Rabbi Abraham Glick has been stood down over rape claims. Source: Supplied
THE former principal of a top Jewish school has been stood down after allegations he repeatedly raped a student in the school's synagogue.
Rabbi Abraham Glick was interviewed by police last week. Police are making further inquiries.
Yeshiva College principal Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler said Rabbi Glick had been stood down immediately and "we will continue his suspension from duties and all contact with the students until the outcome of the inquiry is known".
"The college's action ... should not be seen as prejudging the outcome of the investigation and the college affirms(the rabbi) is fully entitled to the presumption of innocence," Rabbi Smukler said.
This is the first time Rabbi Glick has been accused of sexual misconduct.
Through his lawyers, he denied any wrongdoing.
A former student claims he was a victim of a string of assaults at the school in the 1980s. In a statement to police in July, which has been seen by the Herald Sun, the man said he was threatened by school staff who knew of the abuse not to tell anyone about it.
He said he was raped and made to perform sex acts on the rabbi, then the college's deputy principal.
"I remember looking into his eyes… There was no caring; there was something missing," he said.
The man claimed the abuse occurred in the school's shul, or synagogue, and left him emotionally, physically and psychologically traumatised him.
The Herald Sun revealed last year that police investigated Rabbi Glick's handling of sexual abuse complaints while he was in charge between 1986 and 2007.
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