VIRGINIA
The Virginian-Pilot
By Jonathan Edwards
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK
A former Navy chaplain and retired rabbi didn’t molest his daughter in the 1960s and ’70s, a judge decided Friday.
Eric Aaron Silver was found not guilty on all three counts of taking indecent liberties with his daughter between the ages of 4 and 16. Norfolk Circuit Judge David Lannetti made the ruling after a two-day bench trial.
“He has his life back. He has a huge weight off his shoulders,” his lawyer James Broccoletti said Friday.
Silver took the stand this morning and testified he never molested his daughter or had any sexual activity with her, Broccoletti said. They had a close, loving – but appropriate – relationship when she was growing up, Silver told the judge. He pointed out that his daughter chose to live with him when she was 12 after he and her mother divorced.
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