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Shaul
Shamai, accused of molesting 10 girls while acting as a substitute
teacher in Tel Aviv, seen in Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on June 13,
2017. (Screen capture: Ynet)
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10 girls now accusing teacher suspected of molesting 2nd graders
Judge remands Shaul Shamai in custody, calls him ‘a sophisticated criminal’ who hid his past ‘to be in close proximity to minors’
The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court
on Tuesday extended the remand of a substitute teacher suspected of
molesting and sexually harassing second grade girls at a local
elementary school.
The man was named as Shaul Shamai, 49, from Rishon Lezion, near Tel Aviv.
Judge Hayuta Kochan denied the defense team’s
request that Shamai be released to house arrest, saying the number of
girls who complained that he sexually abused them had risen from four to
10 since the start of his trial last month. Nine of the complainants
are students in the school and the tenth is over 14.
Kochan also said that Shamai had actively
tried to obstruct the police investigation into the suspected abuse, and
intentionally concealed his criminal past in order to get a job at the
northern Tel Aviv elementary school.
“He is a sophisticated criminal who knowingly
concealed the fact that he had been convicted of a similar sex offense
in order to pave the way for him to be in close proximity to minors,”
she said.
Kochan ordered Shamai remanded in custody for another week.
According to reports, Shamai made a number of
sexually explicit comments toward some of the girls as well as having
allegedly inappropriately touched a number of them during a class.
Shamai denied molesting the girls, saying his contact with them was entirely appropriate.
The incident came to light after one of the
girls complained to her mother. It then emerged that Shamai was
convicted last month of indecent sexual acts against a girl he tutored
from when she was 12 until she was 15.
In January, before his conviction, police gave
him permission to keep teaching. That decision was not amended after he
was convicted last month. He had been set to face sentencing in October
for his earlier offenses, Ynet reported.