatedly sexually abused her when she was a child.
They had been taken just days before and showed the man still working with other young children at a community class at a Coptic Orthodox Church in Australia.
“It was just this moment of absolute shock,” she says.
Hanna, who is now an adult, was seven when she says the man started to sexually abuse her. She speaks to SBS News from a hotel room as rain falls on the roof.
“He’d be on the other side of the room. Then he’d call me to his side, get me to sit on his lap and he would start caressing my legs and kissing me,” she says.
The rain starts to die down. Hanna looks out of a window.
“He was telling me he was rewarding me because I had done such a good job.”
As well as Hanna, two other women have come forward to SBS News to allege they were abused as children by a priest and another lay teacher involved in Australia’s Coptic Orthodox Church between 2008 and 2016.
The women say the abuse happened across three different churches in three different states.
In some cases, the abuse happened while The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse - which ran from 2013 to 2017 - was underway.
Hanna says her abuse continued for several years and became more intrusive as time went on. Her mother found out, reported the teacher to the church, and pulled her out of the class.
Years on, the young women are still seeking justice.
Correspondence seen by SBS News reveals the Australian Coptic Orthodox Church was first made aware of Hanna’s allegations in writing in 2016, though Hanna’s mother says she raised concerns about the teacher verbally prior to this.
At least four priests were made aware of Hanna’s allegations of abuse, according to correspondence seen by SBS News. They include senior clergy.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations, the lay teacher was photographed and filmed teaching children this year at another Coptic church.
“They [the Coptic Orthodox Church] told us that they were going to do an internal investigation and in that time he wouldn’t be teaching with children. Then when we followed up we didn’t get an outcome [of the investigation] from them” Hanna says.
In 2019, clergy confirmed with Hanna that they had launched an internal investigation.
Text messages she received said the church had suspended the lay teacher while the investigation took place.
They told us that they were going to do an internal investigation and in that time he wouldn’t be teaching with children. - Hanna
SBS News understands that the photos provided to Hanna indicated that he had still been teaching other children for the church in another state after that investigation had been launched.
“We found out soon after that he had returned [to] volunteering [with] children with another Coptic church, he had just moved states but he was continuing at another service there,” Hanna says.
Hanna followed up with the Church to ask about the progress of the investigation after seeing the photos and videos. She says the priests did not provide an outcome on the investigation.
The Coptic Orthodox Church, a 2,000-year-old institution, is the main Christian church in Egypt with around 12 million members globally.
Australia has around 100,000 people who adhere to the faith which stems from the 5th century, and Arabic and English are used in services.
Some of those migrated to Australia throughout the mid-20th Century, while others have come over seeking refuge amid ongoing persecution of Copts in Egypt by Islamist extremists that has claimed hundreds of lives just in the past decade.
The United States, which has a larger community of around half a million Coptic citizens, was rocked by a wave of sexual abuse allegations in 2020 and an Orthodox Coptic #MeToo movement on social media.
There are more than 50 Coptic parishes spread across two dioceses around Australia.
Like many other churches, the Coptic Orthodox Church uses a large number of volunteer and lay teachers in parishes, who help with anything from bible studies, to organising events and choir and music classes.
Some cases from the community were featured in The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, one of whom Hanna knows of, but she says she believes there are others.
“I know of at least another handful of women who have been affected by this but are too afraid to speak up,” she says.
“I do think this is a cultural issue within the church. I feel as though, in their minds, to keep the peace is to sweep the problem under the rug and pretend it’s not there and I think as a result so many people have suffered.”
None of the women who have come forward to SBS News were covered by the Royal Commission.
Maria* puts down her coffee on the small wooden cafe table, picks up her phone and matter-of-factly points out the text messages between her and her friends about their shared experience of sexual abuse at the hands of Coptic Orthodox Church staff.
“The last time it happened was in 2016, but it started years before that,” she says.
Maria says a priest would keep her back after church service and rape her.
Like Hanna, Maria says she verbally raised the allegations a couple of years ago with a priest in the church.
“They just said they would conduct an investigation but I never heard anything back.”
