SYDNEY (JTA) – An Australia native accused of sexually molesting boys while associated with the Chabad headquarters in Sydney can return to his family in America after posting $1 million bail.
Daniel (Gug) Hayman, 49, was in a Sydney court on Wednesday, where Magistrate Clare Farnan allowed him to return to Los Angeles after his father offered a $500,000 bond on top of the $500,000 Hayman had already put up, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Hayman flew to Sydney earlier this month for the funeral of his mother.
He was charged on Nov. 4 for allegedly assaulting two boys, then aged 14 and 16, between 1985 and 1986 while working as a volunteer at a camp associated with the Yeshiva Center in Bondi. The center houses Chabad headquarters in Sydney.
Although Hayman was involved in the Yeshiva Center, he was never an employee or teacher with responsibilities for children, according to Chabad.
This week, Hayman was charged with an additional offense, with police alleging one count of indecent assault on a 12-year-old, also in the 1980s, according to the Herald.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 10, but the magistrate excused Hayman from attending unless a plea is entered.
Manny Waks, a spokesman for the victims, said he was disappointed Hayman was allowed to leave the country.
“He can now easily travel to a destination that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Australia, such as Israel,” he told JTA.
In Melbourne, two former employees of the Yeshivah Center, which houses the headquarters of Chabad, are in prison -. Also, a non-Jewish former coach of a junior Maccabi basketball team is in prison.
