Last update - 00:00 27/11/2006
IDF soldier indicted for alleged rape of 12-year-old girl
By Eli Asheknazi, Haaretz Correspondent
The State Prosecution on Monday filed an indictment at Nazareth District Court against an Israel Defense Forces soldier for the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl and the attempted rape of three others.
Tiberias police officers arrested Felix Taubman, 21, early December after a hitchhiker complained he had tried to rape her.
According to the indictment, Taubman tried to rape a number of female hitchhikers.
In one incident, the defendant is said to have picked up a 12-year-old at the entrance of her village in the Lower Galilee. During the drive, he took a detour under the pretense he had to urinate and then tried to rape her. The girl struggled and only after her cell phone rang did he desist.
Taubman tried the same method on at least three other occasions over a period of six months, the prosecution claim. In all three cases the complainants managed to escape without injury.
Taubman is also being charged with sexual molestation and abduction.