“There are more [survivors] out there, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” she says.
SBS News understands the priest is no longer involved in that particular church but is still with the faith at large.
There are more [survivors] out there, this is just the tip of the iceberg. - Maria
Asha* speaks softly, pausing as she listens to the sound of birdsong in a park, recounting her own experience of abuse.
She says she was abused in the early 2010s by a lay teacher in the Coptic Church.
“It started when I was eight and lasted for a couple of years. It started off as what I would call inappropriate touching and then it got much more serious,” she says.
“My partner and I see a counsellor because it has completely undermined my trust and left me shattered.”
Asha has not formally reported the abuse.
My partner and I see a counsellor because it has completely undermined my trust and left me shattered. - Asha
In light of the allegations made by the women, SBS News sent a detailed request for a response from the two Australian Coptic Church dioceses.
A lawyer acting for the Diocese of Sydney & Affiliated Regions said the diocese was unable to comment as it is not aware of the allegations.
The Diocese of Melbourne & Affiliated Regions said the church had “zero tolerance to any form of child sexual abuse or abuse of any kind”.
“The pastoral care, respect and safety of all of our parishioners, as well as protecting the vulnerable is central to the mission of our church.”
It said “aggrieved parishioners” would be referred to counselling services and the church was committed to ongoing training and development of its clergy and church volunteers.
“Any information regarding alleged concerning conduct in all of our facilities within our Diocese, no matter how long ago it may have occurred, is encouraged to be reported to the relevant authorities.”
Angela Sdrinis is a lawyer based in Melbourne who specialises in institutional abuse. She has pursued hundreds of cases but says she found the allegations SBS News uncovered “frightening”.
“I am shocked … It’s extraordinary, it’s disappointing and, frankly, it’s frightening.”
“The stories that I’ve heard about these women’s experiences in the Coptic Church really take me back to what we were seeing and hearing in terms of how churches were dealing with similar complaints in the ‘50s, ‘60s,” she says.
Ms Sdrinis says in her experience, the way an institution responds to claims of abuse can either help with recovery or add to the trauma.
“I’m not surprised that these women are feeling violated on all sorts of levels,” she says, “and unfortunately I don’t think the church can do anything now to repair the damage that’s been done.”
Ms Sdrinis says in her more than two decades’ experience there have been very few cases relating to the Orthodox Christian faiths. She believes a culture of silence may be partly why.
“I’m Greek background myself and having done this work for over 20 years. I’ve often thought to myself why haven’t we seen more sexual abuse complaints from the Orthodox church. I think it would have to be a combination of a much more closed community, a community where to even reveal child sexual abuse the initial response would be, I think, ‘oh no that couldn’t happen, that couldn’t be possible.’”
“The only way the message will get through is if those people who have brushed those allegations under the carpet are brought to account.”
“If they don’t comply with those obligations they should be punished by the full force of the law.”
Hanna, Maria and Asha no longer go to church.
“I can’t go back into a church now,” Maria says. “I’ve left for good. My innocence was taken away from me.”
Hanna is still dealing with trauma from her experience.
“There are sleepless nights, flashbacks,” she says. “The trauma is long-lasting.”
In its list of recommendations, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse concluded: “Child safety [must be] embedded in institutional leadership, governance and culture”.
“That clearly hasn’t happened here at the Coptic Orthodox Church,” Maria says.
She, along with Hanna and Asha, hope by speaking out, others will come forward.
“It’s time for Australia’s Orthodox Coptic community to have its ‘#MeToo’ moment.”
Source: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/hanna-told-her-church-she-was-abused-years-later-her-abuser-was-still-working-with-children/embh0yz3d
*Names have been changed
Do you know more about this story? Contact Henry Zwartz at henry.zwartz@sbs.com.au, henryzwartz@protonmail.com
Follow-up story by SBS:
Australia’s Coptic Orthodox Church has said sorry to an alleged child sexual abuse survivor following allegations uncovered by SBS News. Her alleged abuser was found to still be teaching children when the story was published and has now been suspended.
