UPDATE: Leo Weingarten’s, Israel’s Brother, Writes Statement To The Court

Leo Weingarten, who is Israel Weingarten’s younger brother, prepared a statement for Brooklyn Federal Court to be read at the end of Izzy’s sentencing hearing in support of his niece, the victim. I’ve read it, and it as powerful and touching a document as I’ve ever had the privilege to read. Leo is a man who has his priorities straight, and I wish I could have the chance to shake his hand. I can only imagine how hard it must have been to go against his brother, but it was more important to him that he do the right thing than the accepted thing, and that makes him a man I would like to someday call my friend.

Leo Weingarten has given People You’ll See In Hell permission to reproduce his statement in it’s entirety. I can’t stress enough enough how important I think it is for everyone to read this. Please, take some time to see how a good man handled a series of difficult choices.

Below you will find my victim impact statement, which on Friday I attempted to deliver in open courtroom, before the Court, however, as the Judge explained in open court that my molestation was far removed from this case; therefore, he ruled that I could not make the statement, regardless to the judges ruling please indulge me, and allow me to enlighten you as to why I did go in front of the Court to confront Yisroel Moshe (YM) and what I would have said to the court if the Judge ruled in the prosecutions favor.

Preface

Let me categorically state that I unconditionally love everyone in my family, regardless of their specific acts, or on which side of this disagreement they aligned themselves, for a long time I looked fondly on this quote by James Baldwin: “I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hate so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain”. In this unfortunate case, this quote fits like a glove and I know in my heart, and I believe with all my soul that some family members are petrified to deal with the real source of their pain.

Premise

Please allow me to explain my premise, that without having firsthand knowledge I certainly did not witness the litigated incestuous pedophiliac attacks. Nevertheless, without a doubt, I believe that YM molested this victim because of the incestuous pedophiliac attacks on me by YM he positively attacked me repeatedly. I am not going to argue the Halacha, nor am I putting myself forward as a Posik, or even a Ben Torah and I am not interested in Pilpl as this is not the place for Pilpl I am only paying attention to facts. Therefore, if you are going to debate my basis and attempt to crack my foundation- good luck your hardened views of YM was set in stone long before you even heard any whispers of the molestation. Moreover, if it does not matter to you, how much evidence the DA put forth during the trial, and you still cling to your assertion that you did not see any evidence, please do not expect any reply from me, it would be pointless to be nitpicking with you and seen picayune.

Now that I established my foundation, you need to understand what underpinning logic I used, in my decision to make the statement, the following principles, should help you understand why I actually traveled all the way to New York and made the statement before the court; the principles are not in any particular order.

Principles

One – the victim, who am I to deny justice for the victim? My inaction would provide the naysayers with one more attack on the victim, i.e. nobody came forward and testified that YM violated them too, furthermore, if I did not come forward, the family would construe my inaction as if I did not believe the victim I just cannot live with that burden for the rest of my life.

Two – the victim needs closure so the healing could begin, all the professionals who deal with victims of sexual molestation on a daily basis say that, to heal a victim, it is indispensable to get closure and part of closure is essentially to confront the attacker.

Three – it is not for the faint-hearted to go into Court and make a statement in front of a judge particularly, if, you have grown children who comprehend and are fully aware of the accusations and counter charges being heaped at each other. It is understood that unquestionably, this family schism is not the way you want to inspire human decency and family values into your children.

Four – in the future, what would I tell my own children or grandchildren – or even worse – on Judgment Day, what would I answer to God? Sorry, I did not sufficiently care about my own family that I deliberately decided to look the other way and just ignore what God, and I know is the truth, or even worst, God-forbid, align myself with the aggressor? Nor can I or will I shirk my parental responsibility. It is the responsibility of each parent to teach and guide his or her children how to behave and under no condition could I or should I be indifferent to my parental responsibilities.

Five – when we talk about molestation, we are talking about the deliberate destruction of the human soul for personal indulgences, and by God, let this conviction be a calling card to all the frum communities that we must stop hiding behind the curtain of religion and confront molestation, that we will not tolerate it, nor will we look the other way. Moreover, if by making a statement in court or posting this on the net, I help only one-victim to speak up or seek help they desperately need-Dayenu.

