First indictment in nationwide pedophile sting

A Jerusalem resident was indicted on Thursday for attempting to sexually harass a minor, in the first case brought to court since police busted 30 pedophiles across the country last week.

According to the charges pressed against the 57-year-old, he had contacted a policewoman posing as a 12-year-old boy in an online chat room. The man, whose name is under a gag order, talked to the “minor” about his sexual preferences, and then tried to meet with him.

Police arrested the man when he arrived at the meeting site arranged by the “minor” online.

At least 30 people were arrested in an overnight sting on pedophiles operating online last Tuesday. It was reportedly the largest undercover operation of its kind in Israel.

The sting was reportedly planned for the last three months, after a man in custody for online distribution of child pornography signed an agreement to help find additional suspects.

The police were then able to penetrate chat rooms and forums frequented by pedophiles, and a policewoman posed online as a 12-year-old girl (and in some cases as a boy) to lure some of the men to a physical location, ostensibly for sex, but in reality to face arrest.

Others were arrested after indecent phone or video chat conversations with the undercover policewoman.

“I knew that pedophiles operated online, but I was shocked by how extensive it was,” the policewoman told Ynet News. “I told them I was 12 and that I was shy, but [my ‘age’] didn’t even deter them. They went to great lengths to try to get me to meet with them. The conversations were very sexual in nature. It was appalling.”