Foxes in the Henhouse > Orthodox school counselor avoids jail for CSA; Belfast boyfriend physically and sexually abused woman's children; Yakima teacher arrested

 

LA Orthodox school’s former guidance counselor will avoid jail time in sex abuse case

Julie Tichon said she was in a ‘dark place’ mentally when the incidents occurred. She received probation.

YULA High School is facing a lawsuit related to the sexual abuse case involving a former guidance counselor. Above, the entrance to the campus of the school’s girls division. Photo by Forward staff

By Louis KeeneMay 7, 2026

An Orthodox Jewish high school’s former director of academic support will avoid jail after pleading no contest Thursday to sexual abuse charges involving a student in her charge at the school’s boys’ division.

Julie Tichon, 38, was working at YULA Boys High School in May 2024 when two students reported having separate sexual relationships with her. The LA-based school fired Tichon and referred the matter to the police department. Tichon was charged four months later in connection with one of the students, who was 16 at the time of their alleged encounters.

Tichon will face two years of probation and will be registered as a sex offender for a minimum of 10 years.

In exchange for Tichon’s no contest pleas to one count of felony sexual intercourse with a minor and one count of felony oral copulation with a minor, the court dismissed the two other counts against her, also felony sexual intercourse with a minor. Tichon will also be required to pay restitution to the victim, an amount that will be determined at a sentencing hearing May 28, and to undergo 52 weeks of counseling.

She had faced up to five years in prison.

• 2 students at LA Orthodox school accuse staff member of “inappropriate relationship”
• Speaking outside the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse after the hearing, Tichon said she was sorry for the pain caused to her victim in the case.

She said her mistake came at a time in her life when she was experiencing immense personal trauma, and that that context had informed the district attorney’s decision not to pursue state custody. She declined to elaborate on what the trauma was, but said it was not connected to the case. Since then, she had been receiving therapy, she said.

Julie Tichon will face two years of probation when sentenced later this month. Courtesy of Tariq Khero

“The way I was feeling when this happened, the dark place I was in, I don’t think I’m ever going to feel that way again,” Tichon said.

She said forced registration felt personally “shameful and embarrassing,” and purely punitive in nature. But she said she accepted the district attorney’s terms “as a sacrifice I have to make for a better life.”

“She is taking responsibility for this,” said Tariq Khero, Tichon’s attorney. “She’s made some terrible mistakes, and she’s not making those mistakes again.”

The family of the victim, which was in court as the plea was presented to the judge, declined to comment.

Tichon’s no contest plea means that any victims won’t be able to use her plea as a form of proof in civil suits against her, though no such cases have been filed. But her agreement does not close the affair for the school where she once worked.

A second student, now aged 20, has separately filed a lawsuit against YULA that alleges years of sexual abuse by Tichon that the school should have taken action to stop. (Tichon said her admission of fault applied to the criminal case, but not the civil case, in which she is not named.)

It claims the school kept Tichon on staff despite knowing of Tichon’s inappropriate sexual conduct with a student’s parent, and that rumors were circulating in the student body of Tichon’s sexual abuse of students as early as the 2021-22 school year.

In the lawsuit, filed in September 2025, the student alleges that Tichon’s sexual harassment and abuse began in 2020, when he was a freshman assigned to her for academic support, and continued through 2024.

The lawsuit claimed Tichon abused the plaintiff by showing him nude and pornographic videos of herself, describing previous sexual encounters to him and performing oral sex on him despite his refusal.

Tichon, who is not named as a defendant in the suit, vehemently denied this Thursday in an interview. “These things never happened,” she said.

The plaintiff also alleged that the school administration knew of an alleged affair Tichon had in 2023 with the married father of a YULA student.

“YULA knew of this sexual relationship, but did nothing to investigate Tichon’s conduct or take any action to inform the students’ parents of Tichon’s conduct,” the lawsuit alleges.

It claims the school made Tichon’s behavior possible by allowing her to give students rides in her car and have additional unsupervised time with students. YULA also did not have any trainings of students or teachers or protocols to prevent child sexual abuse and to prevent educator sexual misconduct, the suit alleges.

YULA’s head of school, Rabbi Arye Sufrin, disputed the claims.

“With regards to the allegations in the legal complaint filed by a former student against our school, it contains absolutely unfounded allegations that the school knew or should have known about alleged activity by a former employee,” Sufrin said Thursday in a statement. “YULA unequivocally denies the allegations against it, and has and will continue to vigorously defend itself in this lawsuit, but will do so with sensitivity toward the former student who has made these allegations.”

It was unclear why the second student’s allegations did not lead to additional charges from the district attorney. The D.A.’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry.

