Reinhorn, a 35-year-old youth handball coach from Herzliya, was arrested last month in the largest pedophile case in Israel’s history.
The indictment contains 35 charges, with more than 120 prosecution witnesses. Reinhorn is accused of a large number of offenses of rape, sodomy and other sexual offenses by deception of minors. He also allegedly created obscene materials including images of minors. Other offenses he is charged with include sexual harassment of minors under the age of 15.The maximum punishment for the serious sex offenses attributed to the defendant is 20 years for each offense.According to the indictment, between the years 2017 to 2018, Reinhorn contacted dozens of girls between the ages of 9-17, as well as several adults, via Instagram using fictitious identities he created for himself. The profile picture he used for most of them was of a young woman from Germany, of whom he fraudulently obtained various photographs after he made her commit indecent acts on herself by deception.
He allegedly used a number of disguises, including an agent at a modeling agency, a TV and movie producer, and a bathing suit designer who invited the girls to model for him. In the event that they expressed interest, the defendant suggested that they undergo an audition, in which he asked them to photograph or film themselves, first fully clothed, then partially dressed or in a bathing suit, and finally naked, and to send the pictures and videos via WhatsApp, promising that he would delete the images afterward.
The defendant did this for sexual arousal and gratification, the indictment states. In some of the cases, the defendant requested that his victims touch themselves or perform indecent acts on themselves, claiming that these visuals were essential for the audition.
Some of the victims obliged his requests, while others became suspicious when he asked for nude pictures and refused to send him any more pictures.
Rom stated the defendant used sophisticated methods to disguise his identity and made it difficult to locate him. For example, he allegedly used proxy servers and VPN services so they would not lead to his IP address. He also using a phone number generator for his fraudulent WhatsApp accounts.
The cyber department of the State Attorney’s Office filed a request to keep the defendant in custody until the end of the legal proceedings, highlighting the defendant’s “unique, sophisticated and dangerous method of execution,” to argue that his release would endanger the security and safety of minors. The request also noted that some of the victims have not yet been identified by the police and the release of the defendant is liable to deter victims from testifying in court.
In his interrogation, the defendant denied the charges against him. He is represented by attorney Guy Planter.
Israel Police have been investigating the case for several months using a variety of surveillance techniques which connected the numerous victims to the suspect. The case was investigated by the Lahav 433 National Crime Unit, which led to Reinhorn’s arrest on August 7.