Lev Tahor sect denied right to appeal child-removal order

Quebec Superior Court has denied the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect Lev Tahor the right to appeal a decision rendered last November, which ordered 14 children be returned to Quebec to be placed in youth protection services.

Justice Luc Lefebvre ruled that the 30-day period to file an appeal had not been respected, and therefore the judgement rendered could not longer be appealed under youth protection laws.

• Judge orders 14 Lev Tahor children placed in foster care
• Jewish sect Lev Tahor flees Quebec amid child neglect allegations

Last November, about 200 members of the sect fled their homes in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que. in the middle of the night and moved to Chatham, Ont. all while Quebec youth protection officials were preparing to withdraw some children from their families.

Quebecs youth protection officials, as well as provincial police, had been investigating for years after allegations of neglect and abuse.

Lev Tahorcommunity leaders have always denied any wrongdoing.

Another appeal filed

This week, Lev Tahor members filed another appeal this time against the ruling of an Ontario judge.

Earlier this month, an Ontario court ruled to uphold a Quebecs courts decision that 13 children be placed with foster families.