Boca-area man pleads guilty to attack on therapist in his home

A suburban Boca Raton man who raped, beat, kicked, tortured, and held a knife to the throat of his therapist while holding her hostage in his home for more than 15 hours pleaded guilty Tuesday to all of the charges against him, leaving his sentence to the discretion of a judge.

Tzvi Allswang was 20, with a previous sexual battery felony conviction as a juvenile, when he tackled his therapist and taped her hands behind her back, beginning a night of terror after she came to his family's suburban Boca Raton home for a counseling appointment on July 1, 2022.

He told her he planned to kill her and force deputies to shoot him. Her ordeal ended when deputies broke into the home and found him holding a knife to her throat. He did not drop the knife until a deputy shot him, the bullet striking his forehead. He was hospitalized for four days before he was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail. He has remained in jail with no bail set since then.

Family members who were out of town the night of the attack did not appear in court Tuesday, March 12.

More: PBSO: Man sexually assaulted hostage for hours before deputy shot him at home near Boca Raton

Prosecutor adds new details in Tzvi Allswang trial

Allswang's trial on seven felony charges, including attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and multiple sexual battery charges, all carrying potential penalties of life in prison, was scheduled to begin Friday, March 15.

Now 22, he faces from 50 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on May 31. If released from prison at any point, he could then be involuntarily committed to a mental health facility. He will carry the designation of dangerous sexual offender for the rest of his life.

Assistant State Attorney Alexa Ruggiero added new details Tuesday to the gruesome account of his attack on the therapist recorded in deputies' arrest report, saying that when his victim persuaded him to cut the tape binding her hands, he controlled her by telling her he would mutilate her with scissors.

Allswang paused and looked at his attorney when Judge Daliah Weiss asked him why he had decided to plead guilty.

"Are you pleading guilty because you are in fact guilty?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, your honor."

He has "significant" psychological issues, attorney Jacob Cohen said, that could be cited as factors as Weiss weighs his sentence.

In response to a series of questions from the judge as he entered his plea, Allswang had answered that he had never been treated for a mental or emotional health condition.

Noting it was his therapist he had assaulted, Weiss asked again.

"Your honor I have attended counseling for my psychological issues," Allswang said.

Allswang was 17 when he repeatedly sexually assaulted a classmate in her home in 2019, court records show. Charged with lewd and lascivious battery, a felony that could have led to a 50-year prison sentence for an adult, he was placed on juvenile probation.

Antigone Barton is a reporter with The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at avbarton@pbpost.com. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: True Crime: Tzvi Allswang pleads guilty to rape, torture of therapist