New York Jury finds Nechemya Weberman, Satmar Hasidic leader, guilty of molesting teenage girl he wa

[brooklynite]

Source: NY Daily News

A Brooklyn jury found Nechemya Weberman - a prominent figure in the Satmar Hasidic community - guilty Monday of sexually abusing a rebellious young girl he was paid to counsel.

The verdict came after an explosive two-week trial, where customs of the strict Williamsburg-based sect were aired in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Weberman, who was led away in handcuffs, is facing a maximum of 25 years on prison of the top count alone, prolonged sexual conduct against a child.

The main evidence against the 54-year-old counselor was testimony from the victim, who turned 18 last week. During four brutal days of testimony and cross-examination, the striking young woman recounted how she was forced to perform oral sex and reenact porn scenes during closed-door counseling sessions that started in 2007, when she was 12.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/satmar-leader-weberman-guilty-molesting-girl-article-1.1217092

[Dont call me Shirley]

1. Hope he spends the rest of his life in prison.

Child molesters wreck the whole lives of those they assault

[BlueToTheBone]

3. Embarrassing?

[Dont call me Shirley]

4. Really! Did I not say strongly enough how getting molested RUINS THE LIVES OF THE ABUSED!

I'm amazed at how people think, "his molesty thingy is just a bit embarrassing."

Not, holy crap, another young girl's life severely damaged!

Thanks Blue To The Bone for pointing that out

[obamanut2012]

9. +1

[freedom fighter jh]

28. Can you explain?

Someone to whom you feel connected does something terrible and you feel embarrassed. What's wrong with that?

Apparently Panasonic wasn't thinking about the woman's feelings at just the same time as you were. Having feelings of one's own about oneself doesn't preclude having feelings about someone else. DU is a place where people express their thoughts and feelings all the time. Why draw the line here and say you don't want to hear about Panasonic's embarrassment?

[Panasonic]

29. Yes, he is a leader of the Satmar community

and it reflects badly on us - and we are embarrassed. We actually want to see that man in prison for the rest of his life. We have contributed money to help the abused women involved.

[Occulus]

23. This is the "community" of Jewish fundie shitsacks who protested bike lanes

because the men didn't want to see female NYCers biking through while "immodestly dressed". The "embarassment" is appropriate, well-deserved, and not NEARLY enough.

The English language does not contain the words I need to express my open, unapologetic, and limitless disgust and contempt for this "community". These people make the Phelps clan look reasonable, and I'm GAY, for fuck's sake.

I hope this young woman isn't the last to step forward and I hope this isn't the last "man" in their community to land in the slammer. I'd love to see their little American Taliban fiefdom laid to waste and completely discredited in public. That it will come from women is the icing on the cake.

I hate fundies of all stripes, from all religions, with the white-hot fury of a thousand exploding stars, but the sheer arrogance and outrageous presumption of this particular sect induces in me a very rare and fully righteous lust for their blood on the city council table (and I'm not necessarily speaking metaphorically here).

This "community" of repressive fundamentalist douchenozzles needs to be put down as hard and as publicly as possible. They are a caustic, dangerous poison on the city of New York and every nameable American ideal INCLUDING freedom of religion; their "community" is a cancer that needs to be excised, minimized, and left to rot. This will help that happen.

Applause for the "embarassment" this piece of crap has caused them. I want to see more, to the point their youth decides the religion isn't worth the repression and the "community" fades out and finally dies off with its elders.

Being forgotten except to condemn them is the fate they deserve.

[obamanut2012]

31. Is this the same community who complains about the NYC Marathon?

ie the wanton, whorish women running through the area in shorts?

[Occulus]

39. I'm not sure about the marathon, but it wouldn't surprise me at all.

They did complain about bike lanes, and I know I've heard about issues with city buses and the segregation of genders when riding them.

Very, very sick people with a very, very sick interpretation of their religion. The article in the OP comes as no surprise to me at all.

[Archae]

5. What bothers me the most here is how the accuser is attacked.

Including taking her photo, which is against the law and then publishing it.

