12 men nabbed over lewd photos of 12-year-old girl

Police arrest 12 men who were caught possessing graphic photographs of a 12-year-old girl.

By BEN HARTMAN
Israel Police officer 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Israel Police officer 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Central District Police on Wednesday arrested 12 men who they say exploited a 12-year-old girl, convincing her to send them graphically lewd photos of herself by email.
In early morning raids on the suspects houses, investigators found naked pictures of the girl on their computers, and long records of dialogue between the men and the girl, during which they reportedly insulted and degraded her verbally, police said.
Insp. Neriah Mor, acting head of the district’s anti-fraud unit, which carried out the investigation, said the photos went far beyond simple nudity.
The men convinced the girl to write lewd words on her body and take pictures, pose in sexual positions, act out sado-masochistic role play, and photograph herself using sex toys, Mor said.
The victim’s parents discovered some of those photos a little over a month ago, leading them to contact police, Mor said.
The girl met the men in online chat rooms and forums and the dialogue between them took place for at least the past six months, he said. Police have still not determined if any of the men met the girl in person.
The case was opened as a result of parents paying attention to their daughter's behavior, and otherwise the abuse could have become much worse, Mor said.
“When we were kids they used to say, ‘Don't open the front door to strangers,’ but today, the entire Internet is open to strangers and parents have to watch out,” he said.
All 12 men arrested were what police would consider “normative,” including hi-tech workers, teachers and a couple of soldiers, he said.
Central District police head Asst.- Ch. Benzi Sau said on Wednesday that the arrests were not a one-off raid, but rather a series of determined operations “targeted at exposing dangerous criminals who victimize teenagers and children.”
Sau vowed that police would show no leniency against those caught engaging in such crimes and called on parents to pay more attention to what their children were doing online.
About 10 months ago, the Central District operated an undercover agent who posed online as a 15-yearold girl, and arranged meetings with men she met online. A number of those men were then arrested when they came for the meetings, and in some cases child pornography was found at their homes after their arrests.