A naive young girl who did not know what the word “rape”
meant because of her sheltered religious upbringing was sexually abused by the
“monster of her living nightmare”, a court heard this week.
At a retrial following an initial hearing in October, the
now-adult woman claimed she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped by
Menachem Mendel Levy, 41, when she was aged between 14 and 21.
Mr Levy has pleaded not guilty.
Mr David Markham, prosecuting, said the girl had described,
“two men called Mendy Levy”. On one level, he was a family friend, who helped
her with her homework. On another, he was a monster.
He said the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was
naïve and did not understand what was happening to her.
“She lacked the knowledge, vocabulary and worldliness of
girls outside her community,” he added. “This is not a case of a woman
scorned.”
He described the abuse as “a nuanced and subtle overpowering
of a child by an adult”.
Mr Levy, a married father of six, claimed the sexual contact
was part of an extramarital affair and took place when the girl was over the
age of 16.
He said: “It was obvious she was consenting because of what
she was doing.” He added: “She wanted it, she encouraged it.”
The retrial was ordered after the original jury failed to
reach a verdict. Since the first trial, the young woman has claimed there were
earlier sexual assaults when she was as young as 13.
Tania Griffiths, defending, said that by changing her
testimony, the alleged victim had been “caught red-handed in a lie”, having
previously said that an indecent assault when she 14 was a “one off”.
Summing up, Judge James Patrick told the jury: “A person who
has undergone sexual assault or rape has experienced trauma — everyone has
their own way of reacting.”
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