Man charged with attempted abduction, assault of teenage girl in Pardes Hanna

A man was charged Sunday with the attempted abduction of a teenage girl earlier this month in the town of Pardes Hanna.

Alexander Mozgovoy, aged 30 and a resident of the town, was also charged with common assault.

Prosecutors asked the Haifa District Court for him to be held until the end of legal proceedings.

According to the indictment, Mozgovoy spotted his intended victim, 16, as she was walking along the street on July 3 and decided to grab her.

Stopping his car, the suspect waited in ambush then came up behind her, grabbing her and covering her mouth to prevent her from calling for help.

The girl struggled but was unable to break free.

Mozgovoy pulled her towards the trunk of his car, at which point she began to call for help.

She also pleaded with him to let her go free and even offered him her cellphone in exchange for her freedom.

At some point a car drove slowly past the two. Mozgovoy attempted to make out that he was helping the girl rather then assaulting her, prosecutors said.

Once the car had passed, he continued his efforts to force her into the trunk.

However, two passersby heard her cries for help and approached the scene. When Mozgovoy saw them approaching he let the girl go and fled, prosecutors charged.

According to Hebrew media reports, Mozgovoy has claimed that he carried out the attempted abduction to raise awareness of local crime. He has no previous criminal record.

He was arrested a little over a week after the alleged abduction and has since reenacted the incident for investigators.

His defense team has accused police of deliberately leaking a short video clip showing Mozgovoy recreating the incident which was published earlier this month by news outlets.

The Pardes Hanna-Karkur municipality announced that it was increasing police patrols in the town following the incident.