Embattled singer Eyal Golan professes innocence in statutory rape investigation

"I feel that my blood has been spilled during the recent period and that I have been hung in the town square," singer says.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Eyal Golan (photo credit: Hadad Eliran)
Eyal Golan
(photo credit: Hadad Eliran)
Eyal Golan, the popular singer accused of engaging in sexual relations with underage girls, on Tuesday again proclaimed his innocence.
“In the last three months, I have endured very difficult days,” the singer said. “I am aware that the Israeli public is angry and confused over what happened, and I am sorry about this.”
Golan said that he is unable to call a news conference, as was his original intention, due to the ongoing investigation.
The singer, whose string of hits have made him one of the country’s top celebrities over the past two decades, was among five men arrested in November after allegations surfaced that he had sex with minors.
Golan, along with two other men, was released from house arrest; they are not expected to be indicted.
His father, Dani Biton, and an employee of Golan, Tsahi Asulin, are expected to be tried on charges of statutory rape.
On Tuesday, Golan denied that he knowingly slept with an underage girl, saying she misrepresented herself.
“There was an embarrassing situation in which I told police that my father came to my house together with two women without my knowledge or my consent,” Golan said.
“One of the women said that she was 21 years old. I then became suspicious that this girl was younger. I asked her how old she was, and she acknowledged that she was just 17 years old.”
“At that moment, I immediately left the apartment in order to avoid doing harm to her honor,” the singer said.
Golan said that he “never committed an act that would be an affront to a woman or a man,” and that the women who made the original allegations against him were caught in a lie.
The singer said that he had dismissed his formerly trusted associates after it became clear that they were involved in “deeds that aren’t to be done.”
“I feel that my blood has been spilled of late and that I have been hanged in the town square with a large rope and everyone who passes by is throwing a brick at me and I am unable to respond,” he said.


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