Six – what about my pain not only was I molested by YM, but the pain for each of the victims grows every day as YM’s defenders, facetiously claim that the only reason his children and I are accusing him, is, for some unexplained precarious reason. Alternatively, we just fabricated the charges because we differ with his theological interpretations and, somehow, I just want to get even with YM, it begs the question, even for what?, and why YM, why not my other brothers?, they have the same beliefs as YM, this pretext is the 21st century blood-libel, in the end of the day, YM is in this predicament only because of his own despicable actions for personal gratification.

Seven – any defender who are willing to espouse that the victims are not trustworthy in God eyes, due to religious divergences, need to look into their own heart and evaluate were he/she stands with God, and stop advancing the idea that you know what God wants and who is a good Jew, while simultaneously you turn a blind eye, while defending a child molester. It behooves us to judge Jews of any affiliation or no affiliation at all, what is in their heart, do they love another Jew, moreover do they hate another Jew so intensely, that they are willing to blatantly lie and commit perjury, (subject themselves to incarceration) and point a finger at their own family member, and accuse him with horrific crimes against minors? Defenders, you ought to learn from Daniel Pearl RIP who was not religious, how proud he was to say, “I am Jewish”, when he knew that would be his last words, what were Daniel’s last words, before Al-Qaeda butchered him? “My mother’s Jewish, my father’s Jewish, I’m Jewish”. (Copy link below and paste into your browser and hit enter) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5NRksR1trI or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Pearl you tell us that he did not die on Kiddush Hashem. I will state once more and for the last time, I love every Jew no matter what their affiliation is, and when I hear or read a story, which touches any Jew in a painful manner it hurts, as it would be a family member and most importantly, I never verify what their level of observance is.

Eight – any defender, no matter under what pen name you hide behind, when you write one of your brazen excuses you’re enabling another molester to continue his aggression on innocence’s. Furthermore, this minute in your community, numerous victims are watching these proceedings and wondering – if I speak up or seek help, will I be treated with the same contempt as the victim in this case? You ought to do some soul searching on what effect you have on theses broken souls, I will not evade my moral responsibility to speak up, and by this means, help other victims in need.

MY STATEMENT

“My name is Ludwig Weingarten also known as Leo Weingarten. I am the youngest sibling of the convicted molester Israel Weingarten also known by his Hebrew name Yisroel Moshe (YM) Weingarten

Thank you, Your Honor, (YH) for giving me the opportunity to speak before this court and for conducting a fair trial. As I read in the “The National Law Review”, you went to great lengths to protect the rights of the defendant in this trial. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to the prosecutors and the federal agents who all worked tirelessly for many years and traveled to far places on behalf the victim in this case, thank you again.

YH, with the court indulgence let me give the court a brief snapshot of who am I and what guides my essence, I was born and raised in the same insular Satmer community as all my brothers, however I was always searching for a different life style. When I left the Satmer community I joined the Army, and had the distinction to be the first ever Satmer adult to serve my country in any branch of service, within twenty-one months in service I was promoted to sergeant E-5 after three years of service, I received an Honorable Discharge, and during my service, I received the following Medals, the Army Commendation Medal 2nd Oak leaf cluster, The Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal. What the army taught me, that you could take a group of people from total different backgrounds and put them together as a unit cohesion fighting force based only if they have mutual respect for each other. YH that understanding is my guiding-light since I joined the service for my country. In addition, every day I try to instill into my children the same mutual respect for everybody, yes even for the Satmer community.

YH, the defendant knows that for years he molested me, furthermore, he also knows that my Mom RIP knew about the molestation, in fact my Mom walked into our room as he was molesting me. At that time, I was young and approximately ten years old, and I was innocent and did not understand what the defendant was doing to me, the only thing I understood, that he gets pleasure from it, therefore, I let him molest me because I wanted to make him happy and even after Mom discovered the defendant molesting me, he continued to molest me until I was fifteen – sixteen years old. At present, if the defendant would cross-examine me, as to, in which bed he molested me, or who rubbed whose stomach I would not be able to answer, nevertheless, that does not make it less truthful, I also know that my Dad RIP, knew about the molestation too. After my Mom discovered the defendant molesting me, my Dad took me aside, and, with his quiet demeanor, opened the Talmud and read for me a passage, which affirmed that brothers should not “lay” with each other. As we are here in this courtroom today, I still do not have any clue what my Mom or Dad told him, nevertheless, I am convinced that neither my Dad nor my Mom, prepared a tape recording from the defendant admitting that he molested me, for their eventual defense as he did.

