Brooklyn Man Sentenced in Sex Abuse Case
A Brooklyn man was sentenced to 20 years to life for sexually abusing children in his Orthodox Jewish community.
Michael Sabo, a 38-year-old father of four, confessed to sexually abusing two children. He was sentenced this week after agreeing to a plea bargain.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said it had evidence of seven additional victims.
The case has been cited as an example of the difficulties facing prosecutors in convincing abuse victims from the close-knit Haredi community to come forward.
Many families refused to come forward because of the “intimidation they thought they would endure as part of the Orthodox Jewish community,” prosecutor Kevin O’Donnell told the New York Daily News.
Before the trial was set to begin, the father of one of Sabo’s victims was confronted at his synagogue and warned not to take the stand, according to reports.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has refused to release the names of accused molesters from Brooklyn’s haredi community. He has been criticized for trying to curry favor with that constituency, which has supported him in past elections.
Hynes has defended his actions by citing the insularity of the community and the need to protect sex-abuse victims from intimidation.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
