In Israel, a private kindergarten accused of more than 400 cases of child abuse

More than 400 episodes of abuse of 17 infants and young children have been identified in a private kindergarten in the West Bank settlement of Ariel. In this case, the Prosecutor’s office has indicted the director of the institution and two teachers, reports The Times of Israel.

The defendants were 37-year-old director of the kindergarten “Luchik” Natalia Kisilevskaya, as well as 37-year-old Darina Chalupa and 40-year-old Anna Pagelski. The indictment was sent to the Central District Court in Lod. Among the crimes he is charged with are the ill-treatment of minors and the attack on a helpless person by a person responsible for his well-being.

According to the case materials, the teachers blocked the children’s airways with their hands, paper or cloth, while fixing their heads to prevent them from moving. According to the prosecution, they also shook the children, tilted their heads and bodies forward and pressed them against mattresses for a long time. In some cases, caregivers continued to block the children’s breath even when they were choking and trying to breathe in.

In addition, children were tightly swaddled into cloth or blankets, pressing their hands against the body, and then laid on their stomachs. Two teachers are also accused of forced feeding: they threw back the children’s heads, forcefully clenched their jaws and quickly pushed mashed food into their mouths.

The indictment also states that the children were locked up for a long time in a dark room without supervision as punishment. According to the prosecution, the teachers committed violent acts in front of other students. Some children cried or approached the injured peers.

The prosecutor's office requested the arrest of all three accused before the end of the trial. The department said women posed a serious risk given the nature and frequency of the alleged actions, the age of the victims and the abuse of parents' trust.

In May, two criminal cases were opened in Kyzyl after reports of violence against pupils of one of the kindergartens. The reason was the statements of the mothers of four children aged four and five years, who found traces of injections on their buttocks.

According to the children, the teacher and the assistant teacher took them to the toilet and gave injections with a syringe. According to the Telegram channel “112”, thus the employees punished the pupils for slow eating and bad behavior. At the same time, no traces of any substances were found on the syringes, and the injections themselves were not accompanied by the introduction of drugs.

The Investigative Committee opened a case of negligence, and the police - on failure to perform duties for the upbringing of minors.