NEW YORK
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
Zoë Blackler
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 21 June 2012
Four ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have been charged with attempted bribery and harassment in the case of an alleged child molester, as Brooklyn’s district attorney talks tough on victim intimidation.
The men, arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Thursday, are accused of trying to derail the prosecution of Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed therapist awaiting trial for sexual abusing a teenage girl.
Abraham Rubin, 48, and brothers Joseph Berger, Jacob Berger and Hertzka Berger all pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include bribing a witness, witness tampering, coercion and aggravated harassment.
The arrests are being credited to a new task force established by district attorney Charles Hynes following criticism that he has failed to curb the widespread intimidation of sex abuse victims in the Orthodox community. For decades, community leaders have hushed up child abuse allegations, and DA Hynes, who holds an elected position, is accused of minimising prosecutions under pressure from the rabbis with their powerful bloc vote. Thursday’s arrests for victim intimidation are the first in an Orthodox child sex abuse case since 2000.
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