Ultra-Orthodox Israeli sex offenders arrested

Arrests followed investigation in communities which tend to shun secular society

Israeli police yesterday arrested more than 20 Jewish ultra-Orthodox suspected sex offenders whose alleged crimes were known to their insular communities but concealed from the authorities.

The arrests followed an undercover investigation in the ultra-Orthodox communities, which tend to shun secular society and live according to strict religious teachings.

The 22 men, aged 20 to 60 and from communities in Occupied Jerusalem, Bnei Brak Beit Shemesh and West Bank colony Beitar Ilit, allegedly committed sex crimes against women, youths and children from their communities, police said. Members of the communities, acting under the auspices of the rabbinical leadership, investigated the crimes and their alleged perpetrators, and would conduct internal processes which determined what the suspects must do in order to keep the affair from reaching the police.