A 39-year-old Tel Aviv woman says she was sexually harassed and exposed to public masturbation by the same elderly man twice in recent months, including this week after he was previously arrested and released under restrictions.
Adi Susman said the first incident occurred about two months ago when she boarded a crowded bus in central Tel Aviv during the middle of the day. She sat next to a very elderly man who invited her to sit and began commenting on her body and asking her out for coffee.
“I nodded politely and put on my headphones,” she said. “Then I realized he was looking at me and breathing on me like an animal.”
Susman said she froze. “We were sitting in a זוג seat. I didn’t see with my own eyes what he was doing at first, but from the movements I understood.” Moments later, she stood up and, she said, saw that his hand was inside his pants and that he was masturbating.
“I started screaming,” she said. “He tried to get off the bus, and when I asked him what he was doing he claimed he had a stomachache.” She alerted the driver and insisted he get off.
The suspect is an 88-year-old man who, according to authorities, suffers from dementia.
Susman filed a complaint with police and posted about the incident on social media. She said she received hundreds of messages from women who claimed he had harassed them or their daughters. Although she blurred his photo, many said they recognized him and described similar encounters on buses, in bars and along central streets, including Dizengoff.
About a week and a half ago, she said she was informed the man had been arrested, released and issued a restraining order. The case was transferred to prosecutors.
On Tuesday, she said she boarded the same bus line at the same time of day and saw him again, sitting in the same seat and wearing the same clothes. Since the first incident, she said, she scans the bus each time she boards. “I immediately asked a woman next to me for help. I felt like I was having an anxiety attack.”
Susman called police and kept him in sight as he got off near a shopping center in central Tel Aviv. She said officers arrived about 40 minutes later. During that time, she alleged, he approached and touched women and at one point sat inside a store and masturbated. Security staff at the shopping center told her they recognized him and said he is frequently detained there.
Officers eventually arrested him near restrooms in the complex. Susman filed an additional complaint and provided police with photos and documentation. She said she later received thousands of responses online from women who said they had encountered him.
“I’m not supposed to be afraid,” she said. “No woman is supposed to be afraid.”
Police said that upon receiving the report, officers worked to trace the suspect’s route on public transportation and located and arrested him in central Tel Aviv. Citing privacy considerations and his age and medical condition, police said they could not provide further details. The investigation is ongoing.