Pedophile suspected of contacting 1,000 girls
Police say Avinoam Braverman, 33-year-old computer expert, has one of biggest pedophile databases ever caught in Israel
The suspect, Avinoam Braverman, was brought before the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court for a remand hearing on Monday. The police noted that he is suspected of rape, sodomy, indecent assault, sexual harassment, distribution and possession of pedophilia materials. They are also looking into suspicions that Braverman was in touch with additional pedophiles.
Representatives of the police's computers unit told the court that Braverman had one of the biggest databases of incriminating material ever found in the home of a suspected pedophile.
Braverman is expected to be indicted for posing as a man in his early 20s in online chats intended for children and youth and contacting his victims, who were said to be aged eight to 15. According to the suspicions, he chatted with them on instant messaging systems and convinced them to send him nude photos or have virtual sex with him.
The suspect, who served in an elite Israel Defense Forces unit, allegedly met some of his victims and had sex with them. He was arrested in early January thanks to the alertness of an eight-year-old girl's parents, who noticed that she was corresponding with a stranger presenting himself as a 25-year-old.
The police say they had evidence that Braverman used to send his victims closeups of his genitalia and masturbate in front of them during video chats until he relieved himself. He also convinced the girls to do the same thing in front of him.
Convinced girls to skip school
It appears, however, that Braverman did not settle for the virtual world. In addition to computers, the police found in his house girls' 'underwear, which he is believed to have taken after having sex with them, as well as fur dolls he allegedly gave his victims as "rewards".
Braverman in picture he sent his victims (R) – and after arrest
The investigators managed to reach some of the girls Braverman allegedly had "virtual affairs" with for months before convincing them to meet with him.
According to the police, Braverman used sophisticated methods. He would check the hours his victims' parents would return home from work and met with the girls in their homes after they got back from school and were alone. He would sometimes ask the girls to pretend to be sick and skip school, and would them come over to their house and have sex with them.
In addition to the "prizes" he would collect and give his victims, the computer expert is suspected of buying the girls pizza and gift certificates, and even paying for their trips across the country.
