Mother of Victim testifies at Weberman trial

Mother of victim

Testimony continued Monday in the sex abuse case of a prominent ultra Orthodox leader in Brooklyn’s Satmar community.

The mother of the now-17-year-old accuser testified that she trusted counselor Nechemya Weberman. But the woman testified that she had no idea that her daughter was locked in a room alone with a man, which is a clear violation of Satmar law.

The mother testified that it was always a struggle to keep her youngest daughter out of trouble at her Satmar school because the girl fought modesty rules.

It was the school that ordered the girl to continue counseling with Weberman, 54, or be kicked out, WCBS 880′s Irene Cornell reported.

The school reportedly considered the accuser an angry, damaged child with pure hatred in her heart, Cornell reported.

The mother testified that her daughter is lovely, respectful, understanding and smart.

On cross-examination, the mother was reluctant to admit that she told her daughter that Weberman was responsible for getting her boyfriend arrested on statutory rape charges.

Weberman’s defense team last week argued that the sexual abuse charges were brought by the accuser as revenge for betraying her trust, Cornell reported.

The mother eventually testified that she told her daughter that she suspected Weberman was involved in getting the boy arrested but that she had only recently come to that conclusion, Cornell reported.

Weberman is on trial for allegedly molesting the girl from the time she was just 12 years old in 2007 through 2010.

On Friday, the alleged victim testified that he showed her pornography and forced her to re-enact the sex acts in an isolated room, according to the New York Daily News.

On the witness stand, she testified that Weberman was respected as a leader whom everyone knew and was a member of the modesty committee that enforces morality rules, the Daily News reported.

The victim testified earlier last week that Weberman kept molesting her despite her resistance.

“He proceeded to kiss me. He touched me…I yelled for him to stop. He said, ‘You see, if you yell stop, I stop. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m not doing anything you don’t want me to do,’” the victim said Tuesday.

At one point, the teen said she stopped eating for three days. The accuser said she was so depressed she couldn’t even talk to Weberman.

The teen also described another incident in which she claimed Weberman came to her home.

“He got into bed with me and I wanted to die,” the teen stated in court last Tuesday.

She said she eventually was able to tell a school counselor what was taking place.

On Thursday, defense attorney Michael Farkus claimed the now-married accuser fabricated the charges to get back at Weberman for betraying her confidence.

The defense pointed out that one day after she told Weberman she was romantically involved with a boyfriend, which is strictly forbidden in the Satmar community, her father had the boy arrested.

What the jury did not hear in court was that the father followed Weberman’s suggestion to install a hidden camera to spy on his daughter’s romantic encounters with the boy, Cornell reported.

The charges against the young man were later dropped.

Also during the trial last week, nearly 100 observers had their cell phones confiscated after some were caught snapping photos inside the courtroom.

The angry judge scolded the observers, saying a crime was committed inside the courtroom when people took cell phone pictures of the sex abuse accuser as she testified.

Three ultra Orthodox men, identified as supporters of Weberman, were arrested on charges they photographed the accuser as she testified.

They were arraigned Friday evening and face contempt charges for taking pictures in a courtroom without a court order.

Weberman has pleaded not guilty to charges of committing a criminal sex act, rape, endangering the welfare of a child and sexual abuse.

Yegutkin guilty of 75 counts of sexual abuse.

Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the conviction of Emanuel Yegutkin, 33, for sexually abusing three young boys over the course of 10 years. 

Yegutkin was convicted before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo on 75 counts of charges including three counts of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the First Degree, The top charge, Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the First Degree carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.

Yegutkin will be back in court on December 17 to announce a sentencing date.

District Attorney Hynes said, “This violent sexual predator faces the remainder of his life behind bars.  This should serve as a clear message that those who would sexually abuse children in this county will be punished severely.”

Yegutkin was a principal of a private Jewish high school in Brooklyn.  He became a close friend of the victims’ family after attending the school where the victims’ father worked, and visited their home frequently.  The victims did not attend Yegutkin’s school.  From 1996 to 2005, Yegutkin sexually abused two of the boys when they were ages seven to 15-years-old, and in 2008, exposed the third boy to pornography. Yegutkin was arrested in January 2009.

At trial, the three victims testified against Yegutkin.  The trial began on October 18th.  The jury, consisting of seven men and five women, were in deliberations since November 29.  They came back with a guilty verdict today, finding Yegutkin guilty on all 75 counts.

France and Britain recall ambassadors to Israel, because Israel will allow Jews to build in their own land!

France and Britain have warned Israel that they are ready to recall their ambassadors, over Israel’s decision to build more Jewish homes in Jerusalem, according to press reports.

