A child welfare agency in southwestern Ontario confirmed it is conducting an investigation into an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect that fled Quebec before a court there ordered 14 children into foster care.

Members of Lev Tahor, a 200-member sect that relocated in Chatham, Ont., said Thursday they had met with local social services.

“We brought everybody to the office so it was very happy, no police needed, was very comfortable,” said community spokesperson Uriel Goldman.

The group has authorities on alert after their seemingly sudden move from their home in Ste. Agathe-Des-Monts, Que., last week, and the attention could mean a future jurisdictional battle.

On Wednesday, a Quebec judge ordered that 14 children from Lev Tahor be placed temporarily in foster care, undergo medical exams and receive psychological support.

The children cannot be identified under a publication ban.

Lev Tahor said while they respect the Quebec courts, it does not have jurisdiction now that the 14 children are officially residents of Ontario.

Social services in the Chatham-Kent area told CTV News they are working with Quebec officials and conducting their own investigation.

The ruling followed a months-long investigation by Quebec child protection workers.

The isolated community, comprising approximately 40 families, said they left Quebec for another reason.

“We’re not the first group to have to flee Quebec because of education problems,” Goldman told CTV News.

The group accuses authorities of targeting the community because of its anti-Israeli stance, conservative treatment of girls and women, and arranged marriages of teenagers as young as 16.

The group insists it is doing nothing illegal and that they moved to Ontario to practice its religion freely.

They made a point Thursday of demonstrating that their children are receiving education, though CTV’s Peter Akman reports only males were seen studying.

Lev Tahor came to Canada in 2005 when its leader, Israeli-born rabbi Shlomo Elbarnes, was granted refugee status. He claimed he would be persecuted in Israel for his anti-Zionist stance. Elbarnes had earlier served a two-year sentence in the United States for kidnapping a child.

With a report from CTV News' Peter Akman