Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans and his Lev Tahor cult followers have fled their homes and are on their way to Iran, after Canadian welfare officials are preparing to take custody of their children, according to a report in the Haredi World.
Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans and his Lev Tahor cult fled Ste. Agathe-du-Mont, Quebec. yesterday and were rumored to heading for the southern US and from there to Iran or another country that would not extradite them to Canada or Israel when, a source says, they were allegedly detained by police in Ontario and the children were allegedly taken into protective custody. But the arrests or intervention by Canadian authorities cannot be confirmed at this time.
The cult is accused of serial child abuse.
Before fleeing Israel 23 years ago, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans – an extreme anti-Zionist – reportedly had ties with the Islamic Movement there.
Helbrans was later convicted of kidnapping a Jewish boy from the US and served time in a US prison for that crime. His cult has long been accused of serial child abuse.
For years, Helbrans and Lev Tahor were backed by the Satmar and Tosh hasidic movements despite the massive evidence against Helbrans and the cult. But their support for Helbrans waned as they saw him gradually poach small numbers of Satmar and Tosh hasidim. The cult behavior surrounding that poaching finally caused Satmar and Tosh to break with Helbrans and Lev Tahor.
Lev Tahor women and girls wear clothing similar to extremist Muslim women with heavy layers of dark gray, dark blue .
