7-Year-Old Girl Asked for Help With Her Bike — and Became a Victim of Indecent Acts
According to the indictment, a 53-year-old man sitting in a park drinking beer was asked to help fix a bicycle. He is accused of touching the girl three times and offering her to sit on his lap. In one of the cases, she got scared, fled from him, and hid in a tunnel at the playground.
A 7-year-old girl went out with her 9-year-old brother to ride bicycles in a park near their home in Rehovot. A malfunction in the bicycle led a girl who was with them to ask for help from a 53-year-old man who was sitting on a bench drinking beer.
According to the indictment filed, the seemingly innocent encounter soon turned into a serious incident, during which he performed three indecent acts on the minor. At one point, it is alleged, the girl got scared, fled from him, and hid in a tunnel at the playground.
At noon, according to the indictment, the 7-year-old girl and her 9-year-old brother left their home in Rehovot riding bicycles and made their way to a nearby park. On the way, they met a girl of about 16 who joined them. When they arrived at the park, the girl noticed a malfunction in the bicycle, and the girl approached the defendant, who was sitting on a nearby bench drinking beer, and asked him to help fix it.
According to the charge, the 53-year-old defendant tried to fix the bicycle by kicking it, but it was unsuccessful. After the children moved to sit under an olive tree in the park, it is alleged that he followed them and asked whether they wanted to drink from the bottle he was holding. The children refused. Then, according to the prosecution, the defendant grabbed the girl by her hand and asked her once more if she wanted to drink.
Later, it is alleged, he took her bicycle again under the pretext of trying to fix it and touched her genitals over her clothes. The indictment describes that "the minor got scared, and in response fled the scene and hid in a tunnel at the playground." According to the indictment, after she fled, the defendant asked her brother where she was, and when he replied that he did not know, the defendant walked to the fitness equipment area in the park. Later, the girl came out of her hiding place and made her way to her brother. On the way, she took a lollipop that was in her bag.
According to the prosecution, the defendant noticed her, approached her, took the lollipop from her hand, and put it in his mouth. After that, he asked her if she wanted to sit on his lap. The girl refused, but according to the charge, he grabbed her by her hand, pressed her against the area of his legs, and touched her genitals again over her clothes. After that, he returned the lollipop to her.
The girl took the lollipop, threw it in the trash, approached her brother, and asked to go home. The two approached the bicycles and bags that were placed on a bench in the park and intended to leave the area. However, according to the indictment, the defendant followed them and asked where they were going. When the girl got up from her bicycle, it is alleged that he touched her once more on her genitals over her clothes. Consequently, the defendant is charged with three counts of indecent acts on a minor under the age of 16.
