The Supreme Court this morning (Thursday) rejected the appeal of Elior Chen, who was called "the abusive rabbi" in the media, against his conviction for severe child abuse, and his appeal against his sentence - 24 years in prison.
Deputy Supreme Court President Miriam Naor devotes most of her ruling to Chen's claims that there was a serious failure in his representation in the district court by attorney Ariel Atari, who refused to cross-examine the witnesses, primarily the state's witness who exposed the affair. Atari was also charged with criminal offenses regarding his representation of Chen.
Naor states that Chen was behind the line of defense that presented the lack of cooperation with the court. She also writes in the ruling that sometimes an unusual line of defense is the best, and therefore it should not be determined that such a line indicates a failure in representation. The judge also notes that District Judge Yoram Noam repeatedly put Chen and his attorney on the risks of the line of defense they adopted. The court also rejected his claims against alleged failures in his prosecution after he was extradited from Brazil, where he fled when the investigation against the cult began. "The appellant was convicted of criminal and cruel acts, which were committed over a long period of time against children and toddlers and caused them severe harm - both physical and mental," Naor explains in her rejection of the appeal against the sentence.
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Judges Neil Hendel and Noam Solberg agreed with Naor's ruling.
Deeds that are difficult to put into writing
In February 2011, the District Court sentenced Chen to 24 years in prison. It was also determined that Chen would pay 700,000 shekels in compensation to the children he abused.
Chen led a sect of friends who rebelled against him, and they - under his orders - abused a group of eight children with unspeakable cruelty. According to the account, Chen claimed that children were possessed by 'harmful' and 'evil', and therefore they needed to be reformed to free them from these negative forces. He and his men shook the children, beat them, tied them up and performed harsh and cruel acts on them.
The verdict written by Judge Yoram Noam stated, among other things: "This is a cruel, horrifying and shocking act of abuse and assault that the defendant, together with his accomplices, committed against the children, frequently and over several months. These acts caused serious injuries to some of the children, left some with severe scars on their bodies and minds, and the youngest of them, sadly, is critically injured in a state of prolonged unconsciousness, defined as a coma.".
Today, as stated, the Supreme Court chose to leave the judge's prison sentence intact. Chen was represented by attorneys Dror Arad-Aylon, Yuval Nahmani, and Dana Rossansky.
It should be noted that the mother of the children who experienced the severe abuse was married to the prisoner of peace, Ami Popper, who lost his first wife in a car accident.
