Police arrested a preschool teacher and four aides in Ashkelon today (Wednesday) on suspicion of assaulting vulnerable minors aged one to three at two private preschools.
The arrests followed an investigation opened this week after police received a report of alleged violence against children at the two preschools, which operate under the same management.
According to a police statement, investigators at the Ashkelon police station began examining the allegations and collected evidence and other findings. Police said the material gathered strengthened suspicions that offenses had been committed, leading to the decision to arrest the five suspects.
Alongside questioning the teacher and aides, police intend to contact the parents of toddlers identified as suspected victims of the conduct at the preschools. The parents are expected to be invited to file complaints in the coming days as part of efforts to establish the circumstances of the incidents.
Earlier this week, an indictment was filed against the director of the private "Luchik" daycare center in Ariel and two caregivers who worked there, charging them with more than 400 incidents of assault and abuse involving 17 infants and toddlers aged six months to three years.
According to the indictment, the defendants used violent methods of punishment, including blocking children's airways, restraining them, force-feeding them and confining them in a dark room. Alongside filing the indictment, prosecutors requested that all three remain in custody until the conclusion of legal proceedings.
According to prosecutors, the three exploited their positions as caregivers and the children's complete dependence on them to subject them to repeated violence. The alleged acts occurred on numerous occasions and included hitting, pushing, pulling and shaking the toddlers, as well as forcibly throwing them onto the floor and mattresses.
One pattern of abuse described in the indictment is referred to as the "suffocation method". According to the indictment, the defendants would hold the toddlers' heads and forcibly block their airways with their hands, paper or cloth. In some cases, they held the backs of the children's necks to prevent them from moving, bent their heads and bodies forward and forcibly pinned them against mattresses for extended periods.
Prosecutors describe cases in which the obstruction of the children's airways continued even after they began gasping, turned red and struggled to breathe. According to the indictment, in some incidents the defendants repeated these acts until the toddlers became dazed and lost their balance.
Another method of punishment attributed to the defendants involved binding the toddlers so they could not move. According to the indictment, the children were aggressively wrapped in cloths and blankets with their arms pinned to their bodies and tied tightly. They were then placed on their stomachs, unable to free themselves.
In some cases, the caregivers allegedly force-fed the toddlers while they were bound. According to the indictment, the two caregivers tilted the children's heads backward, used physical pressure to force their jaws open and rapidly forced pureed food into their mouths.
The indictment also describes cases in which toddlers were confined in a closed, dark room as punishment. According to the indictment, the children were left there unsupervised for substantial periods while the defendants ignored their crying and attempts to leave.
Alongside the physical violence, prosecutors also accuse the defendants of psychological abuse. According to the indictment, many of the violent acts were committed in the presence of other children, who were forced to watch their fellow daycare attendees being harmed.
Prosecutors allege that repeated exposure to these acts also caused psychological harm to children who were not the direct victims of a particular assault. In some cases, according to the indictment, toddlers who witnessed the incidents cried and even approached the child who had been harmed.
The charges therefore also include psychological abuse, in addition to offenses involving physical harm to the toddlers.