A child abuser caught on a hidden documentary camera making “damning admissions” has avoided further jail time after a jury found him guilty of four crimes.
Zev Serebryanski, 62, was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment in the County Court of Victoria on Friday morning however 19 months of the sentence was “wholly suspended” for a period of three years.
With three months spent on remand in a New York prison before his extradition to Melbourne in 2023 recognised as time served, Serebryanski walked free from court.
The convicted abuser showed little reaction but was seen at one time turned to the right with his hands cupped to his ear as Judge John Kelly read his sentencing remarks.
Almost four decades earlier and aged between 22 and 24, Serebryanski sexually assaulted Manny Waks, then a boy aged between 10 and 12, at the Yeshivah Centre in St Kilda East, a synagogue and learning centre for Melbourne’s Jewish ultra-orthodox community.
Mr Waks, now a prominent advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse in Jewish communities, has given permission to be identified in relation to the case.
The court was told on the first night of the religious Shavuot festival in 1986, 1987 or 1988, Serebryanski followed Mr Waks upstairs at the centre when he went to rest on a bench about 1am to escape the “noisy debate” of the men downstairs.
Mr Waks gave evidence Serebryanski had previously made him feel uncomfortable at community events by staring at him.
Serebryanski began groping the young boy before leading him into a women’s bathroom where he sexually assaulted him.
He was found guilty late last year by a jury of three counts of indecently assaulting a person under the age of 16 and sexually penetrating a child aged between 10 and 16.
The court was told Serebryanski, who was born in New York City, moved to Melbourne with his parents and five siblings aged six for his father to serve as a minister for the ultra-orthodox Jewish community.
He returned to the United States in 1994 where he remained working a computer programmer until his arrest on April 19, 2023.
In 2017, Serebryanski was confronted outside his brownstone apartment by Mr Waks and Israeli journalist Yuval Agassi who secretly recorded the interaction with a hidden car key-shaped camera for a documentary about pedophiles in Jewish communities outside of Israel.
Judge Kelly said Serebryanski made “several damning admissions” and a “partial apology” in the footage which was played at trial but also gave “stock pedophilic justifications” for his behaviour, including claiming he was only following Mr Waks’ lead.
“I was completely infatuated with you and wanted to do what I thought you wanted,” he said at one point in the footage.
The judge told Serebryanski: “All child sex offending is grave, aberrant, transgressive and exploitative … it does enormous damage”.
“It is an attack on innocence, it is an attack on childhood.”
Judge Kelly said the abuse had left a profound impact on Mr Waks but applauded him for his “tenacity” in becoming a victims’ advocate.
He said Mr Waks’ father had been “shunned” by the community for supporting his son, but noted Serebryanski was not responsible for this, rather it was a demonstration of the “collateral effect”.
Multiple character references were provided to the court, with Judge Kelly saying they described Serebryanski as a “moral, charitable member of his community”.
Rabbi Shimon Hecht, who leads a Brooklyn Synagogue and has known the convicted abuser for 25 years, said he was a “trustworthy and respectful person” and a “integral member of the Synagogue”.
Judge Kelly said he accepted Serebryanski was emotionally, socially and sexually immature due to his restrictive upbringing.
He said he did not belief Serebryanski would offend again and found his prospects for rehabilitation are “sound”.
“I do not believe you will reoffend; the trauma of being arrested in New York, the confinement in detention there for three months and the extradition to Melbourne should deter you,” he said.
Outside of court, Serebryanski did not respond to questions from the media, with his lawyer Tony Hargreaves remarking; “go away”.
Ahead of the hearing, Mr Waks said from his perspective, the sentence makes “little difference”.
“My battle is over. I got him convicted for his heinous crimes against me – it’s now up to the judge to decide his sentence,” he said.
“My ongoing battle has never been about revenge or retribution – rather, it’s about justice, accountability and prevention.
“I’m really looking forward to finally putting all of this behind me and to move forward.”
