Jewish ‘cult’ leaders sentenced for kidnap of 2 NY kids, including a child bride.
Three brothers from Monsey, leaders of the Lev Tahor cult, were sentenced on Tuesday to lengthy prison terms for their roles in the kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl and her brother six years ago.
The court found that the brothers orchestrated the abduction to return the children to their community, aiming for the girl to resume an underage marriage.
U.S. District Judge Nelson Roman handed down sentences of 14 years for Shmiel and Yakov Weingarten, and 12 years for Yoil Weingarten.
Interestingly, the victim, referred to as Jane Doe, expressed support for the brothers in court and urged leniency, describing them as rescuers rather than kidnappers.
The victims, Jane and John Doe, were among six children of Sara Helbrans, the daughter of Lev Tahor’s late founder, Shlomo Helbrans.
The children had been living in Guatemala with the Lev Tahor community, which had relocated there after fleeing child welfare investigations in Canada.
The kidnapping plot began when Sara Helbrans objected to her 13-year-old daughter’s marriage to 19-year-old Yaakov Rosner.
Unable to prevent the wedding, she eventually escaped Lev Tahor with three of her children and moved to Brooklyn.
Later, when her husband took three of the children to Mexico to obtain new passports, authorities intervened and sent the children back to their mother in New York.
Sara obtained a Family Court order granting her custody and prohibiting contact from the father.
