Illustration
Photo: AFP
Ashdod man charged with sexual assault of child in synagogue
According to indictment filed with Be'er Sheva District Court, 60-year-old synagogue volunteer committed sexual offenses against young boy on multiple occasions since victim was 11 years old, threatened to murder him if he told anyone.
An Ashdod resident sexually assaulted a young boy in a local synagogue for three years since the victim was 11 years old and threatened to murder him if he told anyone, according to an indictment filed against the 60-year-old attacker Thursday with the Be'er Sheva District Court.
The indictment, filed by attorney Renana Levy of the Central District Prosecutor's Office, reveals that the man volunteered at the Ashdod synagogue, distributing food, from 2013 to 2016 and used to pray at the place regularly.
Attacker allegedly held a knife to child's throat numerous times (Photo: Index Open)
Throughout this period and about every other day, according to indictment, he committed sodomy and indecent acts on the child on multiple occasions in the afternoon hours. The acts were usually committed in an internal room near the synagogue's kitchen.
The attacker allegedly warned the child numerous times, holding a kitchen knife to this throat and threatening to murder him if he told anyone about the acts. In some cases, he would place a large kitchen knife on the table.
In 2016, the boy began praying at a different synagogue and the attacker stopped harassing him.
The Central District Prosecutor's Office asked the court to keep the suspect in custody until the end of legal proceedings, stating that he had "committed extremely serious sex offenses against the complainant for three years, while the complainant was only 11 years old, ignoring the pain and fear he inflicted on him."