[adirondacker]

10. There's little, if any, Justice left in the Justice system. It's Disgusting. n/t

[AlecBGreen]

15. a friend of mine is a defense lawyer

He likes to say "America has no justice system, only a legal system." I think he's right.

[adirondacker]

19. That's a better way of putting it. And you really gotta admire those who make the "legal system".n/t

[tabasco]

6. Get a religious kook to counsel your kid

What could go wrong?

[Odin2005]

14. Kids should NEVER be left alone with ANY "man of God".

[AlecBGreen]

16. wow thats a nice broad brush ya got there

My pastor is a great man and I wouldn't hesitate to put my child in his care.

[Odin2005]

17. People are always shocked when a "good person" was found to be a molestor.

It's not about accusing all religious leaders are child molesters, it's about not being able to take that chance when organized religion seems to attract perverts.

[AlecBGreen]

18. so you stand by your comment?

"Kids should NEVER be left alone with ANY "man of God" ? Do you really think that?

[adirondacker]

21. So does teaching and the medical professions. You could probably include construction workers, IT...

professionals, politicians, football coaches, scientists, etc. Predators are out there in all walks of life and in every religion/non religion. Fortunately, the majority in those groups are not predators and are trustworthy enough citizens to leave your child with, but not with reckless abandoned.

Being an Atheist that was raised with some Catholic attendance, I can understand where the impulse of your statement could be derived, but i have to disagree.

[Odin2005]

38. Good point, sorry.

I was typing an outrage.

[tabasco]

41. Teaching and medicine are honorable, productive professions

"Religious leaders" are con men and women defrauding gullible people.

IMO, very few truly believe the rubbish they peddle. The ones who do believe are mentally defective. Yes, that's my opinion. It might be unpleasant to some, but that's too bad.

[Occulus]

24. You should learn about this particular group of piss stains before defending them

I wouldn't trust these bastards with a sample of e. coli.

They're the sort that would make it evolve and give it ideas by example.

[stumblnrose]

27. Anti-Semitism Here?

Referring to chasids as piss stains or kooks is not any different than calling Catholics sheit because there are pedophiles amongst its elite ranks. Shame on your vulgar little narrow minds for attacking a religious group for the actions of a charlatan in the hen house. I myself was abused as a child by a right wing christian, I don't call fundamentalist xians piss stains until i know them or their actions personally. B"H.

[obamanut2012]

33. I agree with Odin

And say the same thing about the Amish and the FLDS, amongst others. They are damaging and toxic Fundie groups, and nothing to do with being Jewish or Gentile or whatever.

[Occulus]

36. No. Do NOT misunderstand me. My rage is reserved for their fundamentalist practices.

This man's actions do not exist in a vacuum. The community he comes from is deeply repressive, attempts to project its beliefs upon the larger city around them, and has demanded- not asked- for very special treatment from the people in that city, at their financial expense, and the expense of their basic civil right to freely travel on roads (let alone sidewalks) they have paid for with their tax dollars. These people are not "good religious people". They are the equivalent of the Taliban, right there in NYC, and they would impose upon everyone around them their twisted beliefs- and have in fact tried to do so already- if they thought they could get away with it.

Given their prior actions, that's exactly what they do think.

What has happened here almost certainly is not an isolated case, in much the same way the Mormon polygamy is not ever an "isolated case". The kind of religious "practices" they engage in provide very fertile ground for all manner of very bad treatment, especially toward women, both in and out of their "community". Their interpretation of religion is virtually identical to every other brand of extreme fundamentalism on the planet, and that is always an evil, caustic cancer, no matter the faith in question.

I will not apologize for what I've said. These people are not practicing religious freedoms- these people have repeatedly attempted to impose their religious practices, all unwelcome, on the people around them, in a city in which multiple, myriad religious practices can be found among people from all over the world and coexisting more or less peacefully. They have done so in the most insulting and presumptuous manner possible.

They do not deserve our respect.
They do not deserve our understanding.
They do not deserve our consideration.

