Case of Yosef Nunu

Case of Yosef Nunu
(AKA: Yoseph Nino, Joseph Nunu, Joseph Nino)

Matav Charity, Security Guard - Herzliya, Israel
Kfar Saba's Meir Hospital- Herzliya, Israel

Yosef Nunu, a 70-year-old man was convicted and served a lengthy prison term for murdering his former wife and raping minors was arrested at the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba after allegedly molesting a 14-year-old suicidal girl whom he was employed to guard.

Nunu served 24 years of a life sentence for murdering his wife. He was released after receiving a presidential pardon.  
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Table of Contents

2010

1. Convicted murderer-pedophile molests suicidal girl at hospital (04/29/2010)
2. Pedophile arrested in Israeli hospital (04/29/2010)
3. Pedophile-killer 'molested suicidal girl' in hospital (04/30/2010) 
4. Killer, pedophile held for molesting girl he was hired to guard (04/30/2010)
5. Ex-con hired to watch suicidal teen arrested for her attack (04/30/2010)
6. Indictment: Watch guard befriended suicidal teen prior to sexual assault (05/05/2010)  
7. Arrest of hospital guard suspected of indecent acts remanded (06/21/2010)    
8. Law barring sex offenders from working with kids going unenforced (11/17/2010)   
   

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Convicted murderer-pedophile molests suicidal girl at hospital
By Raanan Ben - Zur
YNET News - April 29, 2010

Man hired by hospital through manpower agency to watch over 14-year-old says he merely kissed her forehead to list her spirits  

Herzliya resident Yoseph Nino, 70, who served jail time for murdering a nurse and raping underage girls, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of molesting a suicidal 14-year-old girl who was under his observation at Kfar Saba's Meir Hospital.

The Kfar Saba Magistrate's Court extended his remand by five days.

The girl was admitted to the hospital last week after trying to commit suicide. The hospital hired Nino through a manpower agency to watch over her for fear she may try to hurt herself again. 

Doctors who walked into the teen's room overnight Friday caught Nino in the act of fondling the girl and called the police. 

The suspect has denied the allegations, saying he merely kissed the girl on the forehead to lift her spirits. 

During his interrogation, Nino admitted to "massaging" the girl, but said he did not molest her. 

Meital Yasur Beit-Or contributed to the report



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Pedophile arrested in Israeli hospital
UPI - April 29, 2010

JERUSALEM, April 29 (UPI) -- A convicted pedophile guarding a 14-year-old girl recovering in an Israeli hospital from a suicide attempt was charged Thursday with molesting her.

Yoseph Nunu, 70, of Herzliya was arrested at the Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, Ynetnews reported. The hospital had assigned Nunu to watch over the girl to make sure she made no further suicide attempts.

Nunu served time in prison for killing his wife and sexually assaulting young girls, officials said.

Police said a doctor discovered Nunu molesting the girl. Nunu denied any sexual assault, saying he was only kissing her on the forehead.

Investigators were trying to determine if Nunu had been in contact with other children or teenagers since his release from prison, the Jerusalem Post reported.

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Pedophile-killer 'molested suicidal girl' in hospital

By Yaakov Lappin

Jerasalem Post - April 30, 2010 
 

Director of charity that hired man to work as guard questioned on suspicion of employing convicted felon to protect minors.

A 70-year-old man from Herzliya who was convicted and served a lengthy prison term for murdering his former wife and raping minors was arrested at the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba on Thursday after allegedly molesting a 14-year-old suicidal girl whom he was employed to guard.

The suspect, Yosef Nunu, was hired by the Matav charity to work as a security guard. The charity’s director was questioned by police under suspicion of employing a convicted felon to protect minors in violation of the law.

Nunu served 24 years in prison for murder, molesting minors, raping young girls, and molesting family members. He was released after receiving a presidential pardon.

Nunu was tasked with securing a girl who had been hospitalized after attempting to take her own life.

The incident has caused national outrage, and police have stressed that the law calls for any agency which employs people who work around children to ensure that the employee produces a certificate from police stating that he or she has no previous convictions.

According to suspicions, Nunu began molesting and touching the girl while she lay in her hospital bed. He was seen by doctors hovering over the girl. The doctors became alarmed at his actions and immediately called police.

During police questioning, Nunu denied the suspicions, saying he merely “wanted to cheer her up” by giving her “a massage and a kiss to the forehead.”

The Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court extended Nunu’s custody by five days, and described the suspect as a danger to those around him.  

