Prison service forgets to bring cult leader to court for sentencing

The sentencing of a a notorious cult leader convicted of sex crimes was delayed on Tuesday after he failed to appear in court because prison officials had left him behind in his cell.

Goel Ratzon, 64, was due to appear before Tel Aviv District Court for sentencing but officials realized he was still in Eshel prison in Beersheba, where he has been held since his conviction in September. Proceedings were delayed for a few hours until the convict could be brought to the court.

The Israel Prison Service said that the mishap was caused by a technical problem with its computerized system and that Ratzon was later dispatched to Tel Aviv to be sentenced.

Ratzon was discovered — as the result of a TV report and an ensuing police investigation — to be presiding over a harem in Tel Aviv of some 21 women, some of whom had entered into a relationship with him while still teenagers. He was arrested in 2010.

He is believed to have had up to 32 “wives” starting in 1991. He has also fathered at least 49 children, although some media sources estimate more than 60 children were involved in his cult.

Ratzon, who presented himself as a spiritual guru, was convicted of multiple counts of sexual offenses, including rape, sodomy, sex with a minor, indecent assault and fraud. He was acquitted of holding one of his victims in sexual slavery against her will.

Ratzon himself has maintained that he had done nothing wrong, and famously said after his arrest that “petting young girls wasn’t rape.”

Following Ratzon’s arrest, the fate of his former “wives” and offspring became an issue in itself, as the state found that the women and children were unable to support themselves and had been traumatized by their experiences. A 2011 Haaretz report noted that the group collectively had received millions of shekels in aid, but were still in “dire straits.”

Gavriel Fiske contributed to this report.