COURT HEARING ON LEV TAHOR CHILDREN DELAYED AFTER 9 MEMBERS FLEE TO TRINIDAD-TOBAGO

It's not clear if these are the same families whose children are in dispute fled the coop, but the court case has been delayed because of more lawbreaking in between:

CHATHAM, Ont. - A lawyer for the children's aid society in Chatham, Ont., has brought an emergency motion in the case of the removal of some children from the ultra-orthodox Jewish sect, Lev Tahor.

The motion, from Loree Hodgson-Harris, who is representing the Chatham-Kent Children's Services, resulted in a closed court hearing, so the subject of the motion is not known.

It comes amid a report from local media outlet BlackBurnNews.com that nine members of the sect are being detained at an airport in Trinidad and Tobago.

A hearing in an appeal from a judge's order that 13 Lev Tahor children be taken into child welfare custody was set for 10 a.m. today, but it was delayed for two hours and no members of the sect are present in court.

It's unclear if those reportedly in Trinidad and Tobago are the same families involved in the custody case.

Nevertheless, the authorities should prevent the rest from leaving, since they're obviously trying to break the law and look for other sanctuaries where they can get away with it. Only cultists that deranged would duck the law so shamelessly.

Update: I found more info that's beginning to make me angry at the authorities and see them as irresponsible:

Nine members of the controversial Lev Tahor Jewish sect have fled Canada while a court hears arguments on whether to remove 14 children from the ultraconservative community.

The group boarded WestJet Flight 2772 from Toronto to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Monday, but border officials denied them entry to the Caribbean nation, according to an airline spokesman. The group has refused orders to board a plane back to Canada. Under international aviation rules, WestJet must pay their living expenses as long as the group is held in Port of Spain.

Really? Let me take a moment to comment how offensive it is that they're obviously counting on welfare in more ways than one, gaming the law and disrespecting it.

“We now apparently have those children missing in defiance of that court order,” said Stephen Doig, executive director of Chatham-Kent Children’s Services. “We would certainly have some concerns about the welfare of those children.”

After reading this, I'm growing angry at the courts for failing to ensure that the passports of the parents were confiscated pending trial so they wouldn't try to flee the authorities. But that's what happened. The Toronto Sun reports that:

Helbrans said the group left the country to wait to see if the Quebec order would be enforced, with the possibility they might not return if the order is enforced. He wouldn't say where everyone was, but confirmed all the families named in a Quebec child protection order had left the rural enclave of duplexes the group has been renting near Chatham since it fled Quebec last fall.

Later, he said the detainees had a lawyer in Trinidad arguing for their release and claimed he didn't know where the others were.

Oh, I see, they're abusing justice systems everywhere as the game the system. This offensive disobedience of law and order should prove the cult has no intention of respecting the courts any more than their own offspring, and their flight from justice can be considered an admission of guilt. I feel sorry for the children, who are once again being dragged around hell by their sick parents, and who knows if they'll ever be rescued?

CBC has answers to 5 queries about the cult, and says that a rabbinical council in New York's condemned Helbrans' sect and called on all Jews not to support them financially or otherwise, while an Israeli government official's been asking Canada to shut down Lev Tahor's operations. If the cultist families who've fled justice are apprehended, they must not be put under some kind of detention to ensure they can't break the law again.