Haifa court extends detention of 71-year-old suspect accused of filming child and attacking mother

A Haifa Magistrate’s Court on Saturday night extended by three days the detention of Ehud Halperin, 71, a single resident of Ramot Begin in Haifa. He was arrested on Friday evening on suspicion that he filmed a girl about 6 years old while she was using the restroom in a playground near the city’s central station area, then returned with a hammer and attacked her mother.

According to police, the report reached the emergency hotline after the suspect allegedly recorded the child in the park. A confrontation followed with the girl’s father. The suspect left, but came back shortly afterward carrying a hammer and assaulted the mother who was at the scene. People in the park, together with a police officer who happened to be there off duty, subdued him until officers from the Haifa station arrived. He was arrested, questioned and later jailed.

Halperin claimed he was beaten during the incident and that he only held the hammer, not attacked anyone. Police said the initial investigation showed prior convictions, including violent offenses. He arrived at court with serious injuries of his own, including wounds requiring stitches in one eye.

Halperin admitted he photographed the father and his daughter in the yard of his nearby home, but said he did not film the girl relieving herself. He said the images on his phone would prove that, but refused to give investigators the unlock code because he does not trust police. His lawyer, Leonid Pakhrovnik of the Public Defender’s Office, argued the probe was biased because one complainant is the police officer who was present, and asked for his release. Judge Yaakov Goldberg rejected the request, saying there was evidence linking him to the allegations and that there was a danger involved. He ordered police to complete without delay any investigative steps that could be compromised, while taking the suspect’s age and health into account.