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 Edmond Aviv, 62, clad in a hat and dark sunglasses, sat slumped in
a green plastic chair holding the cardboard sign that is punishment
for his treatment of a neighbor, whose husband suffers from
dementia, and her seven children, several of whom have disabilities
and use wheelchairs.
His sign reads: "I AM A BULLY! I pick on children that are disabled,
and I am intolerant of those that are different from myself. My
actions do not reflect an appreciation for the diverse South Euclid
community that I live in."
Among the many people who stopped to see Aviv serve his sentence was
Alex Simmons, 21, a former neighbor who said Aviv would call out
racial slurs to people passing by.
"Parents told us to stay away from the house. He would just stand on
the porch and just call us names," Simmons said, adding, "Justice
had been served."
Aviv was accused of calling the neighbor, Sandra Prugh, "Monkey
Mama" as she held her adopted, disabled African-American children
and of smearing dog feces on their wheelchair ramp.
The harassment went on 15 years in the Cleveland suburb of South
Euclid, Prugh said in court documents.
Aviv pleaded no contest to fourth-degree disorderly conduct in
March. South Euclid Municipal Court Judge Gayle Williams-Byers
sentenced him to spend five hours on Sunday wearing a placard that
must be readable from 25 feet away. The judge also sentenced Aviv
to 15 days in jail, seven months' probation, 100 hours of community
service, anger management classes and mental-health counseling,
according to court records.
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A probation officer was on hand on Sunday to protect Aviv and make
sure he served out his sentence.
"I didn't do this," Aviv said to a reporter who asked if he was
sorry.
As he spoke, someone in a passing car yelled: "Douche bag."
Prugh said Aviv has spit on her, tried to run down her
wheelchair-bound daughters and directed spotlights at her windows at
night, according to court documents.
Last year, authorities discovered Aviv had cut a hole in his garage
wall and was using a fan to blow kerosene fumes into Prugh's back
yard.
Aviv must also publish a letter of apology to Prugh in a local
newspaper.
(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Leslie Adler)
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