Man sentenced in sexual assault, attempted rape of 5-year-old girl

The Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday sentenced Ofer Carmi, 31, to 6 years imprisonment for the sexual assault and attempted rape of a 5-year-old girl. In addition to the jail time, Carmi will receive 2 years probation and will have to pay NIS 20,000 in punitive damages to the victim.

Carmi's sentence came as part of a plea bargain where he admitted that a year ago while working as a carpet cleaner, he was summoned to a job at a house in the center of Israel. Carmi stated that once he was left alone with the girl in the living room, he pulled her to him, sexually assaulted her and tried to rape her. While he committed the assault, the girl's mother was in another part of the house and did not notice anything was amiss.

The judges wrote in their verdict that Carmi "seriously hurt the victim's body, soul, and dignity, and caused her and her family great suffering."

In their statements, the judges added that after the assault the victim stopped attending school, developed eating and sleeping disorders, and tried to harm herself physically.

Judges added that in spite of the severity of the crime, there were reasons to lighten the sentence, mainly Carmi's dire personal situation and his decision to plead guilty to his crimes, saving the victim the trauma of testifying against him.

The victim's mother described the hardships suffered by her daughter and her family since the assault saying, "until today she tells me that I didn't come save her and asks me why I didn't protect her when she needed me."