Case of Tsahi Asulin

Case of Tsahi Asulin

Employed by Liam Productions - Tel Aviv, Israel

Accused of statutory rape, inciting a minor to drug use and procuring minors in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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Table of Contents: 

2013

1. Tel Aviv court extends remand of Eyal Golan's father by four days (11/21/2013)
2. Police question Eyal Golan again, judge extends father’s custody (11/22/2013)
3. Israeli singer Eyal Golan unlikely to be charged in underage sex scandal (11/25/2013)
4. Four set to be indicted in Eyal Golan underage sex scandal (12/21/2013)

2014

1. Israeli singer Eyal Golan in the clear after girls admit to lying, Ch. 2 reports (01/28/2014)
2. Singer Eyal Golan proclaims innocence in sex scandal (02/02/2014)

Also see:

1. Case of Eyal Golan
2. Case of Danny Biton

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Tel Aviv court extends remand of Eyal Golan's father by four days

Remand also extended of employee at Golan's production company; famous Israeli singer under house arrest, as are two other suspects.

By Yaniv Kubovich 

Haaretz - November 21, 2013

The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court extended by four days the remand Thursday of two men at the center of an underage sex scandal.

According to the police request filed at the court, Danny Biton, father of famous Israeli singer Eyal Golan, and Tsahi Asulin, who works at Golan's production company, Liam Productions, are suspected of statutory rape, inciting a minor to drug use and procuring minors.

Golan was released to house arrest Wednesday night after more than 13 hours of police questioning at Tel Aviv District's Central Unit. Golan and two of the other suspects in the case were put under house arrest for five days.

In his decision Thursday morning, Judge Shmuel Melamed wrote that “in viewing the evidence I found reasonable grounds to back these suspicions. Reading the statements that these suspects gave to the police shows that they differ from others involved in this case who were placed under house arrest. The charges against these suspects are grave. It is morally heinous to exploit the innocence of young girls who are attracted to the glamour of the suspects.”

The Tel Aviv district police decided to reach an agreement in court to extend the arrest of Biton and Asuline because, according to the investigation material gathered thus far, there is a suspicion that the two were responsible for organizing the events during which the alleged offenses attributed to all those involved occurred. The two are suspected of exploiting their close relationship with Golan to give the underage girls hope that they could come and spend time in the singer's company.

Golan's driver was also questioned by police after being summoned to the central unit Thursday morning. The driver is suspected of sexual offenses committed against the underage girls. His attorney Shahar Hetzroni said in response that "He is not connected to the major, broader affair. This is a localized event that the police wanted to investigate. I estimate that he'll be released within a few hours."

Police raided the houses of a number of suspects Wednesday morning, including those of Biton and Asulin.

The Tel Aviv District Police hope to conclude the investigation in the next few days and reveal the identities of the other suspects.

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Police question Eyal Golan again, judge extends father’s custody

By Yaniv Kubovich

Haaretz - November 22, 2013

Police summoned singer Eyal Golan for another interview Thursday about the extent of his alleged role in a sex scandal involving teenage girls as young as 15. Golan’s father and an assistant are suspected of exploiting the vocal superstar’s celebrity to have sex with underage girls.

A Tel Aviv court Thursday extended by four days the detention of Golan’s father, Danny Biton, and of Tzachi Asulin, an assistant and manager in Golan’s production company. The two are suspected of statutory rape, inciting a minor to drug use and procuring minors, growing out of their alleged organization and participation in parties and gatherings at which the alleged sexual acts with underage girls took place.

The police’s main problem in the investigation is the reluctance of the girls, who are all Golan’s fans, to testify in court against him, a police source said. Also, some of their testimony appears to be exaggerated as the girls sought to play up the closeness of their connection to the star, the source added.

However, a police source stressed Thursday that the claims that the girls had lied about the events to get attention are groundless. The police official said the girls’ statements shed light on the modus operandi of Golan and the other suspects.

The girls testified that on several occasions Asulin, who was in charge of the contestants in the singer’s TV talent scouting show, “Eyal Golan is Calling You,” allegedly used his position to obtain sexual favors.

All the contestants auditioning for the show knew Asulin was a powerful man who was close to Golan. Asulin is suspected of picking the girls who were “to his taste” and promising to take them to a VIP room where they would meet Golan. In exchange, Asulin allegedly got the girls to let him take part in the sexual acts.

Golan’s father, Biton, is suspected of working in a similar fashion. Some of the girls told police that in exchange for a meeting with Golan and tickets to his performances, they engaged in sexual relations with Biton. He would also bring them to meetings with the other suspects in the affair, the girls said.

