Police officer arrested on suspicion of molesting young girls
Cop suspected of indecent assaults against four children aged 6-7; previous complaints against him closed due to lack of evidence
A police officer was indicted on Thursday on charges of molesting four young girls in separate incidents and allegedly trying to scare off a fellow officer who was investigating the complaints against him.
The charges against Boaz Mishori, 45, from central Israel included indecent assault, breach of trust, obstruction of justice, and harassment, Channel 2 reported.
Mishori, who served in the West Bank settlement of Ariel, was arrested last month by the police internal investigations department on suspicion of assaulting the girls, aged 6-7.
The suspect was accused of inviting the daughter of an acquaintance, aged 7, to sit in his lap during an event at a public park in order to give her a better view of the stage, then assaulting her. On another occasion, when he was giving a workshop on road safety at the city hall, he molested a 7-year-old girl after offering her a fluorescent safety vest to try on, the report said. A female presenter at the event witnessed the incident and alerted the girl’s father.
According to the indictment, while participating in a summer day camp for the children of cops, the suspect suggested a girl, also 7, sit in his lap after all other seats on the bus were taken. He then allegedly sexually abused her. The abuse continued on several other occasions, even though the girl asked him to stop and told him that she didn’t like what he was doing, the TV report said.
No details were available about the fourth case.
The indictment said the suspect tried to harass a fellow officer who began investigating complaints into his behavior. The suspect was said to have informed tax authorities that a business run by the investigating officer’s wife was committing tax offenses, drawing inspectors to the premises.
Hebrew media reported there were two previous complaints against the suspect of molesting young girls, but they were closed due to lack of evidence.
Police said in a statement following the suspect’s arrest that “it goes without saying that the police department rejects with disgust any kind of criminal behavior and even more so in suspicions of crimes such as these. The police will act according to all law, and will take all administrative measures against suspicions of acts like these.”