Their beliefs, as they practice them, are antithetical to the most important parts of our Constitution. As I said above, the Phelps clan appears to be more reasonable and acceptable. I find it very hard to understand why exactly they choose to even live in this country, and I would suggest they all move to Israel, but I suspect they would bodily ejected, or simply turned away at the border. That's how repellant this "community" is.

The story in the OP is exactly the sort of exposure they deserve, and I devoutly hope this isn't the last young woman to step forward. She's almost certainly not the only one with cause to do so.

Being asked to accept their black-hearted beliefs puts me into a rage. I will not. Religious fundamentalism in America deserves to be enthusiastically stamped out wherever and whenever it appears, because it does not, can not, and will not, by conscious decision of its practitioners, peacefully coexist with anything but itself. We have seen that time and time again. It has brought our entire nation low.

Religious fundamentalism, and religious fundamentalists, are where I draw my line of tolerance for religious freedom, because fundamentalists of all stripes do not believe in freedom of religion. They seek control. They seek domination. Given free reign, they seek death for all of the "others". I don't have to tolerate that. None of us do.

[obamanut2012]

32. I agree with Odin

I think minors need to have counselors that are secular and licensed. I also would have minor daughters counseled by a woman. No, I am NOT saying all men are molesters or rapists, if I did, I would say young men should go to women, too. It's for the same reason I go to a female gyno.

[DiverDave]

7. Being molested is a life sentence

that poor girl/woman, I hope she can get it behind her...
I still suffer 50 years later.
She needs to know it WASN'T HER FAULT

[mercuryblues]

8. What a tragic

story. It took 5-6 years to bring it to trial, is that normal? The culture that protected him and it still seems as if some still do, taking her picture and publishing it. What a disgusting thing to do to a child of sexual abuse.

[leftlibdem420]

11. Sexually repressed fundamentalists abusing vulnerable youth.

Some things never change.

[brooklynite]

12. According to today's paper (pre-verdict)...

...the NEW soulfion is to ship the "troubled" kids abroad for their "counseling".

[obamanut2012]

34. Figures

I think that should be illegal. They are American citizens.

[Odin2005]

13. WTF is it with organized religion and child molestation?

IMO it says a lot about Organized Religion that it seems to attract perverts and sickos.

[defacto7]

22. It sure seems that way....

I like to check my opinions when they are as broad as this, but there is a strange connection and I can't help but wonder why religion, organized or not, has a tendency toward sexual perversion... mostly children. It's weird.

[Occulus]

25. It's very simple: their religions repress sexuality as a tenet of the faith.

That's the long and short of it.

[obamanut2012]

35. power and control

[Marrah_G]

20. Never trust anyone who claims piety

[Vinnie From Indy]

26. Amen!

Cheers!

[adigal]

30. How do the Hasidim get away with marrying off such young girls??

I know this is not the same thing, but really...don't they marry off girls who are 14 years old? How is that OK and not illegal? That is pretty damaging to a young girl, also, both physically and emotionally.

[ButterflyBlood]

42. These people believe reporting this stuff is equivalent to reporting on Jews to Nazi authorities

It's called mesirah. You can't ever report a Jew to secular authorities (or more accurately, a hasid to non-hasidic authorities, the vast majority of Jews would consider these people insane and are are not "true Jews" according to them.) That's why there were other prosecutions of those trying to resort to bribery to silence the woman in question and why she had to be placed under police protection at some points.

Of course that's just their warped interpretation, here's a good article by a mainstream rabbi critical of it: http://www.thejewishweek.com/editorial_opinion/opinion/sex_abuse_cover_ups_mesirah_mess

[Sunlei]

37. 25 years in prison is not enough and no sessions with children should ever be 'closed door'

[ButterflyBlood]

40. Child Protective Services needs to start treating Hasids like they do with the FLDS

With the way things work there this probably happens quite often and doesn't go reported. Children stuck in this cult are basically victims of child abuse and need to be pulled out before the brainwashing takes over.

[MountainLaurel]

43. A victim's advocate was attacked with bleach

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/satmar-anti-molestation-crusader-bleach-face-article-1.1218045#ixzz2EnIjBdks