Everyone expected that a move from Israel to build new settlements in previously off limits territory just outside of a Jerusalem area known as E1, will bring international condemnation. However, few have guessed it would send ambassadors from European nations fleeing Israel.

According to a recent report from an Israeli newspaper, that's exactly what diplomats from France and Britain are thinking. Specifically, the newspaper report cited senior European diplomats as saying that the two countries are considering "the unprecedented step of recalling their ambassadors." One diplomat told the newspaper: "This time it will not be just words. Real action will be taken against Israel."

Benjamin Netanyahu, to begin construction in the 4.6 square mile E1 area, a move that many believe will ruin the chances of a two-state solution and cause conflict in the region.

The sobering news comes just three days after the widely publicized and controversial decision by 

The strip of land outside Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the 1967 war from Jordan. The strip of land connects the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem. However, the new 3000 unit project that will be built on that land will also cut off Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem, “making a contiguous Palestinian state backed by the United Nations last week, practically impossible," according to experts in the region.

Photos of the Weberman "gangsters" who made a huge Chillul Hashem

These alleged intimidators must think they’re judge and jury.

Four Orthodox Jewish men were hauled out of a Brooklyn courtroom and arrested yesterday after they allegedly used gangland tactics to intimidate a teen as she bravely testified about her alleged sexual abuse at the hands of a prominent Hasidic leader.

The sex-abuse trial of Nechemya Weberman was thrown into an uproar when the accused child molester’s supporters surreptitiously snapped iPhone pictures of the 17-year-old on the stand.

The four were nabbed after one of the images of the girl was posted to a Twitter account.

Gabriella Bass

IN A PIXEL: Court spectators Lemon Juice, Joseph Fried, Yona Weisman and Abraham Zupnick were led out in cuffs after they allegedly snapped pix of the alleged victim, one of which landed on Twitter.

Gabriella Bass

Joseph Fried

Gabriella Bass

Yonah Weissman

Gabriella Bass

Abraham Zupnick

Weberman, 54, is accused of sexually abusing the girl over three years — starting when she was 12 — after her parents sent her to him for counseling.

A day earlier, the alleged victim was left trembling after Weberman allegedly glared at her through a glass door to the courthouse conference room where she sat during a break in her testimony.

Yesterday, the judge lashed into the four men — all members of the insular Satmar sect of Hasidic Judaism in Williamsburg, of which Weberman is a leader — for outing the young woman as she testified about alleged sex abuse that prosecutors say Weberman made her endure during what were supposed to be counseling sessions.

“You know about the Torah, you know about rabbinical courts. This is a civil court!” Supreme Court Justice John Ingram thundered to the four men after they were caught.

“Your phones will be held for possible criminal prosecution. You may wish to avail yourself of counsel.”

Lemon Juice, 30, Joseph Fried, 23, Yona Weisman, 23, and Abraham Zupnick, 23, were walked in handcuffs from Brooklyn Supreme Court to the Brooklyn DA’s Office for questioning.

They were facing criminal contempt charges that could carry up to a year in prison, a source said.

“I didn’t take a picture,” Weisman protested weakly.

“They’re on Weberman’s side. All they want to do is give her hell,” fumed Sori Schlafrig, 18, a friend of the girl. “I think they should rot in jail.”

After the men were removed, Ingram ordered all spectators to surrender their phones at the courtroom door, adding that photos were also taken of Weberman and a defense attorney.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you people! Turn off your phones!” Ingram railed.

“Now we have to take all their phones, just like in a gang trial,” said a law-enforcement source. “It’s the same thing you have with the Bloods or the Crips.”

Earlier in the trial, the girl testified that her father lost his business and her nieces were forced to leave their school after she came forward.

Yesterday, white paper was taped over the glass partition through which Weberman glared.

In June, four ultra-Orthodox men also were charged with trying to force the teen to drop the case.

Frum News blogs are not reporting Weberman Trial

If you are reading Vos IZ Neies or Yeshiva World, you would never know that a known pervert is on trial. Nechamye Weberman is accused of raping a 12 year old girl, and the frum news world doesn't care or makes believe its not happening. Well, we can understand why VIN wouldn't report it, because they are Satmar guys themselves, but why isn't Yeshiva World reporting it? You cannot say it is because of Lashan Harah, because they had no problem reporting the news about Dwek.  So why the silence??
UPDATE!Nov 29 7:09PM
So now VIN did report that 4 people were arrested for taking pictures in court of the victim, but they left WEBERMAN'S name out, but they are reporting that Rabbi Pinto will be indicted soon; in this report they mention Pinto's name because he is not a Satmar Chassid!

