Conviction Jewish institutions and contexts Other Jewish institution or hearing Jerusalem, Israel · 2010

Israel: 'rabbi' Elior Chen — 24 years for torturing a follower's children, upheld by the Supreme Court

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

self-styled rabbi with total spiritual direction over a follower family

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The children were delivered to the abuse solely because their mother was under his spiritual direction — his word reorganised an entire household into an instrument of torture.

Guru or spiritual-teacher authority
Prophecy or divine command
Threatened spiritual consequence

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2010-11-01 · conviction; appeal rejected

Jerusalem District Court; Supreme Court of Israel. Elior Chen, a self-styled rabbi, was convicted in November 2010 of abusing and ordering his followers to abuse eight children of a follower-mother — beatings with hammers and clubs, burning, confinement in a suitcase — leaving one child in a permanent vegetative state. Extradited back from Brazil, he was sentenced in February 2011 to 24 years plus damages; the Supreme Court rejected his appeal in May 2014. The mother received five years and four followers up to twenty years each.

Appellate history

2014-05-01 · undefined

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Documented coercion mechanisms

'purification' doctrine ordering beatings of the children
mother's absolute obedience to his direction
followers deployed as instruments of the abuse

Primary record

Sources

national news agency sentencing report JTA, 28 Feb. 2011.: Wire report of the sentence.
national newspaper court reporting final appellate disposition The Jerusalem Post: 'Supreme Court rejects appeal of child abuser rabbi'.: Reports the final appellate disposition.

Related record

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