{"id":109125,"date":"2016-10-27T15:07:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T23:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=109125"},"modified":"2016-10-27T15:08:46","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T23:08:46","slug":"rabbi-charged-with-sex-abuse-to-get-1-year-of-counseling-no-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=109125","title":{"rendered":"Rabbi charged with sex abuse to get 1 year of counseling, no prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jewish Journal<\/a>: Rabbi Sholom D. Levitansky has agreed to one year of counseling and residential treatment at Beit T\u2019Shuvah, an addiction treatment center near Culver City, after pleading no contest to two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object of a minor.<\/p>\n

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At the Oct. 27 hearing at the Airport Courthouse on La Cienega Boulevard, his lawyer, Vicki Podberesky, told Judge Yvette Verastegui he had checked into Beit T\u2019Shuvah the day before.
\nLevitansky won\u2019t be officially sentenced until he completes the treatment program. Once he\u2019s sentenced a year from now, he won\u2019t face jail time but will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney spokesperson Ricardo Santiago.
\nEach count of sexual penetration with a foreign object carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, but Levitansky will serve his time at Beit T\u2019Shuva instead of a prison sentence.
\nLevitansky was arrested in the fall of 2015 on felony charges relating to the sexual abuse of two teenage female victims, between 1998 and 2002. Back then, Levitansky was in his mid-20s and working at the Living Torah Center, a Chabad center in Santa Monica, where he met his alleged victims.
\nThe Los Angeles County District Attorney charged Levitansky with five counts of oral copulation with a minor, five counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object of a minor and one count of a lewd act upon a child. Originally, he pled not guilty to all 11 charges, but entered his two no contest pleas Sept. 26.
\nSima Yarmush, one of the victims who has since publicly told the story of her abuse, indicated to the Journal on Oct. 27 that she was pleased with the outcome.
\n\u201cI feel that I have done everything that I can do to seek justice,\u201d she said.
\nYarmush was 14 when she alleges the abuse began, and said it went on for more than two years.<\/p>\n