Court extends remand of man suspected of sexually assaulting young girls

Rishon Letzion Magistrate's Court on Wednesday authorized a weeklong remand extension for a 26-year-old resident of Holon who admitted to sexually assaulting at least 10 girls between the ages of four and 10 years at public parks in the city.

Police believe that the man, who was arrested Tuesday, has assaulted a far higher number of girls.

The man was arrested after local police received two complaints from mothers of girls aged four and five years, who said that a man had attacked their daughters in public parks in Holon.

The complaints led to a police investigation, and on Tuesday officers received further complaints from the parents of two 10-year-old girls who said that their daughters claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a man in their neighborhood in the last few weeks.

Police officers in the area arrested the suspected offender after a short pursuit Tuesday. The man initially denied the accusations, saying that he was a maintenance worker, but after brief questioning admitted the assault of four girls. He also told investigators that in the last month he has attacked at least 10 children, whom he raped and sexually assaulted.

"The suspect admitted to targeting the girls while they were playing in public parks in the city, persuaded them to accompany him into bushes where he then sexually assaulted them," said Irit Amar, the head the sex crimes and domestic violence department at Ayalon District Police.

"We believe that the suspect previously attacked many more girls and just this morning, following the report, we received more complaints against him."

"This is a difficult case," said an officer connected to the investigation. "We are now checking a range of unsolved cases with similar characteristics from the last year and even earlier."

The identity of the suspect is subject to a gag order as police are using line-ups as part of the investigation. Police have asked parents whose suspect their children have been assaulted to contact them.