Seduction

Max Krakauer is indicted for seduction. Lillian Schlosser, 19, a recent immigrant from Hungary, testifies that in August 1903, on account of severe toothache, she visited the office of Max Krakauer, a dentist. Later that week, Krakauer, after visiting Schlosser at her lodgings in Stanton Street, told her that he wanted to marry her. She was initially hesitant – she told him that she was only a poor girl with no expectation of marrying a doctor – but on Thanksgiving Day in November 1903, Krakauer held an engagement party when he announced to various friends and acquaintances that they were to be married. In December 1903, at Christmastime, Krakauer first persuaded her to have sex. Schlosser testifies that she became ill in March 1904. Krakauer took her to a doctor who performed an abortion. They had intercourse again that summer and in August the same doctor performed a second abortion. Krakauer stopped visiting her that month and she no longer had contact with him. Several acquaintances and relatives testify that they witnessed Krakauer give Schlosser an engagement ring at the Thanksgiving party and that he had announced his intention to marry her. The defense presented two witnesses who claimed that they had had sex with Schlosser either before or during her engagement. William Lubliner, a photographer, testified that he had sex with her four times in July 1903 and three times later that year, in November 1903; Joseph Silverman said he had sex with Schlosser four times in October 1903. Arthur Camnitzer, a physician, testified that he had examined Schlosser in March and August 1904. He denied ever having performed an abortion and claimed that Schlosser had twice experienced a natural abortion. The transcript is incomplete and there is no record of a verdict. [Note: The jury found Krakauer guilty and the judge, Warren Foster, sentenced him to a term of imprisonment not less than 42 months and not more than 54 months.]

Frieda Milovitz, 18, a domestic servant, testifies that she came to the United States from Hungary in 1910. She met the defendant, Charles Weintraub, a fruit peddler, in August 1913. He asked her to marry him shortly after their introduction and later that year, on October 28, she agreed to have sex with Weintraub when he told her they would be married that week. She went with Weintraub to City Hall on November 3 and they obtained a marriage license. It was only several weeks later that she realized that it had been necessary to obtain a marriage certificate and that they were not, therefore, legally married. She separated from Weintraub on November 26 after he had told her that he expected her to work as a prostitute. Other witnesses, including Milovitz’s two sisters, testify that they had heard the defendant promise to marry the complainant. James Dalton, a police detective, testifies that he had arrested Weintraub on November 27 on a charge of seduction under the promise of marriage. Charles Weintraub testifies in his own defense, saying that he had intended to marry Frieda Milovitz and denying that he had expected her to work as a prostitute. The jury returns a verdict of guilty on the indictment of seduction.