By Ryan Thompson and Samuel Newhouse
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

JAY STREET — A Brooklyn man who tried to grab an 11-year-old girl out of her apartment building was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Justice Patricia Di Mango sentenced 21-year-old Bernard Mutterperl to 10 years for each of the two felony counts of burglary and attempted kidnapping, in addition to five years of probation, and one year for each of the two misdemeanor counts of unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.

The sentences will run concurrently, meaning that Mutterperl’s official sentence is 10 years, which will be served in an Upstate New York prison.

“I, Bernard Mutterperl, have realized for quite some time over the last two or three years that I have a problem that when I see young girls I just want to go after them,� Mutterperl stated at a prior court date, according to reports.

Mutterperl was convicted in Kings County Supreme Court in June. He was arrested on May 13, 2007 shortly after the incident.

It was Mother’s Day 2007, when Mutterperl, then 19, allegedly followed the victim, a young Latina girl, into her apartment building in Midwood after the young girl returned home from buying her mother a gift. Mutterperl followed her up several flights of stairs before grabbing her, putting his hand over her mouth and telling her to be quiet.

However, when his grip loosened, the girl fled outside the building and cried for help, and her older brother and other neighbors came to her aid. They stopped Mutterperl as he ran and held him until police arrived to arrest him.

Mutterperl, an ultra-orthodox Jewish man, initially denied any sexual intent, then confessed to police that he was a pedophile.

The victim, now 13, testified in the trial and pointed to Mutterperl as the man who had attacked her.

Prosecutors had originally asked for $10,000 bail, which was subsequently increased to $25,000 by the judge at Mutterperl’s first arraignment. He managed to pay the bail and then left Rikers Island. However, one month later a grand jury increased Mutterperl’s top charge from unlawful imprisonment to attempted kidnapping, and a second arraignment took place in Brooklyn Supreme Court before Justice Di Mango.

The D.A.’s Office had then asked for $100,000 bail, which the defense attorney agreed to. However, Justice Di Mango set bail at $1 million, reportedly saying in response to a defense attorney’s protests, “I’m not bound by the district attorney’s requests.�

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