SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — The man accused of bullying his neighbors for 15 years, including children with developmental disabilities, carried out part of his punishment on Sunday by sitting at a busy intersection with a large sign that says he’s a bully.

Edmond Aviv, 62, endured five hours of people yelling at him from passing cars while holding a sign that said: "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."

Aviv, who ignored the comments and rarely looked up, said the judge’s sentence and ensuing media coverage that garnered national and international attention ruined his life. He also denied he bullied the family.


“The judge destroyed me,” said Aviv, who refused to answer other questions. “This isn’t fair at all.”

Some 95 cars honked their horns while passing by the intersection on Monticello Boulevard and Trebisky Road. Another 89 yelled insults at him. Aviv sat at the intersection from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.


Fourteen people approached Aviv, and either took pictures or talked to him. One neighbor, Alex Simmons, the 21-year-old son of South Euclid Municipal Court Bailiff Isaiah Simmons, said Aviv yelled racial slurs at him while growing up in the neighborhood.

“He called me porch monkey a couple times and the N-word,” Alex Simmons said. “I told my parents at the time and they said to avoid his house and be the bigger person. This punishment is great. Justice has been served.”

Aviv pleaded no contest to a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. It’s the fourth time he’s been convicted of harassing his neighbors.

Judge Gayle Williams-Byers sentenced Aviv to hold the sign for five hours on Sunday, serve 15 days in jail and seven months on probation. She also ordered Aviv to complete 100 hours of community service, anger management classes and personal counseling at the Diversity Center of Cleveland.

Court probation officer Steve Flowe monitored Aviv the entire five hours. Isaiah Simmons, the bailiff, also stopped by to ensure the sentence was carried out.

Court records say Aviv harassed Sandra Prugh’s family for 15 years. Prugh has two adult adopted children with developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy and epilepsy, a husband suffering from dementia and a paralyzed son.

Records say the most recent case stemmed from Aviv being annoyed at the smell of Downy coming from Prugh's dryer vent when she did laundry.

Court records say Aviv tried to sue the family in 2010 because the smell bothered him. The case was thrown out. Shortly after, Aviv dumped fabric softener on Prugh's lawn, the letter says.

Court records say Aviv later made a device that linked kerosene to a fan in his garage. The fan blew the fumes onto Prugh's property, reports say. One of Prugh’s children became ill because of the fumes, Williams-Byers previously said.

Prugh called police on April 9 and April 11, 2013, reports say. Firefighters and police discovered the kerosene contraption and made Aviv dismantle it, reports say.

Court and police records say the dispute between Aviv and Prugh dates back 15 years.

Prugh's letter to the court says that in 1998, Aviv jogged past her and spit on her. He spit on her again while she was planting flowers in her backyard, the letter says.

Aviv later called Prugh a "monkey momma," according to the letter. The letter says Aviv used the slur while she held her two adopted African-American children with disabilities.

Prugh also claimed Aviv regularly threw dog feces on her son's car windshield and once smeared feces on a new wheelchair ramp the family built for their disabled children.

On Sunday, several people cursed at Aviv and hurled insults at him from cars. Many slowed to read the sign and take photos. Most of the people who approached Aviv said they liked his punishment. Some said they felt sorry for him.

Neighborhood residents and enraged citizens tried to talk with Aviv, who refused to acknowledge them. One said she drove from Eastlake, a 12-mile drive, specifically to talk with him.

Two women approached him and offered Aviv a bottle of water. One offered him lunch.

One former resident, Brandon Rehner, who said he attended Brush High School with one of the Prugh children, said Aviv cursed at him when he walked by Aviv’s home several years ago.

Scott Fierman, Aviv’s attorney, checked on his client. He declined to address reporter’s questions.

One resident, Bill Schneeberger, who said he’s lived in South Euclid for 15 years, said he knew the children Aviv is accused of bullying. Schneeberger described the children as polite and well-mannered.

Schneeberger said he liked the punishment.

“It’s absolutely good,” Schneeberger said. “As long as he learns from it.”

Court records say Aviv later made a device that linked kerosene to a fan in his garage. The fan blew the fumes onto Prugh's property, reports say. One of Prugh’s children became ill because of the fumes, Williams-Byers previously said.

Prugh called police on April 9 and April 11, 2013, reports say. Firefighters and police discovered the kerosene contraption and made Aviv dismantle it, reports say.

 Medium of Death wrote:
Yeah, exceptional justice. Let's give this guy a bigger chip on his shoulder.

The guy sounds like an absolute witch. Surely a longer jail term, probation and him having to attend counselling and diversity meetings would have been enough?

 daedalus wrote:
Well, this got handled poorly.

I was going to harp on about the paradox of tolerance and all that, but then I got to the second half of the article where it talked about how much of a fuckhead this guy is. The guy shouldn't have been publicly ostracized. That will just encourage him. He needs to be rehabilitated.

 gunslingerpro wrote:

 daedalus wrote:
Well, this got handled poorly.

I was going to harp on about the paradox of tolerance and all that, but then I got to the second half of the article where it talked about how much of a fuckhead this guy is. The guy shouldn't have been publicly ostracized. That will just encourage him. He needs to be rehabilitated.

How precisely do you recommend they rehabilitate him other than the anger management and diversity training?

 LordofHats wrote:
He got off pretty lightly all things considered. SCOTUS isn't going to get involved. It won't even go to appeal.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
This man deserves all he gets, but I'm worried the lawyers are going to get more involved, and possibly see this guy getting some undeserved compensation. Why?

Consider this: (emphasis my own)

Constitution of the United States of America

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS INFLICTED.

The SCOTUS could be all over this like a bad rash, because it certainly qualifies, in my mind, as unusual, even though it's deserved in my view.

 daedalus wrote:
Well, why don't we stockade people anymore and make with the tomatoes?

 LordofHats wrote:

It's way funner to to tie them up in a latex gimp suit and pelt them with Japanese tentacle porn

 LordofHats wrote:
I've personally always championed brining back the Gulloitine. I mean, at this point lethal injection isn't as painless as we assumed, so if we're gonna kill someone lets at least make it look menacing

 daedalus wrote:
Well, why don't we stockade people anymore and make with the tomatoes?

 Medium of Death wrote:
A longer jail term would have been better as I said in my post. He has to go to the diversity training whether he learns from it or not.

Humiliation is a "good" form of punishment, but what does it achieve in the long term?

 Hordini wrote:

 Medium of Death wrote:
A longer jail term would have been better as I said in my post. He has to go to the diversity training whether he learns from it or not.

Humiliation is a "good" form of punishment, but what does it achieve in the long term?

What do you think a longer jail term would really achieve in the long term?

 Medium of Death wrote:

 Hordini wrote:

 Medium of Death wrote:
A longer jail term would have been better as I said in my post. He has to go to the diversity training whether he learns from it or not.

Humiliation is a "good" form of punishment, but what does it achieve in the long term?

What do you think a longer jail term would really achieve in the long term?

When compared to public humiliation?

I don't really think 15 days is an acceptable term for what he has done or has been doing. I don't really have the capacity or will power to go into the merits or disadvantages of the American Prison System, but actually punishing him like everybody else is probably a good idea. Singling him out for public humiliation is pretty stupid.