Plymouth Cult Member Sentenced to Up to 40 Years in Prison
FALL RIVER (WBSM) — The Plymouth cult member who was convicted of 25 different indictments charging him with multiple child rapes and indecent assaults will spend the next 30 to 40 years in state prison.
Nehemya Smith, 37, was sentenced Wednesday in connection to the rapes and sexual abuse of two girls in Raynham, Hyannis and Milton.
Smith is an “elder” in the religious group known as Twelve Tribes, which is based in Plymouth and owns property there (including the Yellow Deli restaurant) as well as in the communities where the rapes and sexual abuse occurred.
Cult experts such as Rick Ross of the Cult Education Institute and the Southern Poverty Law Center have categorized Twelve Tribes as a cult.
The D.A.’s Office said that in both cases, siblings who had left the tribe contacted police once they became aware of the allegations. Both victims were still residing with their parents in the tribe when the disclosures were made.
All of the incidents occurred between 2016 and 2020, when one of the victims was 14-16 years old and the other was 12-15.
The indictments included 12 counts of aggravated rape of a child, eight counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, four counts of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14, and one count of rape.
READ MORE: Plymouth Cult Member to Be Sentenced for Child Rapes and Indecent Assaults
The D.A.’s Office said that the incidents in Barnstable and Norfolk Counties were all transferred to Bristol County in order to try all the cases together.
Smith was found guilty on all 25 indictments by a jury on September 3 in New Bedford Superior Court following a two-week trial.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Renee Dupuis also ordered the defendant to serve an additional 10 years of supervised probation upon completion of the prison term.
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