The senior rabbi who counselled abuse victim Yehudis Goldsobel and then gave character evidence for her abuser in court has stood by his claim that the “age of legal consent is somewhat arbitrary” because “whether a girl is 15 or 16 does not mitigate the religious misdemeanour” or determine “whether the relationship was exploitative.”

Rabbi Chaim Rapoport said Menachem Mendel Levy, a 41-year-old father of six found guilty of sexually assaulting Ms Goldsobel when she was 14, was the “embodiment of repentance” and was “ethically responsible”.