YH for all the years since the defendant molested me; I never looked back at the experiences I put the episodes behind me and I attributed it to self-discovery and sexual experimentation I reasoned, Well we all grew out of our young, self-indulgent, or stupid behaviors, which we are ashamed of and hope that nobody remembers nevertheless, as adults, we all understand what is right and what is wrong, and what society expect from us, therefore, I never looked back at our episodes. However, it all changed in 1999 when my wife told me that a family member told her “your niece claims that her father has molested her” spontaneously I answered, “I believe her – he molested me too”. At that precise moment, the dam-burst and all the pent-up emotions poured out, right then and there, I understood that the defendant is not only a molester but a pedophile as well, my world turned upside down, I knew I had to stand with, and support the victim, despite living over a thousand miles away from the defendants community, my pain was relentless. I understood that all his children are victims too, they would suffer pain, shame, whispers and finger pointing, outsider who are not from his community, could not even comprehend.

YH when my brother Alter Reuven called me trying to influence my views on the rumors, he stated that the defendants daughter is promiscuous, at that time I told Alter Reuven, that Israel had molested not only his daughter but, he had molested me too, and that is the primary reason why I believe the victim, and I continued, if the defendant daughter is promiscuous, that actually points to sexual abuse, and I explained to Alter Reuven, that experts agree that if a young adolescent exhibits an inappropriate sexual knowledge or behavior for their age it would actually be one of the telltale signs that the molestation took place.

In that same conversation, I made an offer to Alter Reuven. That if Israel admits to molesting his daughter and willing to give up custody of his other minor children, have visitation rights only with adult supervision, and above all, the defendant must attend counseling if he meet these conditions set forth, I pledge not go to the DA with my personal story. Nevertheless, the defendant decided that his name is more important then the well-being of his flesh and blood the victim and all his other children.

YH, may God forgive Israel for what he did in this courtroom, he figuratively molested his daughter repeatedly, and brought his oldest son to tears and YH, because of the defendant deeds, both his oldest son and the victim testified, that years ago he terrorized them to such an extent, that he pushed both of them to the thought of suicide. YH, the act of unconditional love to one’s children is manifested every day by millions of acts all over the world, during the Holocaust, it was common that parents willingly offered to give up their own life so their children would survive and have a better life. YH, the day the defendant manipulated his son, to falsely, confess, and to produce a recording, that he and his daughter had a sexual relationship the defendant knew or he should have known, that he just sealed their fate in his community. Furthermore, from that day going forward, both of the defendant’s children were a threat to him, for that reason, the defendant had a personal stake that they should leave the fold and his community, thereby confirming to the community at-large that they are not trustworthy. YH all the finger pointing and excuses the defendant designed, way-back right before Passover 1997 when in Belgium rumors were abound that he was molesting his daughter. Moreover, what did Israel do in July 97 as rumors were swirling around him, he decided to fly to my Dad’s funeral only with the daughter who cried out for help and after shiva, he traveled to Belgium for a month again, only with this victim. YH, for over fourteen years Israel schemed his defense at the expense of his two children and his ex wife, YH, isn’t true that all the molestation charges were out in the public sphere seven years before his wife even contemplated divorce, and his daughter the victim was only fourteen years old, back in 1995-96. YH The defendant needs to look into his soul, what did he do? He was willing to squeeze out any flicker of feelings his children might still have for him, all, to save his behind, the defendant, needs to ask himself was it worth all the damage he hoisted on his children?

YH, no one in this courtroom desired to deny the defendant the right to put forth a defense before the court, however, was it necessary to pit brothers and sisters against each other, and how can he pit children against their mother, or with a straight face claim, that the victim’s brother had an incestuous relationship with his daughter the victim. On the other hand, is it possible that in his devious mind, he know that he molested me repeatedly, conversely he shamelessly decided to use the brother did it defense.

