The Central District Court in Lod on Monday sentenced Shelly Sheinker, an assistant at the "Hagan Hashakuf" daycare center in Netanya, to seven years in prison after she was convicted of multiple acts of abuse and assault against 12 infants.
The children subjected to the abuse were between seven months and a year-and-a-half old.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court imposed a suspended sentence and ordered Sheinker to pay a total of NIS 300,000 in compensation to the children's parents. The prosecution, which had sought a ten-year prison sentence, said following the ruling that it would consider filing an appeal.
Sheinker was convicted of numerous counts of abuse of a helpless minor by a person responsible for the child, assault of a helpless minor by a responsible party which caused actual bodily harm, and aggravated assault. According to the indictment filed by the Central District Prosecutor's Office, the acts occurred on approximately 60 separate occasions and were captured by security cameras.
The indictment described a long list of violent acts against the children. Among other things, Sheinker pushed and struck the children, slapped them, pulled their hair, and ignored their cries. In other instances, she kicked and pinched them and forcefully grabbed their faces.
The indictment further stated that Sheinker would pull or lift infants by one hand or arm and throw them forcefully, including while they were sleeping. In other cases, she sprayed cleaning solution toward them, and on one occasion dragged a chair and used it to forcefully push an infant who was crawling on the floor.
The court stressed the severity of the offenses committed against these children by those entrusted with their safety and welfare. The ruling noted that despite a clear trend toward harsher punishment, cases continue to occur in which daycare workers and caregivers commit serious acts of violence against young children.
Following the sentencing, Attorney Ofir Fahima of the Central District Prosecutor's Office said: "Shelly Sheinker committed the acts of assault and abuse systematically and cruelly, while humiliating and degrading [the children], abusing her authority and terrorizing young and helpless children who were unable to defend themselves or express in words what was being done to them."
"At a time when she had been entrusted with their safety, she exploited their vulnerability and harmed them both physically and emotionally," Fahima added.
She explained that prosecutors had sought a ten-year prison sentence in order to send a clear message that significant punishment is imposed in cases involving harming helpless children and the betrayal of parents' trust.
"We will study the sentence and consider whether there are grounds to file an appeal," Fahima said.
The court also took Sheinker's personal circumstances, as detailed in the probation service report, into consideration before sentencing her to seven years in prison. Following the hearing, prosecutors expressed their support for the parents of the affected children.