An SBS News investigation that uncovered multiple allegations of child sexual abuse within Australia’s Coptic Orthodox Church has led to an apology and the suspension of an accused teacher who had gone on to teach at another parish years after clergy were told of the allegations.
In correspondence seen by SBS News, a senior clergy member from one of Australia’s two main dioceses wrote to Hanna (not her real name) after she revealed to the Church last month via email that she was one of the anonymous alleged survivors in the investigation.
The clergy member responded, acknowledging a “deficiency” in the diocese’s child safety training and expressing their “sincerest regret for any injury or offence that may have been caused to you during your service in the church”.
“Though I have not had the blessing of meeting you, I personally unreservedly apologies [sic] to you and seek your forgiveness,” the email to Hanna read.
“I can only assure you that the safety and welfare of all people, particularly children in the church’s care, are of utmost importance to all of us.”
The lay teacher from Hanna’s former church - who she said repeatedly sexually abused her from the age of seven - had a valid Working with Children Check, the email said. They had moved to another parish interstate to teach after the allegations were raised with the Church by Hanna and have now been suspended.
“We have written to the parish directing them to immediately suspend the person of concern from any contact with children,” the email to Hanna said.
“This situation has highlighted deficiency in the Diocese Child Safe training. To close this gap, we have contracted with an external Child Safe Organisation to deliver Child Safe Training for all the Diocese clergy and then to all servants.”
Hanna said the email and the removal of her alleged abuser was a “positive step” and reassured her that the Church can now “appropriately deal with cases of child sexual abuse”, but more was needed.
“It is encouraging to see the Child Safe policies now available on the Diocese website,” she added, but “for these policies to make a material difference, they must be accompanied by an effort to realise cultural change and greater awareness about the reality of this issue within our community”.
A legal expert has questioned why the Church did not conduct a full investigation prior to 2019, particularly after SBS News revealed senior clergy in the Church were told in writing of allegations of child sexual abuse relating to the teacher as far back as 2016, and again in 2019.
Angela Sdrinis, a senior lawyer based in Melbourne who specialises in institutional responses to child abuse, said she was taken aback by the revelation that the alleged abuser was found to still be teaching children.
“In a post child abuse Royal Commission world, I must say I do find it shocking,” she said.
Ms Sdrinis said the Working with Children Check only worked if institutions properly followed up allegations of abuse in the first instance.
“There’s an acknowledgment about cracks in the system … but of course, they’re going to have a valid check if the allegations aren’t properly investigated.”
Ms Sdrinis said in her view “based on the investigation, it seems the Church knew about these allegations and so more should have been done so as to potentially protect others.”
“I think what this reporting shows is a serious cultural issue within the Church around tackling these issues, and that needs to change.”
An SBS News investigation that uncovered multiple allegations of child sexual abuse within Australia’s Coptic Orthodox Church has led to an apology and the suspension of an accused teacher who had gone on to teach at another parish years after clergy were told of the allegations.
In correspondence seen by SBS News, a senior clergy member from one of Australia’s two main dioceses wrote to Hanna (not her real name) after she revealed to the Church last month via email that she was one of the anonymous alleged survivors in the investigation.
Hanna told her church she was abused. Years later, her abuser was still working with children
The clergy member responded, acknowledging a “deficiency” in the diocese’s child safety training and expressing their “sincerest regret for any injury or offence that may have been caused to you during your service in the church”.
“Though I have not had the blessing of meeting you, I personally unreservedly apologies [sic] to you and seek your forgiveness,” the email to Hanna read.
“I can only assure you that the safety and welfare of all people, particularly children in the church’s care, are of utmost importance to all of us.”
The lay teacher from Hanna’s former church - who she said repeatedly sexually abused her from the age of seven - had a valid Working with Children Check, the email said. They had moved to another parish interstate to teach after the allegations were raised with the Church by Hanna and have now been suspended.
“We have written to the parish directing them to immediately suspend the person of concern from any contact with children,” the email to Hanna said.
“This situation has highlighted deficiency in the Diocese Child Safe training. To close this gap, we have contracted with an external Child Safe Organisation to deliver Child Safe Training for all the Diocese clergy and then to all servants.”