Weberman "gangsters" take picture of victim in court

Reporters live-tweeting the Nechemya Weberman trial on Thursday reported that testimony was abruptly stopped and spectators cleared after two supporters of the accused Williamsburg rapist were held for illegally taking a picture of the alleged victim with cell phones while she was on the stand and emailing it out.

Hon. John G. Ingram justice of the State Supreme Court, Kings County, is overseeing the trial.

Oren Yaniv, reporter for the New York Daily News and Pervaiz Shallwani of the Wall Street Journal tweeted the bombshell news.

Weberman allegedly raped and sexually abused a young Hasidic girl for years. Since coming forward last year, the woman, now 17, and her husband have allegedly been the target of a massive intimidation effort, reports the New York Daily News.

One man allegedly offered them $500,000 to flee to Israel. Three other men ripped the husband's kosher certificate from his restaurant, causing him to close the business. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes filed witness intimidation indictments against the men, the News reports.

Weberman intimidates the victim!

Court officers had to move an accused molester back into a courtroom in Brooklyn Supreme Court Wednesday after he appeared to menacingly stare at his teenage accuser through a glass door.

The 17-year-old girl was having a moment of peace in an interview room during recess in the trial of Nechemya Weberman, whom she has accused of sexually abusing her four times a week for three years starting from the time she was 12.

But when the beautiful teenager looked up, she saw Weberman, staring at her through the glass long enough to set the officers scrambling.

'I WANTED TO DIE': ACCUSER'S DRAMATIC TESTIMONY AGAINST ACCUSED PERVERT ORTHODOX LEADER

PROTESTERS CLASH AS HASIDS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF LEADER ACCUSED OF MOLESTING GIRL

YIDDISH POSTERS POP UP IN WILLIAMSBURG SEEKING CASH FOR ACCUSED CHILD MOLESTER

George Farkas, a member of Weberman’s defense team, was quick to call the menacing allegation “pure unadulterated bulls---.”

But Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, director of the Center for Jewish Family Life, which publishes the children's book "Let's Play Safe!" about how kids can protect themselves from molesters, told the Daily News, “I was there. I saw it.”

She was having none of it, heading calmly back to the witness stand in her Ugg boots and chic outfit, looking nothing like the covered-up daughter of the Satmar sect she once was. Now it was her turn to stare Weberman down, as she coolly answered lawyer Michael Farkas’ questions about a boyfriend she dared to have, known in court as Mr. S.

Farkas asked about her parents’ opposition to her romance.

What the jury didn’t hear was that the girl’s father, at Weberman’s suggestion, set up a video camera that recorded her lovemaking, and that the boyfriend was busted on statutory rape charges, later dropped. Weberman’s defense is that this girl, then 15, concocted her entire accusation in revenge for his betrayal.

It is difficult to imagine a girl more trapped in a free country. Weberman, 54 and a fellow member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, was not only her father’s business partner, he was her unlicensed therapist. Yeshiva officials sent her to him when she dared to wear sheer tights to school and write poetry. He insisted on seeing her four times a week, when the alleged abuse, including oral sex, took place.

There were no Satmars there to support the girl, but the court was filled with Lubavitcher and other Orthodox Jews.

“We are an insular community — with us it’s not six degrees of separation, it’s two or three,” said Ezra Max, a teacher. “So for children or young adults who’ve been abused, it’s an additional challenge for them to come forward.”

“I just think she’s so brave,” said a girl who identified herself as the best friend of the witness. “I’m just so proud of her.”

jmolloy@nydailynews.com

Weberman on trial, Video

A 17-year-old girl took the stand in the sexual abuse trial of a respected ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor Tuesday, putting a spotlight on an insular Brooklyn community that authorities claim has historically avoided such prosecutions by keeping members quiet.

In a packed courtroom filled almost entirely with her supporters, the teen testified during the second day in the trial of Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed religious counselor in the Satmar Hasidic community, an ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism.

Mr. Weberman is accused of sexually abusing the girl dozens of times in his Williamsburg home and office over a three-year span beginning when she was 12 years old. The girl, who turns 18 next week, isn't being identified because she may be a victim of sexual abuse.

Defense attorneys, though, have painted a different picture, questioning her testimony and arguing that the girl singled out their client and the Satmar sect because of its ultra-Orthodox policies.

During more than five hours of testimony, the girl spoke confidently but quietly—at times struggling to hold back tears—as she detailed the alleged abuse.