During the day police questioned 10 suspects in the case, including Golan’s driver and confidant. Golan himself had been put under house arrest for five days on Wednesday night after more than 13 hours of police questioning. Two of the other suspects in the case were also put under house arrest for five days.

In the ruling extending Biton and Asulin’s custody, Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court Judge Shmuel Melamed wrote, “The allegations against these suspects are grave. It is morally heinous to exploit the innocence of young girls who are attracted to the suspects’ glamour.”

Golan’s driver, who was also questioned by police Thursday, is suspected of having sexual contact with underage girls. His attorney Shahar Hetzroni said his client “is not connected to the major affair. This is a specific event the police wanted to investigate. I estimate he’ll be released within a few hours.”

The singer Omer Adam was also called in to give evidence Thursday. Police sources said Adam is not suspected of being involved in the sex scandal, but since he had attended some of the parties they wanted to take his testimony about the goings on and the people who attended them.

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Israeli singer Eyal Golan unlikely to be charged in underage sex scandalFocus in case shifts toward two figures in Golan's production company.

By Yaiv Kubovich

Haaretz - November 25, 2013

Police have decided not to extend the remand of singer Eyal Golan who was arrested over a week ago in connection with a sex scandal involving underage girls and had been under house arrest until Sunday.

He was released from house arrest along with public relations man Oded Moyal and a media personality whose identity is being protected by gag order.

Golan’s father Danny Biton and associate Tzachi Asulin, an assistant and manager in Golan’s production company, have had their remands extended by another four days. Once the two are released from police custody, they will be placed under house arrest.

The investigation into what police suspect is a case of using the superstar’s celebrity to have sex with underage girls, is coming to a close.

Prosecutors are unlikely to file an indictment against Golan, but charges are expected against Biton and Asulin, who police believe were the dominant figures in the affair. Evidence including a testimony from one of the girls who said she told Biton she was late for school, raises suspicions he knew she was a minor.

Police accused Asulin during a recent court hearing of having sex several times with one of the minors who was a his relative. He took advantage of her by promising to arrange a meet with Golan, acording to suspicions.

Several of the suspects in the case were brought in to face the minors in a joint interrogation. In the case of Golan, the police decided not hold a face-to-face interrogation, because they thought that the minors, who are fans of the singer, would not cooperate.

A meeting between one of the minors and Biton in police presence on Saturday was cut short when the minor admitted she had lied in her statement, then got up and left the room.

On Saturday, singer Omer Adam delivered a statement to the police. Adam, police had learned, attended a party at the home of the unnamed media man and another party at Golan’s home. Adam was not accused of having sex with any of the minors but rather was asked to recount what he had seen at the events.

The Tel Aviv Police Central Unit said that though they are having a hard time building cases against those involved, the charges were grave and that they are still gathering information in the investigation. All the girls testified to having sex with Golan. He does not deny that sex happened, but only that he had no knowledge of their true age. The suspects in the case say they thought they were getting involved with 20-year-old women who had previously worked at a strip club.

A police official said on Sunday the investigation “was looking into the suspicions” the minors had sex with other people not yet implicated in the scandal.

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Four set to be indicted in Eyal Golan underage sex scandal

Case complicated by the number of false or exaggerated testimonies by young girls who came forward to police at beginning of investigation.

By Yaniv Kubovich

Haaretz - December 22, 2013

Police officials say four indictments are likely in the investigation into an underage sex ring involving associates of singer Eyal Golan. The case has been complicated by the false or exaggerated testimonies of a number of young girls questioned by police about the affair.

Many of the girls apparently exaggerated, falsifying stories originally told to police regarding many of the suspects involved in the case.

Police officials had been suspicious from the beginning, when an unusually high number of minors came forward to testify.

Police now believe there is some truth to the stories told by the young girls, but that some exaggerations were involved as well.

One young girl told police she became pregnant after having sexual intercourse with the suspects. Upon further investigation, police tried to ascertain the identity of the father, and found that the account was completely false.

Another girl testified that she was accompanied by Eyal Golan’s father, Danny Biton, to a luxurious villa in Caesarea following a performance. That story also proved to be false. Despite the false testimonies, police officials estimate there will be indictments against Biton, Tzachi Asulin (a worker at Golan’s production company) and two others, but Golan himself will not be indicted.

The investigation began after the police received information from one of the girls involved regarding trafficking of minors. The name of Golan’s father came up as a suspect, and the police began discreet surveillance. Police officials claim they have enough evidence to bring Biton to trial.

Issuing an indictment against Golan, who admitted having sexual relations with a minor, is more complicated. The police do not have the same amount of evidence, and, due to the false testimonies, it would be difficult to get the courts to agree to indict the singer.

