Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Orthodox Jewish therapist convicted

I mentioned before the Orthodox Jewish leader goes on trial, and now we have a verdict:
But on Monday, a State Supreme Court jury in Brooklyn delivered a stunning victory to prosecutors and victims’ advocates, convicting a 54-year-old unlicensed therapist who is a prominent member of the Satmar Hasidic community of Williamsburg of repeatedly sexually abusing a young girl who had been sent to him for help. ...

The trial of Mr. Weberman, which began on Nov. 26, was a difficult one because there was no physical evidence; the trial hinged on the credibility of Mr. Weberman, who is well connected and powerful in his community, and that of a young woman who had been shunned for being a rebellious teen. The girl said Mr. Weberman had abused her for three years, starting when she was 12, groping her and forcing her to perform oral sex. He denied he had ever touched her.

The jury believed the young woman and convicted Mr. Weberman of all 59 counts against him.
I am not sure what to think of this. I certainly do not approve of a therapist molesting his teenaged patient, or of his fellow Jews covering up for his crimes.

But the prosecution seems fishy to me. Why do they just have the testimony of one troubled teenager who is supposed to have remembered what happened 6 years ago? Why no physical evidence? Why no other victims? Why waasn't this reported and prosecuted 5 years ago? Why did the community have such confidence in Weberman?

I get the impression that the prosecutors were more interested in busting up an Orthodox code of silence than anything else.

In another story, a man was convicted and sentenced to life for a 1957 crime. Some woman picked his picture out of a lineup in 2010. It would take a lot to convince me if I were on the jury. These juries seem gullible to me.

1 comment:

Gunner451 said...

God help us all with the mentality of today's juries which seem to have no concept of reasonable doubt but have been trained to just believe what some teary-eyed woman says. Sad that not one man on these juries stood in the way of this.