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  Man Is Sentenced in Sex Abuse Case

By Man Is Sentenced in Sex Abuse Case
The New York Times
April 13, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/nyregion/13abuse.html

A Brooklyn man convicted of molesting a 16-year-old boy was sentenced on Monday to up to 32 years in prison, the maximum, for sexual abuse.

Last month, a State Supreme Court jury in Brooklyn found the man, Baruch Lebovits, 59, of Borough Park, guilty of abusing the victim, now 22, in a car on eight occasions in 2004 and 2005. Justice Patricia M. DiMango sentenced him Monday to 1 year 4 months to 4 years in prison for each of eight counts of third-degree criminal sexual act, a felony. The sentences will run consecutively, bringing the total to 10 years 8 months to 32 years.

At the trial, Miss Gregory, an assistant district attorney, said Mr. Lebovits had lured the boy into the car with the promise of driving lessons. The victim, an Orthodox Jew who was a friend of Mr. Lebovits's son, said Mr. Lebovits would ask him to pull over, then perform a sex act on him. The victim testified that he did not press charges until after he broke ties with the Hasidic community of Borough Park because he was ashamed.

Mr. Lebovits's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, called the victim a con man and said he planned to appeal the conviction. In the 1980s and '90s, Mr. Lebovits taught kindergarten in Brooklyn, and some of those students and their parents wrote letters of support to the court, Mr. Aidala said.

Mr. Lebovits is often referred to as "Rabbi" as a sign of respect among his peers, although he is not ordained, Mr. Aidala said.

Two other cases of sexual assaults on minors are pending against Mr. Lebovits.

 
 

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