26 years in prison. That is the punishment meted out
Thursday morning by the Jerusalem District Court on the head of a
"sadistic cult" in the Jerusalem area. He was also ordered to pay NIS
100,000 to his victims. His aide, who was convicted alongside him in court, was
sentenced to six years in prison.
In September, the head of the sect and his aide were
convicted of sexual offenses, violence, imprisonment in conditions of slavery
and abuse of women and dozens of minors – some of whom were biological children
of the father of "the family." The father, known as D., and his
assistant, were arrested with much publicity two years ago.
Twenty charges were
filed against the two, and they were convicted of most.
According to the verdict, the "family" consisted
of six women and dozens of children. The father persuaded the women to join
them peacefully, but once they joined, life became a living hell of horrific
violence, and physical, sexual and emotional abuse towards them and their
children. Even so, some wives continued to be faithful and denied the charges
against him. "There was only love at home," they claimed after the conviction.
"It is all lies."
Publication of the full indictment has been forbidden, in
order to prevent the identification of dozens of young children and their
mothers, but a shortened version was released.
According to the indictment, D. saw himself as the successor
of a well-known figure from his Hasidic movement and the person chosen to
distribute his doctrine in the world. He got more and more women to join his
cult by convincing them of his "powers” – at first amiably. Once these
women fell for his charms, his pleasant behavior was replaced with violence,
abuse and contempt – which moved on to the next generation when the children
were born.
The indictment says D. headed a "family" of six
women and dozens of children, some of them his biological kids, who lived in
apartments in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Tiberias, and treated them brutally and
violently, doing "whatever he wanted." He was accused of fully
controlling the women and children's lives, turning the kids into beggars and
instilling his religious doctrine from dusk till dawn, using cruel measures to
punish them according to his whims, erasing their personality and distorting
their thoughts.
The punitive measures, according to the State Prosecutor's
Office, were carried out with unusual cruelty, using harsh violence,
imprisonment, starvation, physical and mental abuse and humiliation, including
serious sex and violence offenses and keeping the children away from their
mothers. Prosecutors claim that the methods of punishment, at times carried out
by family members on D.’s orders, were also used against children of the
“family.”
D. was convicted of serious sexual offenses against his
stepdaughters and his other children, as was his assistant. Among other things,
D. married his assistant’s ex-wife, and did not spare her of abuse. According
to the State Prosecutor's Office, the brutal regime in the "family"
home and his full control over the women and children stemmed from his
charismatic personality and spiritual traits they attributed to him.
The assistant lived in the “family’s” home, and took an
active part in the many violent and sexual offenses committed over the years,
including imprisonment in conditions of slavery, abuse of minors, false
imprisonment, sexual abuse and violence. The other accused took part in
committing a violent sexual offense in a single incident.
Personal journals kept by the women and children helped
police investigators solidify their case. The diaries pointed to the details of
the shocking affair, revealed in August 2011 by one of the women who complained
to the authorities. A search of the detainees' homes revealed electric
shockers, ropes and rods, as well as medical documents from different hospitals
across the country, which point to physical injuries suffered by the children
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