Last update - 00:00 29/04/2007
Serial rapist who lured victims by posing as healer jailed for 22 years
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
A Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday sentenced Meir Fahima, who was convicted of rape and fraud, to 22 years in jail.
Fahima lured his victims by claiming to have paranormal abilities, promising them he would cast off spells and return old loves. In two instances, he persuaded women to give him tens of thousands of shekels in order to rid them of the "evil eye."
"This is a shocking and cruel a series of rape and fraud combinations, carried out over a number of years by the defendant against the complainants, exploiting their mental and sentimental distress in order to profit and gratify his sexual needs," the Tel Aviv District Court Judge wrote.
One of Fahima's victims, a mentally ill woman, was robbed of NIS 340,000 and ownership of an apartment. He also raped her on a number of occasions claiming it was part of her "therapy."
On another occasion, Fahima raped a woman he had promised to help revive her relationship with an ex-boyfriend.
In addition to the prison sentence, Fahima was fined NIS 300,000 and given a four-year suspended prison sentence.