A religious counselor in Brooklyn’s Satmar community was convicted on Dec. 10 of the sustained sexual abuse of a girl who came to him with questions about her faith.
A New York State Supreme Court jury convicted Nechemya Weberman, 54, of 59 counts, including sustained sex abuse of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and other counts. He faces 25 years in prison on the top charge and two to seven years on the lesser charges.
The accuser, who turned 18 last week, told authorities Weberman abused her repeatedly from 2007, when she was 12, until 2010, when she was 15.
Weberman is not a licensed counselor, but he worked with families within his community for decades. The girl was sent to him because she had been questioning her faith, was dressing immodestly and showing an interest in boys, all violations of the sect’s rules.
Prosecutors say Weberman molested the girl for years behind a locked office door. Defense attorneys argued the counselor was the victim of a vindictive child who was angry that he had betrayed her trust when he went to her parents after learning she had a boyfriend.
The trial has rocked the insular, tight-knit Satmar community, in part because the case was played out in a public court. The community strongly discourages going to outside authorities.
The victim testified that she and her family were harassed and shunned for coming forward, and that her father lost his business.
In June, four men from the Satmar community were arrested for allegedly offering the accuser $500,000 in an attempt to silence her. Last month, four spectators at the trial were arrested for taking photos of the accuser during her testimony.
The teen testified for three days about the abuse, detailing that Weberman forced her to perform oral sex and act out porn films.
“I wanted to die rather than live with myself,” the accuser testified. “I didn’t know how to fight. I was numb.” n
JTA contributed to this report.