Hanna said the email and the removal of her alleged abuser was a “positive step” and reassured her that the Church can now “appropriately deal with cases of child sexual abuse”, but more was needed.
“It is encouraging to see the Child Safe policies now available on the Diocese website,” she added, but “for these policies to make a material difference, they must be accompanied by an effort to realise cultural change and greater awareness about the reality of this issue within our community”.
A legal expert has questioned why the Church did not conduct a full investigation prior to 2019, particularly after SBS News revealed senior clergy in the Church were told in writing of allegations of child sexual abuse relating to the teacher as far back as 2016, and again in 2019.
Angela Sdrinis, a senior lawyer based in Melbourne who specialises in institutional responses to child abuse, said she was taken aback by the revelation that the alleged abuser was found to still be teaching children.
“In a post child abuse Royal Commission world, I must say I do find it shocking,” she said.
Ms Sdrinis said the Working with Children Check only worked if institutions properly followed up allegations of abuse in the first instance.
“There’s an acknowledgment about cracks in the system … but of course, they’re going to have a valid check if the allegations aren’t properly investigated.”
Ms Sdrinis said in her view “based on the investigation, it seems the Church knew about these allegations and so more should have been done so as to potentially protect others.”
“I think what this reporting shows is a serious cultural issue within the Church around tackling these issues, and that needs to change.”
The allegations uncovered by SBS News spanned three states across Australia. As well as Hanna, two other women came forward to allege they were abused as children by Coptic Orthodox Church staff between 2008 and 2016.
One of the women said she was raped by a priest, the other said she was sexually abused by a lay teacher.
The Church said some of the allegations in the original report have been referred to the Australian Federal Police.
The clergy member who sent the apology to Hanna told SBS News in a statement the diocese had “zero tolerance to any form of child sexual abuse or abuse of any kind” and that the issue required “eternal vigilance”.
“[We need] ongoing education and training … policy development and review, cultural change, and empowerment of the vulnerable,” they said, adding that all staff, including lay staff, required approvals to work with children.
Do you know more about this story? Contact Henry Zwartz at henry.zwartz@sbs.com.au or henryzwartz@protonmail.com.
For more info on abuse in the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA see here:
https://www.facebook.com/copticsurvivormovement/
And our story from Canada:
Coptic Orthodox Priest Charged With Sexual Assault of Minor
·
Mar 9
Investigators with the York Regional Police Special Victims Unit, (Ontario, Canada) have charged a 47-year-old Coptic Church priest, Michael “Fr. Andrew” Shafik, from the town of East Gwillimbury in connection with the historical sexual assault of a minor. News of the charges was posted to the website of the York Regional Poli…
For a similar case of abuse coverup in the Russian Orthodox community in Sydney, see here. Religious community schools and groups are often the setting of abuse by clergy and church community members. Such abuse is not limited to Christian churches but also occurs in Jewish, Muslim and other religious communities.
Cabramatta Russian School Abuse Coverup
·
August 23, 2025
Almost 2 months after the infamous sermon of 29 June 20025, where Cabramatta Pokrov Church rector Fr Boris Ignatievsky attempted to silence his congregation from discussing the conviction of Alexis Rosentool, information has come to light of a recent child abuse case, that occurred at the Cabramatta Parish Russian School. In 2023 a child attending the R…
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66589860
An Israeli former principal will spend up to 15 years in jail for sexually assaulting two students at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Australia.
Malka Leifer raped and indecently assaulted sisters Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper between 2003 and 2007, a jury found in April. The 56-year-old was found not guilty of abusing a third sister, Nicole Meyer. Leifer’s sentencing ends a 15-year push for the mother-of-eight to face justice.
She had pleaded not guilty to more than two dozen charges and spent years fighting extradition from Israel. But in 2021, an Israeli judge found she had faked mental illness to avoid facing the courts and ordered she be sent to Melbourne. During a lengthy trial, the jury heard evidence that Leifer had abused the sisters in locked classrooms, on school camps, and at the head teacher’s home.
Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66589860
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