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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

At Abuse Trial, Support for Orthodox Jewish Girl




The young Orthodox Jewish woman who took the stand to testify in her sexual abuse case in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Tuesday faced an inscrutable jury but also a crowd of sympathetic observers.

Her extended family, friends, victims’ advocates, and some who said they were sexually abused within the Orthodox Jewish community filled the three rows of seats. More supporters waited outside.

At the same time, the prominent ultra-Orthodox Jewish man from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Nechemya Weberman, who stands accused of molesting the young woman, had only a few family members and supporters present in the courtroom.

Abe Rubenstein, an audience member whose son had testified as a victim in a high-profile Orthodox Jewish sexual abuse case in Borough Park, Brooklyn, two years ago, remembered how that courtroom had been packed with supporters of the defendant. That experience, prosecutors said, was typical of a community that had tried for years to intimidate sexual abuse victims into silence.

“Only I was there,” Mr. Rubenstein remembered. “When my son testified, he said he felt alone in the jungle.”

This time, people said that they came because they had read on victims’ advocacy blogs that the victim needed support or heard about her case through publicity surrounding a fund-raiser for Mr. Weberman in May.

Though the young woman’s parents had asked her to drop the case as recently as this spring, the victim testified, about 20 members of her family came to show their support in court.

“The anger has reached a level where people have decided to put an end to making the victim into the villain,” said Judy Genut, an advocate for abuse victims in Williamsburg.

The testimony of the young woman, who turns 18 next week, lasted for hours.

She recalled in detail her first meeting with Mr. Weberman, now 54, at an apartment he used as an office. Her father, she testified, had brought her there for counseling at age 12 because he falsely believed she was having a physical relationship with a 16-year-old neighbor named Shimmy.

Mr. Weberman, she testified, locked the door to his office as the session started, spoke to her, and, later, asked her to stand up.

“He asked me, ‘Did Shimmy kiss you like that?’ ” she said. Then, she testified, he kissed her. “He asked me, ‘Did he touch you on the breast?’ And he did that. And then, he kept going down.”

“I just froze,” she said. “I didn’t know how to fight back.”

She said nothing to her father when he came to pick her up, she testified under cross-examination. Nor did she tell her family she wanted to stop going to sessions, though she said the abuse went on for years, in four-hour sessions that sometimes were held several times a week. In 2011, she reported being abused to a licensed therapist, who brought her to the police.

George Farkas, a defense lawyer, argued Monday that the young woman, who often got into trouble for flouting strict Satmar dress codes and other rules, was making up the abuse story because she wanted revenge against Mr. Weberman, who she believed had told her parents about a boyfriend she had when she was 15. The boy, then 18, was subsequently arrested, though the charges were later dropped.

Michael Farkas, another defense lawyer, asked the young woman if she sometimes felt a deep anger at her religious community and those who enforced its strict rules. She said she did.

But when prosecutors asked her whom she blamed for the boyfriend’s arrest, she did not say Mr. Weberman.

“I blamed my father,” she said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/nyregion/at-sexual-abuse-trial-support-for-an-orthodox-jewish-girl.html?ref=nyregion

6 comments:

Atheodox Jew said...

As nauseating as it is to hear the details of this case come out, I'm inspired by this girl's incredible bravery in the face of so much pressure - not only communal pressure but clearly also family pressure, given that she holds her father responsible.

Every case of abuse that is prevented from this is a testament to her courage - and to everyone who's given her strength and support.

Bim Bam Identity said...

The Arab Khawam women have previously been linked to:

CIA Director David Petraeus
Top Commander of US forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen
Senator John Kerry

Today's NY Times adds to the list:

Top Commander of US forces in the Middle East, General James Mattis
#2 Commander of US forces in the Middle East, Vice Admiral Robert Harward
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn

Whose side is Barack Hussein Osama on when he tries to cover up this threat to national security?

Jill "Kelly" Khawam was also a paid agent of the South Korean government but they revoked her Counsel title yesterday because she is embarrassing them.

Mr. Ventana said...

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/11/27/attorney-is-guma-aguiar-in-the-netherlands/

MIAMI (CBS4) – There is a possible new development in the case of missing millionaire Guma Aguiar.

The attorney for Guma Aguiar’s wife, Jamie, tells CBS 4 News that they are investigating reports of Aguiar’s sister, Angelika, moving to the Netherlands.

Attorney William Scherer said they have information that a close business partner of Guma Aguiar also is living in the Netherlands.

The attorney wants to know if Guma Aguiar is there, too.

There is a fierce legal battle underway between his wife and mother for control of his estate. The latest battle is over more than a dozen properties Aguiar owns in Israel. Aguiar’s mother says Guma gave her and her daughters several properties.

Scherer says the sisters have avoided being served subpoenas to give depositions in the case.

“We want to know what if anything they know about Guma’s disappearance,” Scherer said.

B is for Big Baby said...

Someone asked on Failed Messiah about the molester Emmanuel Yegutkin who is currently on trial. Shmarya sounded very proud and offered that readers look up his old posts on Yegutkin which he claims contain "all the details". Someone from the Russian community chimed in and told Shmarya to stop tooting his own horn because he doesn't know squat about Yegutkin, what Yegutkin has done to victims and what is happening in the courtroom.

Shmarya lost it and started shouting:

My blog is "not complete" enough for you?

Please.

What do want me to do? Spend money I don't have to pay a stringer to go sit in the courtroom of every trial that takes place?!

You're there, you know what's going on, but instead of oh, say, emailing me some information, you post comments devoid of that information but critical of me and others for not doing your bidding.

As to why "nobody" is paying much attention to Yegudkin's trial, it's for what I would think are very obvious reasons – obvious, at least, to most people:

1. None of the people who pay attention to these cases be they activists or blogger-reporters get paid. That means it COSTS US MONEY to cover these stories – money I can assure readers is not returned through donations.

2. None of us can be in two places at the same time.

3. The Weberman case is major for a whole host of reasons. Yegutkin's case really isn't.

I hope this clarifies matters for you.

Harvey Ehrlich said...

By Claire Sibonney
TORONTO | Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:53pm EST

(Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was ordered out of office on Monday after a judge found him guilty of breaking conflict-of-interest laws.

Ontario Superior Court Judge Charles Hackland ruled Ford acted wrongly when he voted at city council to scrap a fine imposed on him for accepting donations to his football foundation from lobbyists.

Ford is one of several Canadian leaders to land in hot water in recent weeks.

The mayors of Montreal and Laval, Quebec, quit earlier this month after allegations made against their administrations in a high-profile inquiry into corruption in Quebec. The mayor of London, Ontario, has denied fraud charges leveled against him and has not resigned.

sukkablad said...

Shmarya knows darn well he doesn't need a "stringer" to sit through the trial. There is a very inexpensive way of getting the transcribed minutes from the State. Shmarya has done this in the past when the trial has special appeal to him like when there is a Lubavitcher involved.

Shmarya is very quick to accuse that no one cares about Falashas, Sephardim and a whole host of special interest groups. Me thinks Shmarya doesn't give a damn about molestation victims when they are Russkies being molested by a fellow Russkie.