Palestinian man arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting teen in Ashdod
The suspect who was doing renovations at a school established a relationship with the 13-year-old student, allegedly took her to one of the apartments he was renovating and assaulted the girl; he was located in the West Bank after 2 months
The suspect, who is believed to be in his thirties, was living in Ashdod at the time and was allegedly employed by the school to do renovations work.
The Magistrate's Court in Ashkelon extended his remand on Wednesday morning and allowed the case to be publicized without revealing the details of either the perpetrator or the victim. The initial complaint was filed with the police toward the end of May.
According to the police, the suspect established a relationship with the teenager while doing renovations at the school the girl was attending. One day the two apparently went to a nearby apartment - which the suspect was also renovating - and sexually assaulted the 13 year old.
Fearing his actions will be exposed, the Palestinian then left Ashdod and his whereabouts remained unknown until last Tuesday when he was finally apprehended by the police after a two-months manhunt.
"Following a police report, we launched an immediate investigation which led us to believe the suspect was hiding in the territories of the Palestinian Authority," the police said in a statement.
"We’d taken a variety of actions to locate the suspect, including requesting assistance from other security forces … The investigation is still in its initial stages and we will continue taking the necessary actions in order to get to the truth,” the police added.
