The indictment of Vladislav Victorsson, 30, and his partner, Anna Bernstein, 18, for their involvement in an Iranian plot to assassinate Israeli officials has brought renewed focus on Victorsson's vast criminal history.
The Shin Bet and Israeli police revealed their alleged connection to the plot on Monday, sparking a wave of social media reactions, particularly regarding Viktorson’s disturbing past.
In 2015, Victorsson, who had since changed his last name to McLoughlin, was convicted of multiple sexual offenses against minors. At the age of 20, he was sentenced to two years in prison after being charged with statutory rape, sodomy and indecent acts involving six girls aged 12 to 14.
The prosecution, led by the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office, accused Victorsson of exploiting the vulnerability of minors, meeting them in public places like the Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv and through social media. In one case, he was accused of assaulting a girl in a parking lot, continuing the attack despite her protests, telling her "I know you like it."
Victorsson also distributed explicit images of his victims he took or asked them to take for him without their consent, a detail that resurfaced online in recent days.
During his remand hearing, prosecutors presented a confrontation between Victorsson and one of his victims, in which she described how he forcibly performed a sexual act on her, saying, "After I said no six times, he finally stopped." Victorsson reportedly responded, "I always stop after two."
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Vehicles allegedly torched by Victorsson in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park under direction from Iranian handler
(Photo: Israel Police)
During his interrogation, Victorsson admitted to most of the acts attributed to him but denied forcing himself on any of the minors. When questioned about why he engaged in sexual relations with underage girls and whether he knew it was illegal, he replied, "I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t know what the consequences would be." In another instance, he remarked to investigators, "I got to stop meeting minors."
Upon his release, Victorsson was arrested again in 2019 for violating his probation terms by contacting minors via social media. "There is an evidentiary foundation and a reasonable suspicion that the suspect committed sexual offenses against minors. In recent days, it emerged that the suspect made contact with several minors through social networks. He then met with them and performed sexual acts on them. The investigation also revealed that the suspect photographed the minors naked," his detention order stated.
His connections to Tel Aviv’s gothic youth subculture earned him notoriety, with multiple individuals recalling past encounters with him. After his conviction and time in prison, acquaintances posted the allegations against him on social media. "I remember this story, they talked about how he would lure girls to the underground parking lot at the [Dizengoff] Center and then rape them there," wrote one Facebook user named Jack.
"I was one of the complainants who stood against him," another user wrote in 2022. "I was the one who exposed his second phone, where he distributed pictures and videos of the girls, including sexual acts he filmed without their knowledge. The number of Facebook accounts and family name changes he’s made won’t help him hide his face unless he gets plastic surgery."
A third user wrote: "I knew someone who was part of the investigation back then, and she said he told the investigator, 'I usually stop after the third no.'" Another user wrote: "I didn't know him, and now I found out he's part of the kink community and even participated in parties. I'm shaking."
Victorsson, for his part, denied any connection to the allegations and wrote in a past Facebook post. "I heard a rumor that people are trying to frame me, spreading nonsense about my time at the Center and calling me a rapist," he wrote. "It's true that I spent two years in prison, but not for the reasons they are trying to pin on me. I was sentenced back then because, in the distant past, I was too kind to people who didn’t deserve it."
Following the announcement of his involvement in the espionage case, many of his former acquaintances resurfaced their accounts on social media. "Remember Vlad from 2015? Now he's an Iranian agent. I’m shocked," wrote one acquaintance. "He was looking for work in the [Revolutionary Guard] Corps," joked another user named Sergey.
Bernstein, also implicated in the Iranian plot, is a model from Petah Tikva and is listed on Facebook as engaged to Victorsson. Her personal life came under scrutiny after a TikTok video surfaced showing her dog convulsing, allegedly after consuming a cannabis-laced cookie. Victorsson defended her, claiming the incident was accidental.
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