Support NeoGAF

[Dram]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57558304-504083/ultra-orthodox-jewish-counselor-convicted-on-59-counts-in-n.y-sex-abuse-trial/

A religious counselor in New York's ultra-orthodox Jewish community was convicted Monday of the sustained sexual abuse of a girl who came to him with questions about her faith.

The courtroom was silent as Nechemya Weberman was convicted of 59 counts, including sustained sex abuse of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and other counts. He faces 25 years in prison on the top charge and two to seven years on the lesser charges.

The 54-year-old defendant and his relatives stared down at the ground as the verdict was pronounced. Some of the accusers' supporters smiled quietly.

The accuser, now 18, told authorities Weberman abused her repeatedly from the time she was 12 until she was 15.

The case was a crash course for jurors about the customs and rules in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, home to about 250,000, the largest community outside Israel. It spotlighted the strict rules that govern the Satmar Hasidic sect.

Weberman is not a licensed counselor, but worked with families within his community for decades. The girl was sent to him because she had been questioning her faith, was dressing immodestly and showing an interest in boys, all violations of the sect's rules.

Prosecutors say Weberman molested the girl for years behind a locked office door. Defense attorneys argued the counselor was the victim of a vindictive child who was angry that he had betrayed her trust when he went to her parents after learning she had a boyfriend.

The trial has rocked the insular, tight-knit group, not only because of the shocking charges but also because the case was played out in a public court. The guarded society strongly discourages going to outside authorities.

The victim testified that she and her family were harassed and shunned for coming forward; her father lost his business and her nieces were kicked out of school.

During the trial, which began last week, three men were charged with criminal contempt for snapping images of the accuser on the witness stand with cellphone cameras and posting them online. And before the trial began, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes charged other men with trying to bribe the accuser to drop the charges.

The teen testified for three days about the abuse, detailing that Weberman forced her to perform oral sex and act out porn films. She said the abuse lasted from 2007 to 2010. Her family paid him $12,800 in counseling fees during that time, the victim's mother testified Monday.

 

[PhoenixDark]

mazel top

 

[Tamanon]

The orthodox community involved is almost as disgusting as this monster.

 

[Ultima_5]

Dammit orthodox Jews. Stop making me look bad.

 

[BigJonsson]

Oy vey

 

[Tesseract]

true or false, orthodox jews smell like cabbage?

 

[Dance Inferno]

Wow that's pretty terrible. The worst is that the family was shunned after coming forward about this.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

true or false, orthodox jews smell like cabbage?

My boss smells like straight BO sometimes. Like he doesn't shower days at a time or wear deodorant. Dude makes bank too.

 

[Chichikov]

No masturbation can make people go crazy.
One day the orthodoxy will realize just how crazy and futile it is to try to ban it.
At that day, they'll also probably remember that the bible doesn't actually say anything about masturbation.

 

[Fenderputty]

During the trial, which began last week, three men were charged with criminal contempt for snapping images of the accuser on the witness stand with cellphone cameras and posting them online. And before the trial began, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes charged other men with trying to bribe the accuser to drop the charges.

Damn ... talk about protecting their own.

 

[BigJonsson]

Ultra orthodox make the rest of us look bad

 

[BlackGoku03]

Why keep going back if you we're repeatedly abused?

She's probably not the only one... Unless I missed something in the article.

 

[Messofanego]

Are these the Haredi Jews? There is now a documentary about them in the UK on this issue that is very damning.

Dispatches - Britain's Hidden Child Abuse (30th Jan, 2013)

Rabbi Ephraim Padwa (big leader of Stamford Hill) and others who specifically discourage from talking to the police. Same cases of rabbis discouraging the victims from going to the police, hiding the rapist rabbis, and the victims being paid off sums like £5000.

One rapist rabbi moves to Manchester and starts working in a school, the rabbis are aware of this, the school is in suspicion, but the rabbis against the law don't tell the school that he's definitely a sex abuser. The rabbis don't get anything done, the police don't get involved, so local violent justice is delivered from young gangs.

From 30 minutes onwards, it shifts to the high-profile New York case. There is no such high-profile public case yet in the UK (as far as I know).

 

[Jacob]

Disgusting. The world would be better off without any insular religious groups that discourage their members from reporting crimes to the authorities.

Are these the Haredi Jews? There is now a documentary about them in the UK on this issue that is very damning.

Yes, "ultra-orthodox" is another term for Haredi Judaism.

 

[Messofanego]

Ultra, huh. Are there Turbo Edition EX Alpha Jews?