Joe.My.God. LGBT News
According to yesterday’s testimony by the alleged victim of Brooklyn Hasidic leader Nechemya Weberman, he made made her reenact porn scenes during years of molestation that began when she was 12 years-old. Weberman sits on his sect’s modesty committee, which enforces strict rules of dress and behavior for female members.
During her fourth grueling day on the stand, the teen detailed why she hid her torment, which allegedly lasted for three years, beginning in 2007 when she was 12. She never broke down on the stand, even when confronted with intimate details of her tumultuous early teens. Testimony by the recently married teenager was the key evidence in the high-stakes trial that has been marked by incidents of purported intimidation. Three ultra-Orthodox men were arraigned Friday evening after they allegedly took photos inside the courtroom earlier this week — including one of the teen on the stand — and posted them on the Internet. Lemon Juice, Joseph Fried and Yona Weisman were charged with contempt of court. Juice had legally changed his name from Joel Weingarten, according to his friends, though it was unclear why. In another bizarre twist, Fried, who runs a news service for the Satmar community, had been secretly recorded arguing with the alleged victim’s now-husband a few months ago. “Even if it’s true, he shouldn’t go to jail,” Fried is heard saying of Weberman, according to the recording obtained by the Daily News and translated from Yiddish. “A Jew doesn’t belong in jail.”
Another member of the Satmar sect has been accused of offering the victim $500,000 if she would drop the charges. Four other ultra-Orthodox members were charged with intimidation in June. Earlier this week Weberman was seen attempting to further intimidate the victim by glaring at her through a glass courthouse door which has now been papered over. He faces 88 felony counts of child molestation.
RELATED: Last year a Satmar member spat upon lesbian Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum during a New York Senate protest about the same-sex marriage bill.