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| An Israeli courtroom illustration |
In a weird ruling, an Israeli judge acquitted a Jewish doctor accused of molesting an ultra-Orthodox Jewish girl despite believing the girl’s story, according to court proceedings in Israel.
Israel Police said that a 13-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jewish girl went to a medical clinic in the city of Tel Zion in the Israeli controlled West Bank complains after complaining of an earache, where she was seen by Dr. Alexander Rotnemer.
Police said that Rotnemer checked the girl’s ears and then allegedly told her lie on her back. When the girl did so, the doctor put his hand under her skirt, tights and underwear, and sexually abused her.
"Does this tickle? Does it hurt? Are you having fun?" The doctor asked her.
"I'm having fun," the embarrassed and confused girl replied.
"Oh! You came to the clinic to have fun," Rotnemer said. He then went on to touch her a few more minutes.
The doctor warned the girl not to tell her mother or anyone else. The doctor also told the girl that when she wants to have fun she should say she is sick and see him.
When the girl got home, she called her mother, crying, and begged her to come home. When her mother came home, the girl told her what had happened at the doctor’s office. The mother called police.
Police questioned the doctor.
Rotnemer told police that he touched the girl in the lower abdomen, but denied touching her genitals for a long time.
He was charged with sexual abuse.
Rotnemer told the court that because it was the girl's first visit to the clinic, he performed a full checkup.
However, despite believing what the girl has said the judge found the doctor not guilty.
"The complainant is a smart and decent girl, who can trusted," Judge Jacob Zaban wrote in his decision.
“It is difficult to assume that the defendant, a family man and respected physician in his community, would risk molesting a 13-year-old girl sexually in broad daylight in a busy public clinic," the judge also said. “Therefore I find the defendant not guilty,” the judge ruled.