Police closed a child rape investigation in Modi’in Illit that ignited a media
storm, after reaching the conclusion that the original complainant gave false
testimony, Judea and Samaria district police announced on Sunday.
The
complainant, a kindergarten supervisor in the haredi city, had already recanted
her testimony on at least one occasion, casting doubt on whether or not the
alleged rape of a 5-year-old local girl took place.
District spokesman
Dudi Ashraf said police are weighing the possibility of pursuing criminal
charges against the complainant.
A week and a half ago, the supervisor
told Channel 2 that she made the story up, saying she did so because she doesn’t
feel that police take sexual abuse complaints in the community seriously
enough.
Until Sunday, police had questioned a large number of local
residents and communal leaders, and the story had ignited a public debate about
allegations that sexual abuse complaints are hushed up in the haredi community.