Friday, May 6, 2011

Rabbi Convicted Of In-Flight Molesting
Father of 11 groped Israeli Army officer during trip

The Smoking Gun

MAY 5--An Israeli rabbi was convicted today of fondling a female passenger on a recent flight from Tel Aviv to New York.

Gavriel Bidany, a 47-year-old father of 11, was found guilty this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Bidany was named last month in a misdemeanor information charging him with molesting the woman on a March 27 Delta Airlines flight bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The verdict was rendered following a two-day bench trial before Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes. Bidany, an Israeli citizen, faces a maximum of six months in prison when he is sentenced by Reyes on May 12. In reading the verdict at 2 PM, Reyes called the victim's testimony "compelling and wholly believable," while dismissing the testimony of Bidany, pictured above, as "not worthy of belief."...[Full Article]