YH, in the coming years the defendant will have plenty of time on his hands, it should be a good time for him to reflect on his other children, and what he did to them. As I lie in bed at night, I feel their pain – it rips me apart. YH I hope the defendant realizes that as a convicted sexual predator all his children are victims and will have to live with that burden as long as they live. In addition, in his community every Weingarten family member even extended family members will be affected one-way-or-another for generations to come. Moreover, instead of succumbing to his desires, the defendant should have thought to himself that, if he pursues his desires how his children would get married in his community. The defendant knows better then anybody in the courtroom that after the evil deeds he foisted on his family, it certainly would be a miracle if somebody would be willing to become part of his family.

YH, how can I ignore the physical and the psychological abuse the defendant put his family through I do not know were to start, when the narrative are so horrific that a sane person could go mad, or sick, by just listening to his adult children enumerate all the pain and scars he inflicted on his family. Unquestionably, theses erratic behaviors the defendant exhibits, he did not learn that from Dad or Mom, they were quite, honest, loving parents, I never ever saw my father have a angry exchange with my mother let alone lift a hand in anger and I don’t remember my father or mother hitting any of us, or using any curse words, I wish for everybody to have a stable home and parents as we had.

YH I am not cheerful, that the defendant potentially is facing a long time in jail actually, I am heart-broken for him, and for each of his children, and yes for the mother of his children too, while trying to clear his name Israel threw mud and lies in everyone’s face, and pitted family members against each other. If the defendant desires healing and redemption, he must face his demons, and confront head-on his fears that he has been trying so hard to avoid. Moreover, the defendant ought to admit to his sickness, which would be his first step towards recovery, the road, which leads to recovery, is arduous, like many who traveled the road before him, the defendant will encounter curves, hardships and pitfalls nevertheless, if he commit himself to overcome his desires, believe me Israel will accomplish something.

YH, I know that there will be days when doubts if he could succeed will inevitably creep into Israel’s mind, there is an old quote which goes like this “however long the night, the dawn will break”. I am certain that if the defendant thinks about it, he will attain peace and perhaps then, he will find peace of mind.

YH, Israel is my brother, my flash and blood, my heart will always be open for him, as long as he is willing to do right with the victim and the rest of the family, however, if he refuses to change his-ways, let us all pray that this chapter in our lives closes, when the door on his cell locks.

In conclusion, Your Honor, in the weeks since the conviction I had some time to reflect on which direction I would plead, throw the book at Israel, or have compassion, and it was not easy. Your Honor, I am standing in front of you with a broken heart, I am imploring the Court to consider the defendant numerous molestations against this victim, and to some degree, his actions since the guilty verdict; thus far, Israel did not show any remorse for what he did to this victim. Additionally I would argue that if Israel ever comes out of jail, even if he is on probation with registry requirements, Israel will do whatever he desires, and no kids will be safe from him in his community, unless, he stands up and acknowledges his guilt and seeks help. Therefore, I beg the court to send him into a place were he could never harm any child again.

Thank you, again your Honor

Conclusion

As I stated in my premise that if by any chance, you are one of the few people who would support YM regardless of all the evidence, do not expect a reply from me, let me go one-step further you don’t even need to read this conclusion just go back to defending the convicted molester, regardless the consequence to the community at-large. However, if you really have a yearning to truly understand what was litigate in court and why the decision the jury came back with, is the just verdict let me go back and layout a concise synopsis of the why the jury had no choice but to find him guilty as charged.

We all even YM, could stipulate, to the following facts

o The victim was born in 1981.

o The victim claims that she was molested since she was nine years old that put the start sometime in 1990.

o In 1996, the victim with help of people in Antwerp Belgium left to attend the Manchester England seminar, so the victim would be save away from her father.

o In 1996, the victim was dressed in the ultra Chasidic dress code (black socks, long tzept).

o Right before Passover 1997 YM went to England and threatens the school administrator so the victim was forced to either return to Belgium or stay homeless in England, the victim did what any fifteen year old would do, she went back with the defendant to Belgium.

o Passover in 1997 was on April 21 and the victim was only fifteen years old.

o July 30 1997 YM traveled to NY only with this victim to attend my father’s funeral.

o August 19 1997 YM traveled from NY to Belgium and stayed until September 12 1997, and again only with this victim, ostensibly to pact up their belongings and move them to Israel.

o In 1999, the victim moved to NY to stay with family members and the NY family found out about the alleged molestation charges.

o In 1999, the Victim calls the local authorities to inform them about a possible molestation on her siblings.

o In 2002, YM’s ex wife initiated child custody and child protection proceedings.

o In October 2003, the victim approached the FBI, (after the local state authority told her the state statue of limitation ran out,) with the charges that her father had molested her.

o On August 8 2008, a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment against YM.

o On October 6 2008, the Feds detained YM.

