Rabbi Moti Elon will not appeal a sentence handed down against him in December after he was convicted of molesting a student. Rabbi Elon was sentenced to six months community service. He also received a suspended sentence of 15 months in jail for a period of three years, and was ordered to pay the complainant 10,000 shekels.
Rabbi Elon claims innocence, but his attorney, Asher Ohayon, said that Rabbi Elon had decided not to appeal after discussing the matter with senior rabbis and family members. “The family has had enough and they want to move on with their lives,” Ohayon said.
A family friend told Arutz Sheva that the rabbi had discussed the matter for many weeks, “and in the end decided to back off an appeal, which could take many more months. The family, and the rabbi himself, preferred to end the matter.”
Judge Hagit Mak Kalmanovich convicted the rabbi in August of performing an indecent act with a minor, while taking advantage of being in a position of authority. He was evaluated by a psychiatrist, who found that he was not a danger to the community. The rabbi's case has rocked and torn the religious-Zionist world, in which Rabbi Elon was a central spiritual figure until the allegations against him surfaced.