Senior IDF officer who secretly filmed female soldiers nude jailed for 80 months

A former senior Israel Defense Forces officer convicted of dozens of counts of sex offenses and invasion of privacy for filming his female subordinates while nude without their knowledge was sentenced by a military court on Monday to 80 months in jail.

Lt. Col. Dan Sharoni was arrested in 2021 for his actions, which included collecting sexual images of soldiers and some civilians over the course of at least eight years. He was dismissed from duty that year.

Last year, a military court convicted Sharoni of 67 offenses in total: 23 counts of indecency, 39 counts of privacy violation, three counts of illegally hacking a computer, one count of attempted indecency — for a case in which he installed a hidden camera in someone’s room but ultimately only photographed them fully clothed — and one count of conduct unbecoming a soldier.

After several hearings, the court on Monday sentenced Sharoni to an unprecedented six years and eight months in jail, along with a suspended sentence, and ordered him to pay NIS 300,000 ($82,000) in damages to the 49 victims.

Sharoni was also being demoted to the rank of private, the lowest rank in the IDF. The demotion will take effect 45 days after the end of the legal proceedings.

During the sentencing hearing, “the military court emphasized the severity of the defendant’s actions, who exploited his authority and power and violated the trust placed in him as a commander,” the IDF said.

“The military court highlighted the serious harm caused by the defendant’s actions to the image of commanders in the IDF and to the military system as a whole. The court stressed the need to denounce such behavior and the duty to protect the security of all service members,” the military added.

According to an indictment in December 2021, Sharoni used numerous hidden cameras, including some placed inside phone chargers, to film soldiers under his command, often installing them in their barracks and showers. He was also accused of taking soldiers’ phones for seemingly innocuous reasons and looking through them to see if they had nude or intimate photos on them and then copying any of those to his own device.

The indictment listed 49 victims, both female and male, though there may have been others. The majority were soldiers, though he also installed the devices in homes, including his own, and filmed civilians. In addition, he was accused of entering some of his victims’ rooms while they slept and masturbating while filming them.

Lt. Col. Dan Sharoni, an IDF officer accused of of secretly filming his female soldiers, at a hearing at a military court in Tel Aviv, December 5, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

According to the charge sheet, Sharoni committed his crimes from 2013 to 2021, while serving in three different units in the military. In many of the cases, the victims were soldiers and officers with whom Sharoni had close, friendly relationships.

During the trial in 2022, a plea deal was signed with Sharoni, but it was later nixed following opposition from many of the victims. The plea deal would have seen Sharoni confess to the charges and be sentenced to several years in prison, demoted to the rank of private, and be required to pay compensation to the victims.

However, the deal would have potentially seen him benefit from a significant military pension despite being too young. Military pensions are generous, and as they are awarded from age 46, they give officers the ability to launch lucrative second careers on top of their large pension packages.

“Throughout the entire legal process, the military prosecution maintained continuous contact with the victims of the offense, kept them regularly updated on the progress of the proceedings, and ensured that they received all their rights,” the IDF said on Monday.

The military added that it views “any sexual offense with great severity and will continue to act with determination and with zero tolerance to bring those to justice in every case of sexual assault.”