Closing Arguments in Jewish Counselor Sex Abuse Trial

By N.J. Burkett
WABC
December 6, 2012

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8909947

Closing arguments were made Thursday in the trial of a well-known ultra orthodox member of the Jewish community in Brooklyn, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl he was supposedly counseling.

The jury could get the case Friday.

Nechemya Weberman left the courthouse with his wife and one of his 10 children on what could be his last night of freedom.

His attorneys insist that Weberman is being framed by a young girl who despises ultra-orthodox Judaism.

"She came to hate her community and she hated her religion," Defense attorney Stacey Richman told the jury, "This is her opportunity to say, 'I hate this.'"

Weberman is a prominent member of Brooklyn's ultra-orthodox Satmar community. He was hired by the girl's family to counsel their rebellious daughter.

Instead, prosecutors say he sexually-assaulted her for three years beginning when she was 12.

"[but] if he's touching her, why is she making appointments to go back?" asked the defense attorney. "She's calling him constantly. This did not occur," she said, "Not even once."

But prosecutors say the reason is obvious.

"Who's going to believe a 12 year-old girl who was considered a heretic in the community?" asked prosecutor Linda Weinman, "He was a god and she was dirt. She couldn't tell anyone."

"He took this young girl with a fiery spirit and he broke her," she said. "It was repulsive and it was criminal."

The accusers' family insists she's telling the truth.

"I truly, truly believe her. I know it happened to her," the accuser's aunt said.