Haaretz
The Tel Aviv District Court on Tuesday sentenced Yarin Sherf to six-and-a-half years in prison after he was convicted of raping a 13-year-old while they were staying at a government-operated COVID quarantine hotel two-and-a-half years ago.
The court also imposed a 21-month suspended sentence on Sherf and ordered him to pay the victim 30,000 shekels ($7,850) in damages.
Sherf was convicted last March in a plea deal that was approved by the victim. In an amended indictment, Sherf confessed to the charges, but the deal did not include an agreement on sentencing.
The amended indictment said that he met the victim at the quarantine hotel, which was run by the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry. Even though she knew how old she was, Sherf spoke to her in a sexual way and pressured her to invite him to her room.
The initial indictment included lesser charges against Sherf than rape, but after re-examining the evidence, State Prosecutor Amit Aisman decided to charge him with rape, despite the legal complexities that arose during the investigation.
‘The defendant’s delayed confession did not spare the girl involved with the difficulty of testifying in court, but there is great value in the confession even at this stage,’ the prosecutor’s office said. ‘During the proceedings, the girl was exposed to social media posts by the defendant and his friends, who placed the blame on her young shoulders. His admission of serious harm should put an end to these postings and allow the girl to concentrate on recovering and getting back her life.’
Initially, the girl told the police investigator that she had not consented to sexual relations with Sherf and that he acted violently toward her. The investigator believed her story but believed there would be a problem establishing lack of consent.
Amid outrage from activists over the original indictment, which charged Sherf with prohibited sexual relations, rather than rape, Aisman decided to give less weight to the evidence that emerged from the police investigation. Instead, the indictment used other evidence, such as conversations the girl had with others following the rape.