Court sentences caretaker to 1 year for beatings of twin babies

According to the court, in seven separate instances Levi hit the twins either with their bottles, her hand or some other object.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Updated: OCTOBER 3, 2018 04:30
New court rulings could have ramifications in Israel. (photo credit: REUTERS)
New court rulings could have ramifications in Israel.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Haifa Magistrate’s Court sentenced caretaker Rachel Levi to one year in prison for repeatedly beating twin babies and a small child she was being paid to watch over.
The court said on Tuesday that Levi had acted violently against the twin babies several times between October 2014 and June 2015, when she cared for the children on behalf of their parents during various work hours.
The court wrote that Levi had also thrown the two-year-old older sister of the twins on the floor in one instance, and that one of the twins had received a serious head wound from the multiple rounds of beatings.
Levi admitted to the allegations, but had hoped for only a community service sentence in light of her clean record, that she is 72 years old, and that she was in a high-stress period after getting divorced from her husband of around 40 years.
According to the court, in seven separate instances Levi hit the twins either with their bottles, her hand or some other object. She also shook them roughly several times and threw them roughly from one side to another when they were lying on the floor – essentially flipping their bodies.
The parents responded to the sentence on KAN Radio, saying that it was important that the punishment was a jail term to send a clear message to any caretakers who might be thinking of deviating from acceptable behavior when watching over other people’s children.