The teen testified that her father first took her to see Mr. Weberman in March 2007 when she was in sixth grade, and that school leaders deemed her a problem after she questioned her religion, began rebelling against her parents and was caught sending text messages to a boy.

"I had a lot of questions about religion…how do you know God exists?" she said, adding that in response, her teacher "yelled at me and sent me to the principal. It happened to me a lot of times."

The teen testified that Mr. Weberman—whom she saw between once and four times a week—began sexually assaulting her on the first day and inappropriately touched her or assaulted her at every session.

"I just froze," she said, when asked about her first encounter with him. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to respond. I didn't know how to fight back. I was numb."

"He would continue touching me all the time," she said.

By spring 2009, the teen testified, she started avoiding appointments and stopped eating, which prompted Mr. Weberman to finally visit her home, where she says he sexually assaulted her.

Asked by prosecutor Kevin O'Donnell if she tried to stop him, she replied, "I didn't have the strength. I didn't have the strength to do anything....I wanted to die rather than live with myself."

On cross-examination, defense attorney Michael Farkas spent about two hours trying to discredit the testimony, portraying the teen as a problem child who loathed her religion, and poking holes in her testimony and comments to investigators.

The girl acknowledged that she and Mr. Weberman had conversations about some of her problems with the religion and its strict guidelines, including requirements that women wear skirts at least six inches below their knees and not date.

"He was the first person who listened to you?" Mr. Farkas asked.

"Yes," the girl replied, admitting, "We did discuss other things."

Community members, some traveling hours from upstate and Long Island, packed four allotted rows in anticipation, some being forced to wait anxiously outside for a seat.

The testimony brought many in the audience to tears, some openly weeping with tissues in their hands during the most emotional moments. The drama forced officers and the judge to quiet attendees for whispering loudly during breaks in testimony. One woman was told to be careful of her nodding.

The alleged abuse came to light in February 2011, when the girl told a school counselor and named Mr. Weberman as her abuser.

The case is one of only a few that Brooklyn prosecutors say they have been able to bring to trial in the community, because, according to District Attorney Charles Hynes, prosecutors have struggled to get its members to cooperate.

In the lead-up to the trial, Mr. Hynes said prosecutions among the ultra-Orthodox can be more difficult than even organized-crime investigations, in which he can at least offer the witness-protection program.

The case has caused deep divisions among Williamsburg's Hasidim, with some rallying behind Mr. Weberman, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for his defense and subjecting the accuser to threats and name-calling.

Four men were charged earlier this year after they allegedly tried to buy the silence of the girl and her husband, whom she married in October.

On Tuesday, the girl, who has since left the Satmar Hasidism for the Modern Orthodox sect, testified about the difficult decision to testify against Mr. Weberman. She said her parents suggested she drop the case as recently as six months ago, taking her to a rabbi who also tried to persuade her to walk away from the matter.

When asked by a prosecutor what was the benefit of pursuing the case, she said, "Peace."

The girl, who says she would like to go to college one day, also acknowledged that problems have plagued her since she reported the alleged abuse, including "intimidation," "intimidation of my parents," "loss of business," "having my nieces kicked out of school."

The girl will take the stand again Wednesday, and Mr. Weberman is expected to testify in his defense.

Nazi Germany here we come: Hungarian lawmaker calls for the creation of a Jewish list

A Hungarian lawmaker has called on the government to create a Jewish list, according to press reports.

In an act reminiscent of the policies of the Nazi regime, a far-right Hungarian legislature, issued a statement Monday saying that a list should be compiled of all Jewish members of parliament and government.

Marton Gyongyosi

Marton Gyongyosi of the openly anti-Semitic party, Jobbik, said before regular office hours in Parliament on Monday that government officials and parliamentarians of Jewish origin had unduly influenced the policy of Hungary regarding the current situation in Israel and Gaza.

"It is time to evaluate many parliamentarians and government members who are Jewish because they present a risk to the national security of Hungary," Gyongyosi told a Hungarian newspaper.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, had rushed to take an oath of loyalty to Israel," he told the newspaper.

The government’s press office released a statement Tuesday morning saying that the government will "take the strongest possible measures against all forms of racism and anti-Semitic behavior and will make every effort to ensure that the malicious voices that are incompatible with European standards

are not heard again."

The legislator said that his comments only applies to those with Hungarian-Israeli dual citizenship. He also criticized the press for attacking the Jobbik party instead of Israel.

His comments followed those made by Jobbik president Gabor Vona last week in a demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in Budapest, in which he said that members of the government and parliamentarians should be examined to determine if they have dual Hungarian-Israeli citizenship Hungarian, according to news reports.