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Killer, pedophile held for molesting girl he was hired to guard
By Yaakov Lappin
Jerusalem Post - April 30, 2010

A 70-year-old man from Herzliya who was convicted and served a lengthy prison term for murdering his former wife and raping minors was arrested at the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba on Thursday after allegedly molesting a 14- year-old suicidal girl whom he was employed to guard.

The suspect, Yosef Nunu, was hired by the Matav charity to work as a security guard. The charity's director was questioned by police under suspicion of employing a convicted felon…
 

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Ex-con hired to watch suicidal teen arrested for her attack

By Noah Kosharek and Dan Even  
Haaretz - April 30, 2010 

A 70-year-old man with prior convictions for murder and rape was arrested yesterday for allegedly molesting a suicidal 14-year-old girl at Meir Hospital in Kfar Sava a week ago. Later yesterday, the Kfar Sava Magistrate's Court remanded the suspect, Yosef Nunu of Herzliya, for five days. 

Nunu had been hired by the hospital through the nursing-care agency Matav to supervise the girl overnight to prevent her from harming herself. Police are now investigating why both the hospital and the manpower agency either overlooked or were unaware of Nunu's criminal record. 

Nunu served 24 years of a life sentence for murdering his wife, and was also convicted of various sex offenses against underage girls. He was released after receiving a presidential pardon. 

The suspect was arrested after he was caught fondling the girl in the hospital's children's ward last Friday night. The incident was reported to police the next day, but he was arrested only yesterday. 

In the intervening days, police said, his agency did not give him any further jobs. 

Nunu has denied the allegations, asserting that the acts were not sexual. He claimed he merely kissed the girl on the forehead to lift her spirits. 

The agency that hired Nunu employs 17,000 workers and has been operating for 52 years. Meir Hospital has employed its services for the past 12 years. 

The girl, a resident of an Arab town in central Israel, remains under medical supervision at her family's request. 

A representative of Meir Hospital said the girl was in reasonable physical condition but in poor emotional health. 

"The hospital maintains contact with companies that offer nursing services in unusual circumstances," he said. "In this case, personal supervision was requested from an established nursing agency, one the National Insurance Institute recently ranked first in the nursing field in terms of quality and professionalism, a firm that works with many state bodies. 

"On Friday night, while making the rounds of the children's wing, the ward manager noticed inappropriate activity occurring with one of the patients and acted quickly to alert all the relevant authorities - the police, the welfare authorities and the manpower agency itself. From that moment, the matter was transferred to the police's jurisdiction. 

"The hospital views the incident very gravely, and will hold a refresher course on guidelines to be followed by nursing firms," he concluded. 

The Health Ministry does not mandate supervision for psychiatric patients hospitalized as suicide risks. In recent years, however, hospitals around the country have developed their own guidelines for such cases, after incidents in which parents sued hospitals because their unsupervised children committed suicide there. 

"When a patient has suicidal tendencies and is hospitalized in a place where he cannot be supervised, it is common for supervisory services to be employed to prevent the patient from committing suicide," one psychiatrist noted. 

An official from the agency called the incident "highly regrettable.

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Indictment: Watch guard befriended suicidal teen prior to sexual assault 
By Raanan Ben-Zur
YNet - May 5, 2010

Severe indictment filed against elderly man with prior convictions for murder and rape who allegedly sang, gave candy to 14-year-old hospitalized suicidal teen he was tasked with guarding, before molesting her. Suspect says wanted to 'lift the girl's spirits'

An indictment was filed Wednesday against 70-year-old Herzliya resident Yosef Nunu for molesting a 14-year-old suicidal girl he was watching over at Kfar Saba's Meir Hospital.

Nunu, who was hired by the hospital through the nursing-care agency Matav to supervise the teen overnight despite being a convicted murderer and sex offender, is accused of performing an indecent act while exploiting a position of supervision and authority.

The girl was admitted to the hospital last week after attempting suicide. Nunu was hired to watch over her for fear she may harm herself again.   

"He took advantage of the girl's innocence and mental state to satisfy his urges," the indictment read. 

According to the charges, filed with the Kfar Saba Magistrates' Court, last Friday night Nunu carried on a friendly chat with the girl and her 17-year-old sister in the hospital's children's ward. He even sang to the suicidal teen, made her laugh and gave her candy.

He then began stroking the girl's arm and forehead, massaged her hands and feet and kissed her on the check and forehead. The older sister was witness to Nunu's advances, but a curtain separated the girl's bed from the beds of the other patients. 

