Published: 15 October 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
AN INFLUENTIAL RABBI, convicted of sexually assaulting three sisters, aged eight, 12 and 14, at his synagogue in southern Israel over the past several years, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison. The court ruled that he had “used his position” to commit the acts.
The girls’ family used to regularly see 70-year-old Rabbi Yehuda Ben David, a well-known religious and spiritual leader in the southern cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, for advice on religious, financial and medical matters. Be’er Sheva District Court Judge Yoel Eden said he had taken advantage of the family’s “dependence on him.”
Ben David has denied any wrongdoing and requested the court to order the verdict be put under gag order, but his request was denied. In addition to jail time, he was also given one year on probation and ordered to pay 150,000 shekels A($57,000) in damages to the three girls.
FULL STORY Israeli rabbi sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting three sisters (News1)
Photo: Rabbi Yehuda ben David (News1)
