Probe reveals senior IDF officer lured minors online

A senior IDF intelligence officer suspected of statutory rape allegedly maintained contact online with ten other minors between the ages of 14 and 16, police said on Sunday.

The officer, whose name remains under a gag order, was arrested last week, and his remand was extended on Sunday for three more days.

During the course of the investigation against the officer, launched after a teenager came forward, police confiscated his computer and cellphone, and found he had been in touch with several underage boys, and had exchanged photos online of a sexual nature.

There was no evidence the suspect, 41, had met with the minors, but Tel Aviv Magistrates Court judge Yaron Gat held that with minors it was sufficient to converse online for an indecent assault charge. The suspect went by the username “The Officer” online, and said he was 37 years old.

Police said the suspect admitted that he was in touch with several other teenagers, but said they told him they were 17. The age of consent in Israel is 16.

“Earlier I spoke of Sodom and Gomorrah, but the situation here is twice as bad,” police spokesperson Ronen Shamri said. “This is a senior officer who is suspected of being in contact with 15-year-old kids who learn in school. He asked one where they learned. As a father of children, this gives me chills.”

The officer was arrested last week after a 15-year-old boy filed a complaint with police. The officer said the teenager had told him he was over 16, while the teenager insisted he told him he was 15.