Man arrested after telling kids Santa isn't real

A real-life Grinch was arrested after he spoiled the holiday cheer at a parade, telling children that Santa isn’t real.

The unidentified 24-year-old man, who had his hair gelled to look as though devil horns were protruding from his head, was arrested by police in the Canadian town of Kingston last week during the annual Santa Claus parade, authorities said in statement.

The St. Nicholas naysayer faces criminal charges of causing a disturbance by being drunk and breach of probation.

“It was pretty despicable that someone, during this time of the year, would tell kids Santa isn’t real — which of course we would argue,” Const. Steve Koopman told the Toronto Star.

It was not known how the man, who has surely landed on Santa’s naughty list, pleaded to the charges.

Cardinal calls Israel "baby killers"

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Vatican Council for Culture, commenting on the war between Israel and Hamas, delivered a severe attack on the Jewish people: “I think of the ‘massacre of the innocents’. Children are dying in Gaza, their mothers’ shouts is a perennial cry, a universal cry”.
The Catholic Church high official equated Israel’s operation in Gaza against terror groups with the New Testament story of Herod’s slaughter of Jewish babies in his effort to kill Jesus.
Ravasi, who is one of the most popular Catholic cardinals and the director of the Church’s policy on culture, called Israelis baby-killers in a shameless form of anti-Semitism which subtly accuses the Jewish State of trying to murder the new Jesus, symbolized by the Palestinian people.
The Vatican official’s modern blood libel against Israel was delivered during the presentation of Pope Benedict’s new book about the life of Jesus. However, Ravasi's theme – the Jews as Herod, who killed all the innocent babies because his heart was set on killing Jesus – was much beloved by Medieval organizers of pogroms.
The vicar-general of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, William Shomali, said onVatican Radio that “what is happening in Gaza now is a vicious circle of violence”. The auxiliary bishop then declared that “it’s difficult to know who started it”. How difficult?
A few weeks ago, in an interview with the Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana, Shomali claimed that “hatred of Christians” is the Talmud itself. "The Talmud, the holy book studied by the ultra-orthodox, more highly venerated than the Bible itself, invites religious hatred, speaks badly of Jesus, and even worse of Mary and, in general, of Christians,” the bishop said, adding that “in Israeli schools, love for the other is not taught, but rather the destruction of the other”.
Talking to the Vatican News Agency, Michel Sabbah, Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem, said that the Gaza Strip for many years “has been living under the weight of an absurd embargo, which makes the daily lives of a million and a half of people inumane”.
Sabbah signed the recent appeal by more than one hundred Christian leaders who have asked the international community to support the recognition of the Palestinian State as a full member of the United Nations. Among the signers is the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna, a self professed anti-Semite who blessed the suicide attacks against Israeli civilians.
As yet, no condemnation has come from the Pope of the barrages of rockets fired by terror groups on southern Israeli cities before Operation Pillar of Defense. The Church authorities, and Benedict XVI himself, raised their voices in condemnation of the violence that has broken out in the Gaza Strip only after Israel began bombing the installations of the terrorist movements in that territory. Not a word was heard before that.
During the Cast Lead operation in 2009, the Vatican officials called Gaza "a concentration camp". After the Nazi comparison did its work, the Jesus-killer motif has now returned to the Catholic Church.

Jews supporting Hamas run like a bunch of chickens when they hear sirens in Jerusalem, video

(Scroll down for video) It was an ironic scene at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where students held a pro-Hamas rally. During the rally, a red alert siren sounded warning residents of an incoming Gaza missile sending all the students running for cover. The rocket was fired by Hamas who these students support.

It is difficult to explain how some people can turn on their own people and support the enemy, but that is exactly what happened at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

After a rally in support of Hamas, students at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem waved pictures of Netanyahu with blood on his hands. A pro-Zionist group filed a complaint with the police and is committed to combat this type of future events, according to press reports.

Pro-Zionist organization Im Tirtzu filed a complaint with the Israeli Police in Jerusalem on Wednesday following a pro-Hamas rally on the campus of the Hebrew University this week. The organization says that the manifestation of incitement is unacceptable.

On Tuesday, about 100 students, mostly Arabs but also some of the radical left, held up  

doctored photos depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with bloody hands to protest the Pillar of

Defense Operation in the Gaza Strip. These images are known to have been used in the past in similar protests and have even come to facebook and twitter.
 At the same time, Im Tirtzu, which describes itself as a movement that aims to educate the public about Zionist values ​​organized a counter-demonstration.

The movement demonstrated in support of the Israel Defense Forces during the military campaign of eight days in the Gaza Strip.