Soccer bigwig to be indicted for series of sex crimes

Police say Ofer Tzabari, arrested on suspicion of carrying out sex crimes against underage victims, is a "dangerous man."

By BEN HARTMAN
Arrest of Ofer Tzabari (photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Arrest of Ofer Tzabari
(photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
An indictment is expected to be presented in the coming days against the former manager of Hapoel Petah Tikva FC on a series of sex crimes involving minors, police said in court on Monday.
At the hearing Monday for Ofer Tzabari, police said that he is a dangerous man who “severely harmed” three youths aged 15. Tzabari was arrested last week on suspicion of carrying out sex crimes against what police said they suspect is a series of underage victims. The charges he stands to face include sexual assault and exploitation of a minor and indecent acts with a minor, among others.
The officer presenting the state’s case in court on Monday, Chief Inspector Ronen Shimri, said that Tzabari is a dangerous man, period. One because he received sexual services from youths in exchange for money…and second because he attacked police who were carrying out their duties and he fled and endangered the public.”
Tzabari was arrested November 27 after he hit a traffic police officer with his car in Bat Yam in a hit and run. He fled police after they found him parked in his car partly naked with a 17-year-old boy engaging in what police described as “suspicious activity.”
Police said in court Monday that no suspected victims came forward to police, rather that they found all of them by searching Tzabari’s phone. In addition, all three suspected victims refused to take part in “confrontations” with Tzabari supervised by detectives.
Last week, when Tzabari was arrested for the alleged sex crimes, police said that he and three other suspects, including an IDF colonel, committed sex crimes against well over 10 minors, with Tzabari using his position with the soccer team to prey on teens. At the moment though, only a few suspected victims have been located by police.


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