At some point Nunu accompanied the suicidal girl to the bathroom while hugging her, and on the way stroked her face, neck, back and the area above her sternum. She pushed him away when he tried to touch her breasts, the indictment said. He managed to touch her stomach underneath her shirt, and later kissed her lips and the palm of her hand. 

The teen later complained to the hospital's nurses about Nunu. 

In 1968 Nunu was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a nurse in his cab after she had resisted his advances. He eventually served 13 years for the crime. 

In 1993 he was convicted of assault, and in 1998 he was convicted of sexually assaulting an underage girl, for which he was sentenced to four months community service. 

 In 2000 Nunu was convicted of sexually assaulting an underage boy and performing a lewd act in front of a minor. He was sentenced to six years in prison for these crimes. 

The prosecution asked that Nunu remain in custody until the conclusion of legal proceedings, claiming he poses a danger to the public. The prosecution will present the testimonies of the two sisters and doctors who claim they saw Nunu commit some of the acts he is accused of. 

Nunu has admitted to some of the allegations, but claims his actions were not of a sexual nature and were meant to lift the suicidal girl's spirits.

 

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Arrest of hospital guard suspected of indecent acts remanded
By Raanan Ben-Zur
YNET - June 21, 2010

The Kfar Saba Magistrates' Court has remanded the arrest of Yosef Nunu until the termination of the proceedings against him. Nunu is accused of performing indecent acts on a suicidal 14-year old girl he was hired to guard.

Nunu, a 70-year old resident of Herzliya, has previously served prison sentences for murder and sexual assault. 

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Law barring sex offenders from working with kids going unenforced

By Jonathan Lis

Haaretz - November 17, 2010

Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child reveals that from 2001 to 2007, police opened 4 investigations into employment of sex offenders at places that work with children, and none resulted in an indictment.

Police cannot enforce a law barring sex offenders from working with children, Tuesday's meeting of the Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child revealed. 

The 2001 law bars the employment of sex offenders at any institution that works with minors or the developmentally impaired. But from 2001 to June 2007, the committee learned, police opened only four investigations into the employment of sex offenders at schools, daycare centers and other places that work with children, and none resulted in an indictment. 

Every year, some 780 Israelis are convicted of sex crimes. About 200 are sentenced to jail and another 200 to community service, the Public Security Ministry said. Ten to 15 percent of these people commit another sexual offense within five years of their conviction. 

Aryeh Mor, who heads the Education Ministry's security department, told the committee a directive was sent to all educational institutes detailing the law's requirements. In particular, he said, they were told that every student teacher must obtain authorization from the police that he is not a sex offender, and schools must check these authorizations. The directive also applied to summer camps, he said, while youth movements and local authorities have issued similar instructions. 

The police set up a computerized system to issue the authorizations. But between 2001 and June 2007, only two of the 67,500 people who sought permits were rejected. 

Superintendent Meir Berkovich told the MKs that police cannot spare time from their many other urgent tasks to actively seek out employers who violate the law, so they investigate only on tips.

Mor said that as far as the ministry knows, not a single institution has thus far failed to demand the requisite authorizations. But committee chairman Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi ) was not reassured. 

"If you haven't found even one case of an institution failing to perform such a check of its employees, that raises questions," he said. "There's no such thing as perfection. So if you haven't found even a single violator, that means your supervision is flawed." 

He also criticized the police, saying, "If only four cases were opened, and not a single indictment filed, during the law's seven and a half years of existence, then something is very wrong with the supervision and enforcement system." 

Attorney Meira Bassok of the Na'amat women's organization cited another problem: Community centers, she said, are not covered by the Education Ministry's directive, and many are not aware that they have to obtain police authorization for their employees. 

Orlev also complained about the lack of a system to warn institutions if an employee commits a sex offense after being hired. He proposed police set up a system to automatically cross-check their database of offenders with their database of people who received permits to work with children. 

One recent high-profile case in which a convicted sex offender was found to be working with minors despite the law occurred in April, when Yosef Nunu - a man convicted of both murder and multiple sex offenses against minors - was arrested for indecent assault against a suicidal 17-year-old he had been hired to care for at Meir Hospital in Kfar Sava. He was hired by Matav, an organization that provides caregivers for patients who need round-the-clock care. The organization subsequently claimed that by law, it is forbidden to ask its employees for a good-conduct certificate from the police, and therefore did not know about Nunu's criminal past. 

Ofra Edelman contributed to this report.

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