Jerusalem serial child molester sentenced to 19 years

The Jerusalem District Court on Sunday sentenced a man to 19 years in prison for carrying out hundreds of sex crimes against young teen and preteen boys in the capital.

Menahem Bitton, 30, was convicted in February in a plea bargain after admitting to committing the assaults over a period of several years.

Testimony from Bitton’s victims revealed how he would entice them and then molest them, including in some cases sodomizing them. He bought silence from the victims with bribes of gadgets or cash payments of between NIS 50 and NIS 100 ($13-$26).

Bitton, who worked in an apartment rental business in the Nahlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem, used empty apartments to carry out the attacks.

During their testimonies, victims related that he would also invite them to play video games in his home or show them pornographic films. Some of the victims were just 10 years old when Bitton first began to molest them, the court said.