NEW YORK – A religious counselor in New York City's ultra-orthodox Jewish community who was convicted of molesting a girl who came to him for help has been sentenced to 103 years in prison.
Nechemya Weberman was sentenced Tuesday. He was convicted in December of sustained sexual abuse of a child.
His trial put a spotlight on the insular Satmar Hasidic sect in Brooklyn and its strict rules governing clothing, social customs and interaction with the outside world.
The girl, now 18, testified for days about the abuse. She had been questioning her faith and dressing immodestly in violation of the sect's customs, so she was sent to Weberman for counseling. She says the abuse started when she was 12 and lasted until she was 15.
Weberman testified that he "never, ever" abused her.
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