Sexual Abused Rabbi Speaks Out

By Gillian Friedman   |  February 5, 2019 at 4:08 pm MST

A Utah Orthodox rabbi said his childhood nanny sexually abused him for 10 years. Here’s why he decided to tell his story for the first time

SALT LAKE CITY — From behind the witness stand, Utah Rabbi Avrohom (“Avremi”) Zippel gazes out into the sea of faces and prepares to speak.

It’s a dreary Tuesday morning, and normally, public speaking doesn’t intimidate the 27-year-old. Since he was a child — the precocious and prized eldest son of a prominent rabbi — he has reveled in the attention of a crowd. But today, sitting in a courtroom in downtown Salt Lake City, the confidence that usually comes so easily evades him.  He clears his throat, and in a voice barely above a whisper, begins to share a story that has haunted him for decades. 

Read more HERE.

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Rabbi Avremi Zippel poses for photographs outside the Scott M. Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019.

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