A 60-year-old Monsey man who sexually abused a Monsey girl
for four years has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Dovid Kohn, 60, an Israeli national with alias who has been
living illegally in the United States, abused the girl from ages 12 to 15.
The victim, now 21, was a friend of one of Kohn’s daughters
and spoke at Kohn’s sentencing on Tuesday before Rockland County Court Judge
William Nelson.
Prosecutor Arthur Ferraro said the woman told Kohn that he
ruined her life but she will carry on. Ferraro said Kohn had told her she could
never talk about what happened because the community would view her as tainted
and she’d never get a husband.
She told the court that she hopes her decision to speak up
publicly would encourage others in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community to
follow suit, Ferraro said.
In some cases, sexual abuse in the community is kept quiet
and handled privately, if at all, at the encouragement of some rabbinical
leaders. Those who report abuse to the police are sometimes ostracized.
Kohn, who lived at 65 Saddle River Road, asked for less time
in prison, as did his lawyer Kenneth Gribetz, who represented him with Deborah
Wolikow Loewenberg.
Kohn pleaded guilty in January to one count of first-degree
course of sexual conduct. Kohn admitted to having oral sex with the girl
between 2004 and 2006 in a plea that covered 35 counts of sexual abuse.
He faced up to 25 years, but the prosecutors offered 10
years in prison. Nelson settled on eight years, 10 years probation, and
classification as a sexual offender on the state registry.
The victim reported the acts to Ramapo police and
authorities last year. At that time she also spoke with Kohn about the sexual
acts while wearing a body wire and through telephone calls recorded by Ramapo
police.
According to one transcript of their recorded conversation,
the woman told Kohn “you ruined my life,” saying she cut herself and tried to
commit suicide.
Kohn told her he wanted to apologize and didn’t want to hurt
her. He accused her of trying to blackmail him when she said she would go to
the police if he didn’t admit what he had done to her. He said he would “fight
like hell.”
Authorities are not sure of Kohn’s identity, though he said
in court that he’s lived in Monsey for the past 25 to 28 years. He also has
documentation under the name of Avraham Perl, police said, adding they asked
federal and international police agencies for a background check.
Kohn told the judge in January that he was born in Israel
and overstayed his visa in the United States.
Steve Lieberman - Lohud
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