Four face rape charges in alleged Eilat gang rape of 16-year-old – report

Four suspects will be charged with rape in the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl earlier this month in an Eilat hotel, Channel 12 reported on Monday, citing police statements given in a Beersheba court.

The suspects are two 27-year-old men from the northern town of Hadera and two teenage brothers from the south of the country.

Five more suspects, all minors, will reportedly face charges of abetting a rape, criminal conspiracy and failure to prevent a crime, investigators indicated at the Beersheba District Court on Monday.

Investigators were at the court to appeal a Sunday decision by the lower Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court to release from custody six suspects in the case. The district court accepted the appeal and ordered five suspects to remain in detention. One was released.

Police had said in a public statement on Sunday that all six would be charged. The proceedings on Monday suggested that figure had risen to nine suspects.

Prosecutors were expected to formally inform the court on Tuesday of their intention to indict the two 27-year-olds, Channel 12 reported.

All the suspects have insisted they are innocent.

The case shocked the country and spurred calls for reforms. Testimony from the suspects in the alleged rape at the Red Sea Hotel in the southern resort town indicated that as many as 30 men had lined up outside the intoxicated girl’s hotel room to wait their turn to rape her, while eyewitnesses failed to intervene.

On Monday, police reiterated to the court that investigators had found the teenage victim’s version of events to be credible. Investigators had obtained “digital evidence,” including videos taken of the alleged rape and cellphone location data.

Forensic evidence had also been obtained from the scene in room 216 in the hotel that tied several suspects to the place and corroborated the girl’s account.

Police also told Channel 12 the victim feared that videos taken by the suspects and shared with their friends would become public. Unit 105, the police’s cyber investigation team, was put on the case, tracked the dissemination chain of the videos and confiscated all devices that contained copies. Officers believe they have stopped the “chain of transmission,” they said, though there was no way to be absolutely certain.

On Sunday, Channel 13 quoted the victim’s family expressing relief that the investigation was over relatively quickly, and thanking the investigators. It said the girl herself was “stunned” to hear the news.

The manager of the hotel was questioned and placed under arrest last week on suspicion of failing to prevent a crime and interfering in a police investigation. She was later released to house arrest. There is no immediate indication whether she will face charges.

Last week, police officials told the media that the evidence indicates the alleged attack went on for a long time. “This is a shocking rape that went on for many hours,” one senior official said.

A statement from a group of attorneys representing the various suspects said Monday their clients denied wrongdoing, but added they had not yet seen the evidence and would wait until the indictments were filed to comment further.

“Our clients believe they are innocent, hold to their version of events according to which there was no rape, and if an indictment is filed and we are given the evidence, we will respond accordingly. As of now, we want to emphasize that our clients say they are innocent,” the statement read.