Man found guilty of physical and sexual abuse of partner’s children after social services referral set for sentencing

A 44-year old man convicted by a jury of over 40 charges of sexually and physically abusing children is to be sentenced next month.

The case concerning the defendant, who can’t be named to protect the identity of his three victims, was listed for mention at Belfast Crown Court today (Friday).

He stood trial earlier this year and was convicted by a jury of 44 charges which spanned a timeframe from January 14, 2019 to May 10, 2021 when he was in a relationship with the children’s mother.

Despite his claims of innocence, the jury returned ‘guilty’ verdicts on multiple sexual offences including 12 counts of rape as well as 19 counts of common assault and five charges of child cruelty

As a result of the guilty verdicts, the defendant was remanded into custody by Judge Neil Rafferty KC.

During today’s mention, Judge Rafferty was told by defence barrister Richard McConkey KC that his client is due to be assessed by medics in HMP Maghaberry on May 13 and 22.

Judge Rafferty then set the date for the sentence hearing as Friday June 12.

During the trial, the jury heard evidence from all three siblings who were abused by the defendant.

In April 2023 the PSNI received a referral from Social Services indicating that the eldest child wanted to speak about sexual abuse perpetrated on her by the defendant.

As a result, police conducted a series of ‘achieving best evidence’ interviews with the girl where she said she had been sexually and physically assaulted by the defendant for a number of years.

She said that when she was aged around 11 she recalled getting new school shoes and around that time period, she was raped by her mother’s partner.

The girl told police of further incidents of rape when she was aged both under and over the age of 13 which became common and that afterwards the defendant would tell her he loved her.

She also spoke of many other incidents of sexual abuse as well as physical abuse which included being hit with a belt aged 12, punched in the face when she was 13 and being trailed by her hair, choked on a bed and threatened with a knife.

In addition, the defendant made her hit her younger siblings.

Her sister was also subjected to a series of assaults by the defendant which included him stamping on her head, beating her after she woke him up and being kicked which resulted in her urinating herself when she was aged between five and eight.

She also recalled being aged around six and being hit with a shoe as well as being struck several times with a belt and being hit by her sister.

The youngest of the three siblings also suffered physical abuse.

When he was eight, the defendant pinned him to a wall and on another occasion he was hit with part of a hoover.

He also had his head stamped on, he was thrown onto a bed and punched, he was punched in the face in the kitchen and was hit by his eldest sister at the direction of the defendant.

When he was interviewed by police, the defendant denied all the children’s claims and when questions about the sexual abuse he said had erectile dysfunction.

His lies were rejected by the jury and following his conviction, he was immediately remanded into custody.

He did not have to attend today’s hearing but he will be back in court next month when he will be sentenced for his campaign of abuse against the three children.

Yakima police say former teacher faces child rape charges

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima police arrested a former middle school teacher for sexually abusing a student after investigators said the contact began in 2009 when she was 15.

Court records showed Tyrone Sissome was teaching middle school in Yakima when the alleged relationship began. Charging documents said the 49-year-old was accused of grooming the student before the relationship turned sexual during the summer of 2009.

Police said the investigation started in March after a former West Valley Junior High student reported she had been involved in a relationship with her teacher. Detectives said witness statements, text messages and admissions from Sissome helped lead to his arrest.

According to court documents, the student described flirtatious conversations in class that later became explicit text messages, late-night phone calls and multiple sexual encounters at Sissome's apartment.

Investigators also reported the student said she tried to keep the relationship hidden from her parents, including by creating a fake Facebook profile posing as a teenage boyfriend. Detectives said the relationship continued for years. 

Court documents said the woman recently confronted Sissome through text messages and an online questionnaire, where investigators said he admitted to a sexual relationship and expressed remorse.

At the time of his arrest, investigators said Sissome was working as a teacher at Evergreen Middle School in Federal Way. He now faced multiple felony charges, including child rape, and bail was set at $75,000.

Yakima police said the investigation was ongoing and asked anyone with additional information or similar allegations involving Sissome to contact the department. We also reached out to Sissome's current district, Federal Way Public Schools, they sent us this statement: "We were informed on Tuesday, May 5, that an Evergreen Middle School staff member was placed under arrest stemming from an investigation out of Yakima County.  

Upon learning of the arrest, the individual was immediately placed on administrative leave. While the investigation/allegation is out of Yakima County, the district will work in partnership with law enforcement and will fully cooperate as the investigation proceeds and if the need arises.While we have been provided limited information, what we can share is that we hold all our staff to high standards and the highest expectations. We take allegations like these very seriously, and we take immediate and appropriate steps to address any situation that is brought to our attention. These steps include placing staff members on administrative leave, calling law enforcement immediately, and cooperating fully with law enforcement. Student safety is, and always will be, our number one priority."