Colombia expels 9 Jewish sect members, accused of minor abuse

BOGOTA, Colombia: Colombian authorities on Monday announced the expulsion of nine members of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect accused of child sex abuse just over a week after its immigration services said they had rescued 17 minors from the group.

The Lev Tahor sect, which practices a form of Judaism in which women wear black tunics covering them from head to toe, has been the subject of investigations for the mistreatment of minors in several countries, including Mexico and Canada.

Images released by Colombian authorities showed sect members dressed in black tunics and walking through security checkpoints at the Medellin airport to board a New York-bound flight to be received by US authorities.

A spokesperson for Colombia’s migration agency said some of the minors, who were from various places including the US and Guatemala, were also transferred back to the United States on the same flight to be entrusted with US child protective services.

Lev Tahor — Hebrew for “pure heart” — was formed in the 1980s, and some members settled in Guatemala in 2013.

Authorities estimate that the community is made up of roughly 50 families from Guatemala, the United States, Canada and other countries. Interpol has issued red notices for the arrest of some of the group’s leaders.

In December 2024, Guatemalan authorities rescued 160 minors from a farm occupied by Lev Tahor, with public prosecutors alleging they were subjected to “forced pregnancy, mistreatment of minors and rape.”