‘Pedophile’ protest
Members of victim advocacy group Survivors for Justice protested outside Brooklyn Criminal Court on April 30 as attorneys for accused pedophile Michael Sabo tried to lower the $2-million bail hanging over his head.
The group, which provides support for sexual abuse victims in Orthodox Jewish communities, were protesting the possibility that Sabo — twice alleged of sexual abuse of children — could be released on low bail a second time in two years.
Sabo, 35, a registered nurse, was let out on $50,000 bail in May 2009, shortly after his first victim surfaced claiming that the Marine Park resident had sexually abused and photographed him as a child.
The explicit pictures, which were allegedly taken in Sabo’s home, were posted on the Internet under the name “Nymale74,” which corresponds to Sabo’s birth year, according to The Jewish Star.
But Sabo found himself in further trouble over the winter, when a second victim came forward, prompting further charges.
In that case, the victim claims Sabo sexually assaulted him in 2001.
Prosecutors said that Sabo has been incarcerated since the second indictment was filed in February. Taking into account his prior arrest, a judge ordered the $2 million bail.
Sabo’s now being charged with “predatory sexual assault” which comes with a sentence of 10 years to life, prosecutors said.
Sabo claims he’s innocent. His lawyer, Arthur Gershfeld, told reporters he was “confident the allegations are not going to be supported by the evidence.”
Prosecutors said the case against Sabo was pushed back to June 9. Until then, he remains incarcerated.
Hard lessons
A 68-year-old woman suing the cops who shot and killed her schizophrenic son in 1998 won a victory in Brooklyn Federal Court April 28, but not in a way anyone expected.
After years of legal wrangling, Loretta Cerbelli didn’t agree on a cash reward in her settlement with the NYPD.
Instead, she got something more meaningful to her — an uninterrupted two-hour conversation with NYPD’s top brass where she’ll explain to them how they can better handle mentally ill subjects.
Cerbelli’s son, Kevin, was off his medication when he stormed into a police precinct in Elmhurst, Queens on Oct. 25, 1998 armed with a knife and a screwdriver.
He stabbed a cop in the arm before officers gunned him down.
The cops involved were cleared of any criminal charges, but Cerbelli’s family filed a civil excessive force suit in Brooklyn Federal Court.
The case was expected to go to trial in July if the parties involved didn’t work out this deal, which includes Cerbelli and two experts bringing their ideas on how to better apprehend the mentally ill to NYPD administrators in charge of police training.
No summer lovin’ for Parker
It looks like State Senator Kevin Parker (D-Flatbush) will “go to the mattresses” against the District Attorney Charles Hynes this summer as prosecutors continue to push for a trial date.
A Hynes spokesperson said that a trial could begin as early as June or July against Parker, who is accused of attacking a photographer for our sister publication, the New York Post, outside his East Flatbush home last May.
Parker was indicted on a felony charge of assault in the second degree for his confrontation with William Lopez, the shutterbug assigned to take a photo of Parker.
At the time, the Post was doing a story about how Parker let his home fall into foreclosure.
The seven-year legislator is accused of chasing Lopez in a fit of rage and pursuing him around the corner to the photographer’s car.
In the ensuing struggle, Parker broke the lensman’s flash. He also kicked out the interior door panel to Lopez’s 1998 Subaru Forester. Lopez injured his finger during the clash.
If convicted of the felony assault charge, he immediately loses his state Senate seat. He also faces up to seven years in prison.
Last month Parker’s attorney, Lonnie Hart Jr., tried to get the felony charges dropped because Lopez wasn’t seriously injured.