The Israel Police arrested Mordechai Yomtov this morning (Thursday), who is wanted for extradition to the United States, for serious crimes he committed against children.
Yom-Tov was convicted in the US for serious crimes committed against children, served time in prison - and after his release violated the terms of his release, and fled the United States in 2002 through Mexico, where he obtained a fake passport - and arrived in Israel.
He was required to serve his sentence in the US for violating the terms, and was also scheduled to stand trial in another case.
In order to escape the threat of justice, he avoided documentation, hid his identity for many years, and worked to leave no trace.
Accordingly, the relevant state agencies responsible for handling extraditions acted. Upon receipt of the extradition permits several weeks ago, a request was forwarded to the Israel Police for their implementation and the arrest of Yom-Tov - who was on the run.
This morning, Yom-Tov was arrested at his hideout in the Tel Erza neighborhood in Jerusalem by the Operational Coordination Department in the Intelligence Division, in cooperation with the Jerusalem District.
His detention was extended in court this morning until next Wednesday, and the extradition process will continue.
In 2020, an investigation was published on the American CBS network in which Mandy Hauk, a father of two children, told of an assault committed on him by Yom Tov when he was his teacher, when Hauk was an 8-year-old boy, a student at the Orthodox Jewish school he attended in Los Angeles.
He said the abuse began the day a friend brought cookies for his birthday. When the boy reached for the biggest cookie, Yom Tov, then 35, asked him to return it and come get it at recess. When he was left alone with the teacher, Yom Tov began touching him inappropriately. The boy says that when he tried to pull away, Yom Tov grabbed him by the hair and calmed him down. The abuse continued throughout that year, and the boy felt trapped with nowhere to turn.
In 2001, after the Oak had moved up a grade, the police arrested Yom Tov and accused him of committing serious acts on three other students, ages 8 to 10. The Oak himself did not tell anyone about the incident until many years later.
Yom Tov pleaded guilty, served time in prison and was released on probation, but in 2002, after his release, he violated the terms of his probation and fled to Israel via Mexico.
JCW tracked him down in Jerusalem and confronted him on hidden camera. In the recording, Yom Tov admitted to violating probation and escaping, and expressed general remorse for his victims, but denied abusing Hawk.
In 2016, when another victim came forward and spoke out, Hauk decided to file a police complaint and called for fighting for Yom Tov's extradition back to the United States.
The police said today: "The Israel Police will continue to focus enforcement against serious criminal phenomena, while operating task forces and special means, in Israel and throughout the world, in order to expose offenses that endanger public safety and harm its well-being and to bring the perpetrators of the offense to justice.".
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