Mother held for sending kids to U.K. to trick welfare services

The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court yesterday remanded a woman suspected of having sent her two children alone from Israel to England because she feared the welfare authorities would take the children into custody.

Police found that the nine-year-old boy has been staying in England for a year with a woman described by the mother as a friend, while the 12-year-old girl has been there for a month, held by British welfare authorities.

Police are not discounting the possibility that the woman "sold" her children to the British woman.

"There are many questions we still don't have answers to, but what is clear is that we aren't talking about a routine incident," said Chief Inspector Avi Rosh of the Yiftach Police District.

Two days ago, the Foreign Ministry informed the police that it had been contacted by the British immigration authorities, who said they were holding a 12-year-old girl. The officials had refused the girl entry into the country because she arrived alone, and it was unclear why she had come and whether anyone was waiting for her.

The British message implied that the girl had been in the United Kingdom only two days. But the Israeli police discovered that she had been held for a month, ever since landing at London's Heathrow Airport.

"Immediately after receiving the information we opened an investigation, and within half an hour had brought in the mother, a resident of south Tel Aviv, for questioning," Rosh said.

The mother, 38, immigrated to Israel with her family from Russia 10 years ago.

Police sources called her account of events "peculiar" and said she refused to cooperate fully.

The police also discovered that the woman's nine-year-old son had been sent to Britain before his sister, and had been in the U.K. for a year.

According to the mother, a woman named Jeanne Michel was waiting for them at Heathrow.

Yesterday, the police were able to locate the woman, who lives in Leeds, and talk with the boy, who was indeed living with her as described.

Police are still trying to determine how the child was able to pass immigration control and enter the country alone.

The mother refused to provide details on that matter, or on her acquaintance with Michel.

"We don't know the background to their acquaintance, and we also don't know who paid for the flight tickets, but we do know that the mother doesn't have any money," Rosh said. "In light of these questions, and the fact that we don't know anything about the woman in Leeds, a suspicion arose that the children had actually been sold. Still, we don't have any other indications [to support] this suspicion."

Police contacted Interpol yesterday with a request to investigate Michel and check whether she has a criminal record.

In addition, the welfare authorities asked Britain to return the girl to Israel, and asked the Foreign Ministry to complain to Britain over having taken so long to report its custody of the child. An Israeli embassy official in London spoke to the girl by telephone and will meet with her tomorrow.

Neighbors in Tel Aviv described a broken home.

"The children were not treated well - we heard shouts and crying from the house. The little boy was miserable; they didn't treat him well," a neighbor said, referring to a third child, aged four. "Not long ago he disappeared and somebody found him wandering by himself in Carmel Market. Police returned him to the home, but he stood outside crying and didn't want to go in."

The woman is separated from her husband, the children's father. When questioned, the father said he was unaware of the children's whereabouts, but later learned that they were in England. He has been released, and the four-year-old has been transferred to his custody.

During yesterday's court hearing, the mother's attorney, Neil Simon, called the affair a "misunderstanding."

"With all due respect, sending a child alone on a plane is not a criminal offense, and no evidence has been brought before the court that the children were indeed intended to be taken by the welfare services," he said.

He added that the son is in contact with his mother, and that the daughter was refused entry to the U.K. because she was unable to state the reason for her visit.

Judge Mordechai Peled wrote in his decision that the suspect's testimony "arouses some astonishment, and there is a critical need in this case for a psychiatric evaluation" - which was carried out yesterday.

Orit Mosal, director of child, youth and family services for the Tel Aviv municipality, said that eight months ago, following reports of neglect, welfare officials took the case to court. They told the court at the time that one child had been sent to live with the mother's friend in the U.K., and the judge commented that this might be better, given the mother's unstable state.

"We checked, and it emerged that there was indeed neglect, but not the kind that would demand removing the children from their home," Mosal stressed.

However, her agency arranged for the youngest child to be sent to a day-care center for at-risk youth, while mother and daughter were put under a social worker's supervision.

But the mother did not cooperate fully with the social worker, so the case was sent to a welfare committee, which was to meet with the parents on July 28.

"We planned on telling the mother that we weren't happy with the way she has been functioning, but that a decision to remove the children from their home had not yet been made. Apparently, she saw this as a threat," Mosal said.

"Now we really will have to consider whether the mother can take care of her daughter," she added.

Israeli embassy officials said they were told by U.K. immigration officials that under British law, they are not required to involve the embassy in such matters, and had instead made their own efforts to locate the parents. Only when these failed did they contact the embassy.

A British Interior Ministry spokesman said his office does not respond to specific inquiries.