Tremors in an ultra-Orthodox city in central Israel: A 14-year-old boy, an eighth-grade student at Talmud Torah, was arrested on Wednesday for a series of assaults against 7-8-year-old girls in several neighborhoods in the Haredi community of Binyamin.
The arrest was made after parents complained to the police last Thursday about an assault on their daughter. On Tuesday, the police received two more complaints - and investigators discovered that this was a regular pattern of actions by the same boy.
During his interrogation, the boy has so far confessed to six cases of serious acts that he committed as a child, with which he had no previous knowledge.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
Some of the incidents occurred inside a warehouse in the building, another on a street corner behind the building, and in another case inside a stairwell.
So far, five complaints have been filed with the police. The police estimate that this is a series of cases, the number of which is greater than the cases to which the boy confessed.
During the week, dozens of police officers and detectives raided the community and collected security cameras.
Haredim 10 learned that police investigators downloaded a video from a security camera in one of the neighborhoods and distributed it in WhatsApp groups for identification purposes. However, a clearer image was later found and distributed - leading to the identification and capture of the boy.
In the photo published here, the suspect is seen standing in the middle of the road, and notices the girl starting to walk. He follows her and begins to seduce her, until he later manages to drag her into a shelter in one of the buildings - where, according to the suspicion, he severely assaulted her.
One of the businessmen involved in the affair tells Haredim 10: "Another incident happened a week ago on Friday. One of the rabbis the parents went to sent them to place a small ad in the newspaper, instead of going to the police.".
[gallery]
He cried out: "This boy was a ticking time bomb. The police agreed to release photos to WhatsApp groups because they were afraid he would hurt more girls. He attacked several girls in a week. But instead of sending the parents to the police, this rabbi is getting smart with a newspaper. Because of him, several more girls were hurt!
""The police acted efficiently. They really acted well and around the clock - until they caught him.".
How, exactly, does the boy entice the girl to go with him?
""In one case, he asked the girl why she hit his sister? And called her to come and talk quietly.".
The court today released the boy to house arrest under restrictive conditions.
The police will request permission to publish some of the details of the investigation, which indicate a certain pattern of behavior, in order to reach additional victims.
