Former driver for PMO sentenced to 27 years for rape
Ilan Shmuel has been sentenced to 27 years behind bars after being convicted of rape and sexual assault against seven minors over a period of 20 years; 'I have no joy, because what was done to us cannot be taken back. I want every woman in Israel who has been sexually assaulted to know there is justice, you just need to step into the light and fight.'
'H,' the central witness in the case, said following the sentencing, "Justice has been served. The court has spoken and decided the most fair and correct course of action. I am very happy that he got 27 years and he will pay for his actions. Now the rest of the victims and I can heal and start over. We are like shattered glass. Every time anything was discussed, all the evidence and things I've had buried in me are smeared everywhere. All the secrets I've wanted to keep in order to protect mine and my family's dignity have been published everywhere. There are other girls who have experienced the same horrors. You can't make this stuff up. It will be with us until our last day."
'D,' another one of the plaintiffs in the case, said, "I have no joy, because what was done to us cannot be taken back. I want every woman in Israel who has been sexually assaulted to know there is justice, you just need to step into the light and fight."
Anat Greenbaum, of the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office, said after the verdict, "The court sentenced Shmuel to 27 years in respect to the hundreds of sex crimes committed by the defendant against several girls who were all minors and their families. The punishment meted out by the court is appropriate to the severity of the crimes."
Shmuel was convicted of rape and sexual assault on all seven girls for a period of over 20 years.
