US Jewish Cleric Gets 103 yrs for Abuse
An American ultra-Orthodox Jewish cleric and counselor in New York has been sentenced to a 103-year prison term for sexually abusing a teenage female patient over three years.
Nechemya Weberman, 54, received the long prison sentence on Tuesday in New York Supreme Court in Brooklyn after being convicted last month of sexual conduct against a child, criminal sexual acts, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to local press reports, the victim was 12 years old when her parents took her to Weberman for religious counseling in an insular Brooklyn community where they resided.
From 2007 to 2010, Weberman, an unlicensed therapist, sexually abused the young girl in his office multiple times, according to state prosecutors.
"I would cry until my tears ran dry," the victim said in a statement read to the court as her voice was shaking with emotion.
"I saw a girl who had no reason to live ... a girl who wanted to live a normal life but instead was being victimized by a 50-year-old man who forced her to perform sickening acts again and again," she said.
Furthermore, State Prosecutor Kevin O'Donnell said he and his colleagues had learned of about 10 women who claimed they were sexually abused by Weberman, either as children or as adults.
He added that the allegations were “too old under the statute of limitations” to be prosecuted, except in one case in which the woman was still undecided whether to proceed with her complaint.
New York Hasidic community has a longtime practice of addressing sex abuse accusations internally, critics say sometimes by ignoring them or intimidating victims into silence.
Source: Press TV
According to local press reports, the victim was 12 years old when her parents took her to Weberman for religious counseling in an insular Brooklyn community where they resided.
From 2007 to 2010, Weberman, an unlicensed therapist, sexually abused the young girl in his office multiple times, according to state prosecutors.
"I would cry until my tears ran dry," the victim said in a statement read to the court as her voice was shaking with emotion.
"I saw a girl who had no reason to live ... a girl who wanted to live a normal life but instead was being victimized by a 50-year-old man who forced her to perform sickening acts again and again," she said.
Furthermore, State Prosecutor Kevin O'Donnell said he and his colleagues had learned of about 10 women who claimed they were sexually abused by Weberman, either as children or as adults.
He added that the allegations were “too old under the statute of limitations” to be prosecuted, except in one case in which the woman was still undecided whether to proceed with her complaint.
New York Hasidic community has a longtime practice of addressing sex abuse accusations internally, critics say sometimes by ignoring them or intimidating victims into silence.
Source: Press TV