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Israeli singer Eyal Golan in the clear after girls admit to lying, Ch. 2 reports

Golan's father, Danny Biton, and two others are expected to be charged with using Golan's name to have sex with underage girls.

Haaretz - January 28, 2014

Singer Eyal Golan is unlikely to stand trial on underage sex charges after the four girls who accused him admitted under questioning that they had lied, Channel 2 TV reported on Tuesday night.

Transcripts from the investigation, some of which were revealed on TV, indicate that people close to Golan had used his name to seduce underage girls, without the singer having been involved.

Golan's father, his driver and a friend of his are suspected of having sex with underage girls, many of them from broken families, on a regular basis. The singer himself is not suspected of any crime, the channel reported.

The state prosecutor is expected to indict the main suspect, Golan's father Danny Biton, in the near future.

The police investigation lasted for three months, during which the police recorded telephone calls made by Biton. The recordings made it clear that Biton knew that the girls he was having sex with were underage, according to Channel 2.

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Singer Eyal Golan proclaims innocence in sex scandal

But admits using 'poor judgment’ regarding his father, who is suspected of using the singer's name to seduce underage girls.

By Dafna Arad
Haaretz - February 2, 2004

Popular Israeli singer Eyal Golan, who is under investigation for allegedly having sex with underage girls, issued a letter to the media on Tuesday , proclaiming his innocence.

Golan, along with his father, Danny Biton, and members of the singer’s staff, are suspected of having committed statutory rape and enticing underage girls to use drugs. It is likely that Golan won’t be charged, but his father is expected to be.

In his letter Golan, 42, said his only offense was using “poor judgment,” out of a desire to be close to his father.

Golan said he was prevented from holding a press conference on the affair because of the ongoing investigation and had decided to issue a letter instead in order to explain himself to the public.

In the letter, he noted that plaintiffs who had testified against him were found to have been lying. “Their testimony, which was leaked to the public, created an absurd and confusing situation as if I had done things that should never be done. I wish to clarify that I never committed any act that would dishonor any woman or man in the State of Israel,” he wrote.

“Except for one instance, in which there was an embarrassing situation that I testified about to the police, in which my father came to my home with two women, without my knowledge or consent. One of the women was a young girl who said she was 21 years old. After several minutes I suspected that she was younger. I asked her her age on my own initiative, and she admitted that she was 17 and a half. I left the apartment that very moment so as to avoid compromising her honor.”

Golan wrote that he had fired the staff who had used his name in order to commit improper acts. “Unfortunately, over the years there have been several people around me who, I was amazed to find, used my name falsely for things that appear to be utterly wrong, and this goes against everything I stand for. All my life, I have respected women and men in every way. Unfortunately, I understand that several of the people around me did not act as I did... I regret that from the bottom of my heart. Of course, I dismissed those people immediately.”

After describing his unusual relationship with his father, Golan wrote: “In the near future I will be concentrating on my music, and I hope that the Israeli public will understand that maybe I made an error in judgment in choosing the people close to me, out of my yearning for a good relationship with my father, who abandoned me when I was young, but no more than that. It would seem that any person, even one named Eyal Golan, who is a singer, would want his father close to him, but to my great regret, I was wrong. My biggest disappointment was that I wanted my father!!!”

Golan has complained to police investigators that the case has caused him losses amounting to millions of shekels and cancelled shows, and that his songs are no longer played on the radio.

Orit Sulitzeanu, chairwoman of The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, and television presenters Orly Vilnai and Guy Meroz recently called upon artists not to attend the Eilat Women’s Festival, where Golan is slated to perform. In response, Golan’s attorney, Shai Elias, threatened to sue the association.

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Charges dropped against Israeli singer Eyal Golan

JTA - February 5, 2014

The case against Israeli singer Eyal Golan for allegedly having sex with minors was closed due to a lack of evidence.

The  Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office made the announcement on Wednesday.

The day before, Golan, 42, released a public letter asserting his innocence and claiming that the case stemmed from his attempts to renew his relationship with his father, something he called “poor judgment” and “a mistake.”

Golan’s father, Danny Biton, is accused of procuring the underage girls for his son and himself. They were arrested and put under house arrest for five days in November amid the allegations.

“I’m aware the public is angry and confused,” Golan, a popular Mizrachi singer, said in his public letter. “I feel as if I’m being hanged in the town square on a huge rope and everyone that passes by throws a brick at me.”

He added, “I wish to clarify that I never committed any act that would dishonor any woman or man in the State of Israel.”

Golan was forced to take a leave of absence from working as a judge on the popular reality show “Rising Star” on Israel’s Channel 2, which completed its first season without him.

A Jewish community center in San Diego canceled a concert by Golan one week before the performance over protests by members of the Jewish community who found it inappropriate because of the investigation.

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