State prosecutors on Thursday charged Ilana Hess with the abuse, neglect and kidnapping of her mentally handicapped adult son.
Hess, 62, was extradited to Israel from Cyprus last week, where she had fled with her son in 2016 after kidnapping him from a care facility.
According to the indictment, a court had removed Hess’s son from her custody in 2015 after welfare authorities found that she had starved him and chained him to his bed or a chair.
Hess’s son, who was in his late 20s at the time, was placed by the court in the Afikim care facility for the mentally disabled.
In April 2016, Hess picked up her son from Afikim for a court-approved visit, and fled with him to Germany and later to Cyprus.
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A year later, Hess’s son died in Cyprus from a yet to be determined cause. The indictment did not charge Hess in his death, and last week Israeli officials said she was not a suspect.
Hess was arrested in Cyprus on October 27, 2017, at Israel’s request, but her extradition was not approved by a Cypriot court until August. She was received by authorities in Israel last week.
The indictment filed with the Tel Aviv District Court charged Hess with kidnapping from lawful custody, abuse of a helpless person, neglect of a dependent, illegal removal of a person from the country, and obstruction of both police and judicial proceedings.
Prosecutors asked the judge to remand Hess in police custody until the end of the legal proceedings.
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