Link:
Aryeh “Larry” Dudovitz was found guilty by a Chicago court after nearly two hours of testimony, for assaulting the boy in his home on the Sukkot festival in 2006.
A Chicago rabbi was found guilty on Monday of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2006.
Rabbi Aryeh “Larry” Dudovitz assaulted the boy when he was supposed to be counseling the teenager for questioning his Orthodox Jewish faith, Cook County Judge Evelyn Clay ruled Monday in the bench trial, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Judge Clay found Dudovitz guilty “after roughly two hours of testimony,” DNAinfo reported, and “ordered electronic monitoring for Dudovitz pending sentencing.” She also said Dudovitz is required to surrender his passport. Post-trial motions, which could include sentencing, are slated for mid-December.
The boy, now 22, had seen Dudovitz as a father figure, he said in 2013. He was initially reluctant to come forward due to, he says, his Orthodox community.
He told that court “I grew up with no sexual education at all — none whatsoever,” he testified of his insular Orthodox community, which did not urge him to come forward with allegations of abuse. “… It wasn’t spoken of and, unfortunately, it still isn’t,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
Dudovitz, 48, the married father of nine, had rejected a plea deal that called for five years in prison, and now faces up to 15 years in prison, according to the newspaper. He was ordered taken into custody until he turned over his passport, after which he would be released to electronic monitoring until sentencing.
The assault occurred at the victim’s home in Chicago’s West Rogers Park in 2006. Criminal charges were brought against Dudovitz in 2013 after the teen sought counseling in the wake of the incident.
