CALIFORNIA
Forward
Diana Crandall
November 18, 2015
A former executive of the Kabbalah Centre, a spiritual group rooted in Jewish mysticism and known for its celebrity devotees, went on trial on Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by a follower who says he plied her with alcohol and drugs, then groped her.
Yehuda Berg, 43, son of the late rabbi who founded the organization, testified that he struggled with substance abuse that led to his resignation as its co-director in 2014 but denied any sexual wrongdoing.
Berg, who is married, acknowledged offering a drink and the narcotic painkiller Vicodin to the plaintiff, Jena Scaccetti, and touching her leg to see if “anything intimate” might happen.
However, he insisted that he backed off when she rebuffed his advances, and walked her outside and put her in a cab when she was ready to leave.
“The reason I gave her Vicodin is because she had kidney stones. The reason I have her a drink is because she was coming over for a drink,” he testified, adding he “could not recall” forcibly restraining or intimidating his guest.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.