A religious counselor in New York City's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community was sentenced this week to 103 years in prison for molesting a girl who came to him with questions about her Satmar Hasidic sect of Judaism.
Nechemya Weberman was convicted of 59 counts relating to sexual abuse of a girl while she was between the ages of 12 and 15. Weberman, 54, testified he "never, ever" abused the girl, and maintained his innocence at his trial and sentencing.
This case is unique, in that it has been a tradition for ultra-Orthodox Jews in America to resolve any conflicts they may have within the Orthodox community itself, instead of referring them -- or even providing any information -- to federal, state, or local government law enforcement officials.
In fact, the abused girl -- who is now 18 years old -- and her family have been harassed by several ultra-Orthodox Jews for breaking that long-held ultra-Orthodox tradition by informing local authorities of the abuse.
We believe that this case illustrates the need for ultra-Orthodox conflicts to be referred to law enforcement officials for appropriate action, and not resolved by the ultra-Orthodox community itself.
The fact is that the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community -- for the most part -- had supported the ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor in this case before it was referred to government authorities.
The general consensus of opinion within the Orthodox community was that an ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor would never abuse a girl as she indicated. Also, the girl must have made up her accusations.
Such ultra-Orthodox Jewish feelings of denial of abuse by Orthodox community officials indicates that the victims of ultra-Orthodox abuse are not being treated fairly.
Indeed, this situation conveys par excellence why ultra-Orthodox Jews need to become an integral part of the American justice system, and not continue to allow their community to maintain its own "court of justice."
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