BROOKLYN — The 33-year-old principal of a Jewish religious school in Brooklyn was sentenced to 55 years in prison for sexually abusing three boys over the course of a decade, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced Thursday.
Emanuel Yegutkin, 33, was convicted in December of sexually abusing three boys between the ages of seven and 15-years-old while a principal at Elite High School, a private school catering to Russian-Jewish immigrants in Bath Beach.
Although it coincided with the closely-watched trial of unlicensed Williamsburg counselor Nechemya Weberman, who was sentenced this January to 103 years in prison for the years-long abuse of a young girl, Yegutkin trial received relatively little notice when it was heard late last year.
Like Weberman, Yegutkin cultivated close relationships with the victim's families, abusing the boys in secret for years. The abuse itself was also similar — two of the victims were forced to perform oral sex, and another was made to watch pornography.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes touted both convictions as major successes for his office, which had suffered withering criticism over its handling of sex abuse cases from the borough's Orthodox community in the past.
“This strong sentence once again proves that the people of Brooklyn will not tolerate crimes against children," Hynes said in a statement. "Hopefully this brings some closure to these child victims so they can go on to lead happy and productive lives."
