Israeli man charged with raping four minors and recording the abuse

State prosecutors on Thursday filed an indictment in the Central District Court in Lod against Elior Cohen, a resident of Rosh HaAyin, accusing him of multiple sex offenses against four minors aged 13 to 15.

According to the indictment, Cohen exchanged explicit sexual messages with the boys, met them in person and picked them up in his car to different cabins. There, he carried out sexual acts with them and filmed the abuse on his mobile phone.

Prosecutors say he then urged the minors to delete their messages or hide them in a secret folder. He also allegedly told them to turn off their phones during the meetings to avoid location tracking and to cover their faces when entering the cabins so security cameras would not identify them.

In one case, Cohen allegedly asked one minor to write that he was over 16, even though Cohen knew the boy was 13, so he could later claim he believed the child was older. He is charged with rape of a minor, indecent acts, and illegal penetration of a child under 14. No further details were released.