Man convicted of sodomizing 18-month-old baby
Nissim Hadad, 43, from Tel Aviv took his girlfriend's 1.5-year-old son to the gym where he proceeded to sexually attack innocent child. 'Hospital images inspire horror, shock' says judge
"It is not everyday that the court must rule in the matter of the heinous rape of a toddler," the judge said during the ruling, adding that "the pictures taken of the infant in hospital inspire horror and shock."
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The judge continued by saying "the cries of a mother who testified here and was forced to watch her innocent son suffer still echo in my ears and stand in stark contrast to the defendants' indifference in his attempt to convince us that the child had caused the wounds to himself, or rather blaming the mother."
According to the indictment, Hadad took the baby – who was the son of the woman he was dating – with him to the gym of the residential building where they were residing in at the time.
Hadad, 46, returned to the apartment and met with the mother who noticed that her son was wounded. As a result of the injuries, the baby was hospitalized and anesthetized for over six days.
"The defendant fired numerous excuses, theories and explanations, but none managed to inspire a doubt in our hearts regarding the horrendous act he did to the baby," the court said.
Hadad, a businessman, attempted to fight the allegations and maintains his innocence. He does not deny he was with the child at the time, but claimed that he was not with him long enough to perform the act he was accused of.
"I sent a healthy boy, and received a seriously wounded one in return," the mother said. "Where did this come from? Who did this? How did this happen."
According to attorney Lior Shani of the Noga Center for Rights of Crime Victims, who has been accompanying the family of the victim, "the conviction of the defendant is the only plausible conclusion that could have been reached. It is one of the most horrific sexual assaults that the State of Israel has ever seen, and the consequences of the offense exceed the specific victim."
The attorney added that "this is one of the most severe indictments in the field of sexual assaults of minors that have ever been filed with an Israeli court. It is a case that is difficult to grasp. We are not familiar with a case that is similar in its severity and thus we will most probably ask the court to impose a long imprisonment on the defendant."
Hadad's lawyer Yoram Sheftel said that he rejects the verdict and will not contest during sentencing, an argument that supports the assessment that Hadad will appeal the conviction with the Supreme Court.
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