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A child abuse investigation in Washington, D.C., involving former Vermont photographer Jordan Silverman is apparently closing without criminal charges being brought.
Michael Dolce, a lawyer representing the families in a civil suit against a preschool where the alleged abuse took place, said in an interview that prosecutors currently are not bringing a criminal complaint.
Silverman, who was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, was described in the filing as having been involved in the abuse of more than a dozen children while he worked at the Washington Hebrew Congregation’s Early Childhood Center.
The investigation into Silverman’s conduct began in August 2018 after the congregation informed police that a student had allegedly been abuse by a teacher, according to the Daily Beast. He was placed on administrative leave at the time and was fired in October.
Silverman has publicly denied the allegations.
Before moving to the Washington area, Silverman worked as a freelance photographer for Seven Days and as both a staff member and freelancer at the Burlington Free Press, according to his Linkedin page. He also worked at Norwich University for more than two years. According to his website, which has since been taken down, he lived in Vermont for more than 16 years.
Silverman’s attorney, Sarah Fink of KaiserDillon PLLC, said the investigation into her client was extensive, and that the absence of charges shows that he was innocent. Fink explained that during the investigation, which took 19 months, Silverman took and passed two polygraph tests conducted by former FBI agents.
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“The government reviewed thousands of hours of security camera footage from Washington Hebrew Congregation’s campus, electronic storage devices containing over 5,000 photos and videos Mr. Silverman took of his children and friends, over 1,000 photos and videos Washington Hebrew Congregation directed Mr. Silverman to take over the course of his employment, and over 20,000 photos from Mr. Silverman’s photography business,” Fink said in a statement to VTDigger.
“The thorough investigation, which included the search of Mr. Silverman’s home by law enforcement and the testimony of numerous witnesses before the grand jury, demonstrates that the allegations against Mr. Silverman were entirely false,” she said.
Fink added: “Mr. Silverman understands the pain and fear of any parent who believes their children were victims of assault, but simple truth is Mr. Silverman did no such thing and now deserves to have his reputation and good name fully restored.”
Dolce, an attorney with Cohen Milstein based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, represents 10 Hebrew Congregation families with 11 children in the case. He said the civil suit against the preschool and its former director, Deborah Schneider Jensen, will continue.
Dolce said his clients are pursuing the case against the congregation in order to hold it accountable and to receive fair compensation.
“Our position in this case is that had the defendants in the civil suit upheld their duties at law to these children that Mr. Silverman would not have been able to access the children alone in order to abuse them,” he said. “Unfortunately, their failure to do their job enabled him to have the opportunity to commit the abuse.”
Dolce also said his team will continue to gather evidence on behalf of the families he represents and share their findings with law enforcement, adding it is possible the criminal case could be reopened if more information comes to light.
Although the criminal case appears to be winding down without the filing of charges, the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education sent a cease and desist letter to the congregation in early June laying out the ways in which the congregation had failed to “safeguard the health, safety, and well-being of the children entrusted to their care.”
The letter says an investigation by the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency substantiated the allegations and determined that “more than one child was a victim of sexual abuse by the alleged maltreator.”
The violations enumerated in the letter include a failure to ensure that children were supervised by two or more adults at all times.
While Silverman is not named in the document, the letter refers repeatedly to an “alleged maltreator” who would “regularly take groups of children outside or to the bathroom by himself for extended periods of time with a handheld radio, but not respond to the radio when called.”
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The Washington Hebrew Congregation learned of the investigation closing without charges from the news media last week, spokeswoman Amy Rotenberg said.
“We have cooperated fully with that office’s investigation since we first reported the allegations of abuse to the authorities in August 2018,” the congregation wrote in a statement. “From the beginning, our congregation has offered compassion and support to the families and others in our community affected by these troubling allegations.”
Dolce said the court schedule currently has the civil case going to trial early next year.
A D.C. Metropolitan Police spokesperson would not comment on the case other than to confirm that the 16-month investigation was ending. The department did issue the following statement to the Daily Beast:
“After exhausting all investigative avenues, the universal determination of the investigative team was that there was insufficient probable cause to establish that an offense occurred or to make an arrest.”
The police official directed a VTDigger reporter to Renata Cooper, an assistant U.S. attorney and special counsel, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment by phone and by email.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Abuse case tied to former Vermont photographer closes without criminal charges.