Case of the Unnamed Rapist at Ilan - Residential Group Home for the disabled

Case of the Unnamed Rapist at Ilan - Residential Group Home for the disabled

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Israel

A wheelchair-bound woman with cerebral palsy who was allegedly raped a month ago continues to live in the disabled residence where her suspected attacker also lives.

If you have any more information about this case, please forward it to The Awareness Center.

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Disabled Israeli rape victim still living in resident care with alleged attacker

Another suspect involved in the rape, an employee of the institution, was suspended only after Haaretz made inquiries into the matter.

By Talila Nesher 

Haaretz - April 3, 2013  

A wheelchair-bound woman with cerebral palsy who was allegedly raped a month ago continues to live in the disabled residence where her suspected attacker also lives.

Another suspect involved in the rape, an employee of the institution, was suspended only after Haaretz made inquiries into the matter.

The woman was allegedly taken by the employee to the suspect’s room, where he undressed her against her will and left her there with the suspect, who allegedly raped her.

The rape was reported to the woman’s family by the residence director. The woman’s father says that if the director hadn’t told the parents what had happened, they might never had known, since she never said anything to her family.

The Israel Police, which has not completed its investigation a month after the incident, responded that it is “continuing to investigate the event thoroughly and professionally.”

It offered no explanation, however, for why it is allowing the complainant and the suspect to remain in daily contact with one another, or whether this undermines the investigation and harms the complainant.

Police did not immediately question the woman or anyone else involved in the case when the complaint was first filed. Police at the time said it had asked the Social Affairs Ministry to arrange for an investigator that deals with special needs individuals to question the complainant, but when the ministry informed them it wasn’t getting involved, “the complainant was summoned to the police station and attempts were made to question her,” police said.

The Social Affairs Ministry initially denied that it had been approached by police, though it later claimed it wasn’t within its authority to question the woman since she is not mentally disabled. The residence’s reports on the woman state that her motor abilities, memory and judgment are impaired.

By law, a mentally impaired person involved in a police investigation must be questioned by a special investigator who is a psychologist or social worker, or who is trained in special education. “Mental impairment” is any mental or developmental condition that could interfere with the ability of the person to give evidence.

Contrary to the police version, the complainant’s parents say they brought her to the police five days after the incident, demanding that she be questioned by a special investigator. They claim police told them they’d have to wait a week for a special investigator. The parents thus allowed her to be questioned by police, who did not videotape the session as required by law because the investigation room in that station is not wheelchair-accessible.

Meanwhile, “The suspect is walking around free in the same compound and she is forced to see him every day. The residence director says his hands are tied,” according to one of the woman’s parents.

The Social Affairs Ministry said “the matter is being investigated by the police. While the police investigation is going on, we cannot take parallel action.”

Shimon Tzurieli, the director of Ilan, which operates the residence, said, “We work according to the instructions of two elements. A month has gone by and neither the police nor the Social Affairs Ministry has told us what steps to take.”