Court Erupts as Parents Confront Aides Accused of Toddler Abuse

By רועי רובינשטיין

Translated & summarized from Ynet by baba

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Hebrew · 4 newsrooms covering

A Petah Tikva court extended the house arrest of three daycare assistants accused of abusing toddlers by eight days, allowing their names to be published after a 48-hour delay. Parents confronted the suspects with shouts and insults outside the courthouse. Investigators presented further video evidence to the judge, who noted the suspects treated children "like objects." The investigation was prompted by an infant's hospitalization with an ear injury.

The story in 6 lines · by baba

Three daycare assistants accused of toddler abuse had their house arrest extended by eight days in Petah Tikva.
Parents confronted the suspects with angry shouts and insults outside the courthouse.
The judge remarked that the suspects treated the children "like objects" after viewing video evidence.
The investigation began after an 11-month-old infant was hospitalized with an ear injury.
The suspects are accused of lifting children forcefully, throwing them, and throwing objects.
The daycare is equipped with eight cameras, complicating the review of footage.

Court Erupts as Parents Confront Aides Accused of Toddler Abuse — Editorial illustration generated by baba News, not a photograph of the event.

A Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court extended the house arrest of three daycare assistants suspected of violence and abuse against toddlers by eight days. The court permitted the publication of the suspects' names, residents of Ra'anana in their 30s and 50s, but issued a 48-hour stay of execution on the order. Before the hearing, the three were met with intense anger and commotion outside the courthouse, as parents of the children shouted insults such as "murderers," "trash," "mentally ill," and "devil." They also yelled, "You're going to hell, you'll pay for what you did to our children." Court guards had to separate the suspects from the enraged parents, a scene that repeated itself after the hearing concluded.

The assistants, arrested last week, are suspected of forcefully lifting children, throwing them to the floor, pulling their ears, and throwing objects at them. During the hearing, police representative Adv. Yigal Perida stated that the reasonable suspicion against the three has strengthened, with each linked to numerous incidents, as evidenced by footage from the daycare's cameras. Perida also noted that the State Prosecutor's Office is deeply involved in the investigation. Additional video evidence was presented to Judge Dan Bauman, who remarked after viewing it, "I understand there were no children in this daycare, they treated them like objects." He later told the defense attorneys that suspicion had increased and that house arrest should be extended, citing multiple incidents for each suspect.

The police requested a 10-day extension of house arrest, citing the extensive footage from the daycare's eight cameras, each recording seven to eight hours daily. A mother of one of the toddlers shared the trauma her daughter is experiencing, including extreme distress during diaper changes and an inability to sleep due to fear of caregivers. The investigation began at the Kfar Saba station after an 11-month-old infant was hospitalized with an ear injury, leading to the discovery of multiple alleged violent incidents against toddlers at the daycare.

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