D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced Wednesday that he is suing Washington Hebrew Congregation, a synagogue that also operates a childcare center, for allegedly endangering children and violating local childcare laws.

The complaint alleges that the Cathedral Heights congregation placed children in the care of “unqualified and under-supervised” staff, operated in violation of its license, and misled parents about the safety of its programs.

Racine’s complaint notes that, to date, fifteen children have made sexual abuse allegations against an “unqualified, unsupervised” former assistant teacher. Several of those allegations were the basis of a civil complaint filed by a group of families against the synagogue last year. (While Racine’s lawsuit names the assistant teacher, that person has not been criminally charged and is not named as a defendant in the 2019 lawsuit. Because of that, DCist is not naming the assistant teacher.)

Racine tells DCist in an interview that the congregation’s broken promise to protect children “wasn’t just a simple accident,” but was the result of a pattern of misrepresentations and legal violations.

“What we hope this case establishes at the end of the day is a clear message to all institutions in that are responsible for taking care of young students…that they’ve got to follow the law in regards to making every effort to ensure that kids are not put in situations where they can be abused,” Racine says.

In an emailed statement to DCist, Washington Hebrew Congregation said it “vigorously denies” the allegations and that the complaint is “replete with misleading statements and material omissions.”

The statement continued, “Our commitment to child safety and compliance with all D.C. regulations, and our support of all in our community, has been steadfast. We will take all necessary steps to defend our congregation and our school against this misleading and inaccurate lawsuit.”

Racine’s office alleges that the childcare center operated an unlicensed summer camp, hired teachers who did not meet the city’s education and experience requirements, and disregarded a D.C. regulation requiring childcare centers to have at least two staff members present with children at all times—a failure that allowed children to be alone with the staff member who allegedly abused them.

The suit also alleges that Washington Hebrew leadership failed to adequately report suspected child abuse to parents and regulators, brushing off concerns from staff about the conduct of the assistant teacher, who was later accused of abusing multiple children.

The complaint says that one teacher spoke to Deborah Schneider Jensen, who served as WHC’s Childcare Center Director at the time of the alleged abuse, more than twenty times about her concerns regarding the assistant teacher, but that Jensen repeatedly dismissed the their concerns and complaints.

Racine’s office contends that “WHC promised the parents who trusted it with their children to be a safe, nurturing space,” but disregarded the law and its promise.

The lawsuit is seeking relief for families and civil penalties and costs.

Last year, the families of eight former students sued the early childhood center, alleging that it allowed the “prolonged and repeated” abuse of three-and four-year-old children in its care.

“Systemic, regular sexual abuse of such young children and in large numbers in an educational environment does not occur in the absence of neglect by the school administrators of their duty to operate the environment in a manner that thwarts the ability of would-be and unknown predators to access children alone, without visibility or accountability, in order to abuse them,” the complaint, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court, read.

To protect the identity of the children and their families, the lawsuit was filed anonymously. In a statement to DCist at the time, Washington Hebrew Congregation said it had reported the allegations to law enforcement as soon as it learned of them, and “since that moment and for the past eight months we have continually and fully cooperated with the ongoing criminal investigation.”

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, the firm representing the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of that lawsuit.

The Daily Beast reported in January that the U.S. Attorney for D.C. closed an investigation into the assistant teacher’s alleged behavior and declined to file any charges against him. The assistant teacher’s attorneys maintained his innocence throughout the investigation, The Daily Beast reported.

This story has been updated to include a statement from Washington Hebrew Congregation.