Ex-hostage Mia Schem alleges she was raped by well-known personal trainer
23-year-old released in first deal says Tel Aviv coach, whose name is under gag order, drugged and raped her in March; suspect insists he’s innocent
Mia Schem, who survived 54 days of Hamas captivity, has identified herself as the plaintiff in a previously reported rape case against a famous personal trainer from Tel Aviv.
“In captivity, in the tunnels of Hamas, and without my [injured] hand, I had hope. Now, all of a sudden, I’m in darkness,” the 23-year-old told Channel 12 Thursday, in excerpts from an interview that will be broadcast Saturday night.
The case was reported on previously, but most details, including the identities of the parties, were under a gag order.
Asked why she had decided to come forward publicly, Schem — who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and then released during a November 2023 hostage-truce deal — said, “I’m not the one who should hide.”
The suspect in the rape case, a man in his 30s, was arrested in late March, and his home was searched and his phone and computer seized. He has been released from police custody but remains a suspect in the case.
The trainer is reported to be a prominent figure on social media and has several celebrity clients, including, according to Channel 12, a former prime minister.
In March, the network reported that police were probing whether the trainer had used a date-rape drug. Schem’s friends allegedly found her at her home after she had spent time socially with the trainer and another person, with only a hazy memory of what had taken place.
She was then taken to the hospital for a medical examination, where it was determined that she had recently had sexual intercourse, of which she had no memory, according to the report.
While the personal trainer has maintained his innocence, Hebrew media outlets have also reported that inconsistencies have been found in his version of events, and that he was caught lying during a polygraph test on several occasions, including in response to a question about sexual assault.
According to Ynet, the suspect initially told investigators he had never entered Schem’s bedroom — where she alleges he raped her — at any point during the night in question.
During a cross-examination in early April, however, he reportedly changed his account and said that he did enter Schem’s room while she was changing clothes, because he wanted to check the address of the apartment to send it to the third person joining them that night.
But according to Schem, Ynet reported, the trainer already had her address, having navigated to the apartment thanks to a text she sent him with it.
The news site also reported that during questioning, Schem demanded repeatedly that the trainer not look her in the eyes, but he refused. Eventually, the police officers told him to look at them instead, according to the report.
Schem reportedly told the trainer: “I was groggy for three days because of you.”
In addition, Schem reportedly pointed to five alleged physical indications of sexual assault, three of which have been visible on her body since the incident and two of which were detected during medical examinations.
In the interrogation, the trainer reportedly said Schem “destroyed his life.” He is quoted by Ynet as having repeated again and again, “I’m a good person.”
The suspect is also reported to have burst into tears during the questioning, and, according to Channel 12, said: “There was no sexual advance, I swear on my life. I have a family, a wife, and a daughter who are important to me. I just want this nightmare to end.”
Speaking to the network, a relative said the trainer maintained that he had done nothing wrong and that “everything was a lie.”
He said the trainer was insisting that Schem had “asked to train with him” and that she had “properly trained with him once in the studio” in the past.
The relative said the coach claimed that “he tried to assist the girl, to help her” and “did not have any sexual relations with her.”
The Times of Israel Community.