Goel Ratzon. 'Sick personality'
Photo: Yaron Brener
Judge: Goel Ratzon is 'contemptible'
Judge who remands arrest of cult leader says he 'controlled women's lives in sick, perverted way'
The Tel Aviv District Court ordered Tuesday the remand of the arrest of polygamist Goel Ratzon until
the termination of all legal proceedings against him.
Ratzon, who lived with 32 women and fathered dozens of their offspring, has been charged with recurring instances of rape, indecent acts, enslavement, and fraud.
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Judge Hayuta Kochan issued the verdict for Ratzon's remand, and defined him as "a base and contemptible man with a sick and perverted personality".
"In his twisted and perverse way, and his complete control of every aspect of these women's lives, he mutilated their thoughts and castrated their personalities until they totally lost their free will. His baseness and contemptibility soar to new heights with the sexual relations he forced upon them," Kochan wrote.
Kochan added that the women cult-members were "weak, vulnerable, and mainly young and innocent, so it was an easy task for him to instill in them the faith that the world he created around him was all good, while the world outside was entirely evil and corrupt."
The judge also wrote that Ratzon had brainwashed the women into believing that engaging in sexual relations with him would secure their entry into heaven.
She said Ratzon had created a cult in which all members worshipped him blindly, seating him on a royal throne and succumbing to his every will.
"He introduced a reign of terror and fear, and those who did not do as he commanded were painfully and humiliatingly punished in a manner that made use of manipulation and severe chastisement," Kachon wrote.
She added that Ratzon installed bizarre rules of behavior, which included a prohibition to speak with or look at other men.
"He forced them to dress modestly and work only in the home, and they were not allowed to be delayed if he did not permit it, not even while buying water at the grocery store. Ratzon never worked and these women provided him with all of his needs. For example, they bought homes for him, trips abroad, and all the luxuries he desired," she wrote.
