Investigators Probe Alleged Abuse of Special-Needs Boy Left Outside Ramla Kindergarten

Two staff members at a special education kindergarten in Ramla have been removed from their posts and placed under house arrest on suspicion of severe abuse and neglect of a 5-year-old boy. According to the allegations, they took the child, who has special needs and does not understand surrounding dangers, outside the building and left him alone in the yard as a punishment while he was having an episode.

The boy was reportedly kept outside for more than 20 minutes in intense heat, crying and screaming. The case came to light only after a neighbor living near the kindergarten heard him from home, went outside to check, saw the child locked out without adult supervision, tried to speak with him, and recorded the scene on her phone. She then shared the video in local WhatsApp groups to help find the child’s parents.

His mother, Hadas Peretz, said she learned what happened from strangers. “No one from the staff called me, I found out through strangers and it broke me,” she said. “The neighbor heard him from her house, so how is it possible the staff inside the kindergarten did not hear? He was screaming and crying.” She said she rushed to the kindergarten, confronted the teacher in charge, and found her unable to explain. Peretz said she has not slept for two nights and that the family trusted the staff completely.

After the mother filed an urgent complaint with police, the two employees were barred from the kindergarten for two weeks and are now under house arrest. Despite the trauma, professional staff recommended that the boy return to the kindergarten, which is currently operating with a completely replacement team, so his therapy routine would not be disrupted and so he would understand he was not at fault. Ramla municipality and the Education Ministry are still investigating. Police said the Ramla station opened an investigation, questioned the two suspects, and will forward the file to prosecutors when it is complete. The Education Ministry called it “an extremely serious and unusual event” and said it is being closely monitored by regional inspectors and municipal officials.