A man accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at a state-run coronavirus hotel will be charged with unlawful but consensual sexual encounter, the prosecution in the case said Thursday.
Yarin Sherf, 21, was accused of raping the teen at virus facility for at-risk youthearlier this month when the two were quarantined together in the same hotel. According to the initial complaint, the man formed a friendship with the teen to gain access to her room and then raped, choked and beat the alleged victim for two days straight, all while supplying her with drugs and alcohol.
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The state-run coronavirus hotel where the alleged unlawful sexual encounter took place
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
Prosecutors, however, decided not to push for indictment on rape charges since the teen - who apparently had told Sherf she was 14 - voluntarily invited the man into her room and had intercourse with him.
The prosecution still wants him charged with sexual harassment, threat, assault and providing intoxicating substances to a minor, according to the documents submitted to the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court.
According to the law, sexual intercourse with a female below the age of 14 is considered statutory rape, even if she had consented to it. However, since the girl lied about her age, the prosecution will only seek charges of unlawful but consensual sexual encounter, which carry up to 5 years in prison.
According to the prosecution, Sherf was sent to a state-run coronavirus hotel for underprivileged youth in the Tel Aviv area where he met the 13-year-old. Both have never met before.
In the evening hours of the day he arrived, he contacted the girl through Instagram, offering to go to her room and spend time with her and several other people.
During their conversation, the girl offered to go up to his room. After looking at his profile on Tik Tok and finding out his age, she said "forget about it, you're too old, "you're 21???".
In response, Sherf said that he's 20 and asked her age. The girl told him she was 14 and withdrew her proposal for him to come to her room.
Later that day, Sherf hung with the girl and several other minors on a porch at the hotel. During the evening, he, again and again, tried to convince her to have sex with him.
When she refused his propositions, he threatened to give her an "Eilat Affair 2", alluding to the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl at a hotel in the southern resort town last August.
In addition, Sherf gave the girl and another minor vodka and marijuana.
During that night, he again contacted the girl several times and asked to come to her room. She told him it will not happen because she is tired, asking him "to leave her alone."
At noon the next day, Sherf again met up with the girl on the hotel porch. A counselor noticed the two and asked him to leave her alone and stop talking to her due to the age gap.
Sherf started walking to his room and noticed the counselor walking up the stairs with him. He turned to the counselor and said: "What do you think, that I am going to do something to a 14-year-old girl? What do you think, that I do not have anyone else to f***?" Following the interaction, Sherf went back downstairs.
After returning to his room, the girl texted Sherf, telling him he can come up to her room. He went upstairs, where both of them had sex. He asked her to give him oral sex, to which she refused and he slapped her for refusal. The two argued, with Sherf apologizing and promising not to do it again.
Several hours later, the girl sent him a photo of herself on Instagram. Sherf replied, asking her where she is and that he is coming over to her room. The girl responded: "Not now. I want to be alone."
Despite her refusal, he arrived at her room and was let in. The two had sex again when suddenly a counselor entered the room and found Sherf hiding in the bathroom.
The prosecution requested the court to extend his remand until the end of the legal proceedings. "The suspect abused the age gap between him and the minor, and despite him knowing how young she was, constantly persisted with her until he got what he wanted," said Attorney Ravit Shafir in a letter to the court.
"The suspect refused to acknowledge her rejection, propositioning the minor with various sexual proposals and not stopping despite her initial explicit reluctance."
The letter added that: "The suspect is a well-known figure among young people who use TikTok and his habit of expressing himself in a degrading and abusive manner towards women online raises concern about influence on witnesses in this case."