Now that we have established the timeline of the key-events in this unfortunate case, our next step should be to look at the indictment and what were the underpinning charges. Four of the five charges were directly related to the travel of July 1997 the time when my dad rip died and YM traveled with only the victim to the funeral, and August- September 1997 when after the shiva YM left from NY to Belgium, again, only with the victim, ostensibly to pact up their belongings. The fifth charge are directly related to the Passover 1997 trip to Bet Shemesh Israel, whereby YM went to Manchester England, and with threats removed the victim from her save-haven, and with the family left Belgium with the explanation that they are going to visit his in-laws for Passover but in actuality moved to Israel.

Let us peel away the onion and get to the core of the prosecutions and the defenses arguments.

The prosecution argued that the victim was molested going back all the way when she was nine and the reason we most believe it because at the time of the molestation came to light in 1995-1996, there were numerous outcry’s and contemporaneous statements to her friends, school principles, and rabbis by the victim that the victims father is molesting the victim. Federal agents traveled all over to take statement from the witnesses to theses outcries. According to the law, outcries and contemporaneous statements could be admissible into evidence at the trial as an exception to the hearsay rule, therefore, according to the prosecution, the jury should extrapolate from the 1996 molestations, which had all theses outcries and believe the victim that the 1997 molestation in Israel, NY and Belgium was indeed true.

The defense argued it is all lies, the alleged victim is lying and you cannot believe her because any of the following reasons, one- she hates her father, two – she is promiscuous she had a fling with the neighbor, three – they neighbor molested her, four – the brother and the victim had this incestuous relation, five – it is all about the divorce / child custody case, six – the mother molested the victim.

The jury gets the case and analyzes the case here is what they see, a victim who in 1995-96 cried out for help to numerous friends, rabbis, school administrators, at time of these outcries the victim was only 14 -15 years old and she was Chasidic, the outcries are believable because the people in Europe who in 1996 looked into the charges decided that they must remove the victim from Antwerp Belgium, to Manchester England. Divorce / child custody fight between the defendant and wife did not materialized until 2002 seven years after the outcries and five years after the 1997 events, therefore, it cannot be the reason she cried out in 1995-1996, the neighbor, brother, and mother story, that by itself does not shine a light on the 1997 occurrences. Put yourself into the shoes of the jury and you asked yourself this single question, why would a rational person decide to travel alone with his daughter, who cried-out numerous times before 1997, that her father molested her, and back in 1996, he was forced by the rabbis in Antwerp Belgian, to send his daughter to Manchester England so she is far away from him. In addition, the only reason the victim was back with him, because, he and his supporters threaten the school administrator with violence and removed her from Manchester a few weeks before that Passover why would he travel only with that daughter.

(Why her? why her? why her? why her? why her? why her? why her? why her? why her? why her?)

The only answer that makes sense is that he intended to have sex with her, therefore guilty this is what beyond reasonable doubt means, reasonable people will say yes it makes sense. By law, it was enough that the jury believes the victim, that they actually had sex, which according the law automatically proves the intent.

I need to tie up one more loose-end, why I did not testify during the case in chief, the only way a prior incident could be brought into the case is for its probative value purposes, meaning when the prosecutor wishes to introduce an previous similar conduct of a defendant; however, my understanding is that the judge ruled in this case the prejudice value outweighs the probative value. In nonprofessionals’ terminology, the judge ruled that this is such a bombshell that there is a strong probability the jury will not be able to find the defendant not guilty just by having the knowledge that his brother is also accusing him of molesting him, and the Judge wanted the defendant to have a fair trial. Nowadays YM’s defenders bicker that nobody came to testify, nobody was able to come and testify, the defendant lawyer fought and the anti-Semite (defenders claim not mine, of course I am making fun of YM’s defenders) Judge agreed with them, knowing the real facts will enable you to answer any doubters that rightness’s is in the defenders of the victim’s corner.

For those who may be confused, the initials YM refer to Israel Weingarten.