A Brooklyn judge cut decades off a prominent Orthodox Jewish figure’s sentence for repeatedly sexual assaulting a teenaged girl — and the outraged victim warned she fears he’ll return to his manipulative ways when he’s free in just a few years.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew D’Emic on Tuesday reduced molester Nechemya Weberman’s sentence from 103 years to 18, after the 67-year-old moved to have the longer sentence vacated because other defendants convicted of similar crimes get far shorter sentences. Weberman has already served 13 years, leaving him now with five remaining.
“He didn’t just violate my body, He violated my emotional, mental and physical well being as a child,” the victim said.
“This is not just a case about a man who has deeply violated one child. This is the case of an older, grown man who has strategically placed himself into multiple positions of power,” she said. “This is not the kind of case where a judge is showing mercy to an innocent man. This is the kind of case where this man has earned every single moment of his 103 years.”
The victim read from a statement, quietly at first but more forcefully as she continued. She described Weberman’s “smug smile” and his “need for control” as Weberman, who appeared from prison via a remote feed, furrowed his brow and winced when she described specific acts.
The victim said that if he’s released, she believes Weberman will victimize more children, “especially due to the fact that he had and still has community support.”
“He will be welcomed back to his neighborhood and circles. Many people still trust him. He may even resume mentoring children and teens,” she said. “It would be tragic if five years from now, someone else is standing here.”
Weberman’s motion to reduce his sentence, which was supported by Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez, outraged victim advocates.
The 103-year sentence was already reduced to 50 by state law, and Weberman has already served 13 years of his new 18-year-sentence. Once he’s free, he’ll be placed on supervised release for 10 years and must register as a sex offender.
But Weberman’s behavior at the hearing may have burned his chance of walking out with a lighter sentence. After he admitted generally to sexual abuse and called himself a “changed man… because I finally faced the truth of what I have done,” Assistant D.A. Joseph Alexis started asking more pointed questions.
“What, specifically did you do to the victim?” the prosecutor asked, leading to a long pause.
“I wouldn’t say exactly what I remember,” Weberman responded.
Alexis asked about specific sex acts, including whether he made the victim put her mouth on his penis.
“I never did that,” he said at first, before consulting with his lawyer and changing his response. “Yes, that’s true,” he then said.
Weberman’s vague answers led the prosecutor to say he was going to “pivot away” from his initial plan.
“Quite frankly, judge, had the defendant been forthcoming and direct in his remarks, I was authorized to request 15 years. I am not doing that,” Alexis said, noting that the sentence range in similar cases amounted to 15 to 25 years. “I am leaving it to the discretion of the court,” he said.
The 18-year-sentence handed down left Asher Lovy, who runs Za’akah, an organization that supports survivors of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox community, seething.
“This sends a message to other victims in that community, that not only will the community do anything that it can to protect their abusers, but the DA might also do everything it can to protect the abusers,” he said, accusing Gonzalez of bowing to pressure because of his electoral ambitions.”
Lovy, who confronted Gonzalez at the State of the State address, fumed that Weberman’s supporters in the Orthodox community will stay silent if he re-offends.
“Everybody in the community is going to be celebrating his release,” he said.
Gonzalez spokesman Oren Yaniv called Weberman’s crimes “horrific” but said the D.A. stood behind his stance.
“The extreme 103-year sentence in a politicized environment was excessive and unjust, and with today’s proceeding the defendant admitted his guilt, apologized to the victim for his crimes, and the court resentenced him within the normal range for this type of criminal conduct,” he said, adding that Weberman will remain on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life.
The ultra-Orthodox Satmar sect in Williamsburg closed ranks and supported Weberman during the trial, with some members even demeaning the victim.
Weberman, who served as a yeshiva counselor who ostensibly guided young women on their “modesty,” was convicted in 2012 on 59 counts of abuse for the repeated attacks inside his locked office.
The victim testified at trial she was forced to perform oral sex and act out scenes from pornographic movies up to four times a week when she met with Weberman for counseling.
The victim’s lawyer, Sarena Townsend, said she was “heartened” that the prosecution abandoned its request for 15 years, “which would have amounted time served.”
“Mr. Weberman’s outrageous behavior in court today personified why he remains a danger to society. His repeated denials and refusal to face his actions proved that his assurances of rehabilitation and remorse were lies,” she said.
“My client, brave in her statements today and during trial, has been carrying the burden of putting this man away and keeping him away from continuing his victimization. She is nothing short of a hero.”
The victim’s husband took to X.com Tuesday, writing, “Today, Nechemya Weberman was resentenced to 18 years in prison. For the first time — in open court, in front of his own children — he finally admitted what the victims have said all along: that the crimes he was convicted of were real. After years of denial, manipulation, and attempts to rewrite history, the truth was finally spoken out loud.”
