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Nechemya Weberman Gets A Century in Jail

The convicted Hasidic counselor was sentenced this morning

by
Adam Chandler
January 22, 2013
Nechemya Weberman stands trial at Brooklyn Criminal Court in New York on Nov. 26, 2012.(NYT)
Nechemya Weberman stands trial at Brooklyn Criminal Court in New York on Nov. 26, 2012.(NYT)

Nechemya Weberman, the Hasidic youth counselor who was convicted on 59 charges of sexual abuse late last year, has been sentenced to 103 years in jail. Or as the New York Post calmly explained:

Weberman is now doomed to die behind bars for his years-long abuse of a now-18-year-old woman. She was only 12 when the abuse began.

Weberman’s case was notable because of how rare criminal convictions against members of the close-knit Brooklyn Satmar community have been in the past. Just hours after the initial conviction of Weberman last month, Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg, who is an advocate for victims of sexual abuse in Weberman’s community, was injured when he was reportedly doused with bleach by a member of the community.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.