Ariel daycare staff charged over 400+ abuse cases; prosecutors seek detention

Update, 8 November, 10:07 Israel time

Prosecutors have asked the court to keep the three defendants in custody until the end of proceedings, News.co.il reported. This answers one of the open questions in the original reports, though the outlet did not say whether a court has ruled on the request.

News.co.il also gave the ages of the children named in the indictment, saying the victims were babies and toddlers between half a year and three years old. It listed force-feeding among the punishment methods the defendants allegedly used. Our earlier reporting had not mentioned this. The other methods it listed were restricting the children's breathing, tying them up and locking them in a darkened room.

A further alert from Ynet quoted the charges as saying that the defendants blocked the toddlers' airways and shook their heads. The shaking allegation had not appeared in earlier coverage of the case.

News.co.il named the Luchik daycare and gave the scale of the case as more than 400 alleged incidents of abuse and assault involving 17 children. These figures match those already reported by N12 and Ynet. None of the reports so far carries a response from the defendants or their lawyers.

The story as first reported

An indictment has been filed against the director of a daycare centre in Ariel and two of its caregivers, accusing the three women of more than 400 cases of abuse against babies and toddlers in their care. According to N12, the charges cover abuse and assault of 17 infants and young children at a facility it identified as the Luchik daycare in Ariel.

Ynet reported that the accused are Natalia Kislevsky, Darina (Dasha) Halufa and Anna Pegalsky; the spellings here are transliterations of the Hebrew. Ynet described the indictment as setting out a pattern of prolonged violence, and said the prosecution had warned that the defendants pose a high level of danger.

What the indictment alleges

Both outlets said the charge sheet describes what the defendants allegedly used as forms of punishment. N12 reported that these included choking the children, tying them up and shutting them in a darkened room. Ynet grouped the conduct into three "methods" and highlighted choking and binding in its account of the case.

Ynet quoted the indictment as stating that the young children went red and fought to breathe, "to the point of clouded senses", a phrase indicating that some of the children were brought close to losing consciousness. Neither outlet has published the full text of the charges, and the specific counts against each of the three women have not been broken down in the reports.

Ynet's breaking-news alert channel summarised the case as the daycare director and two caregivers being charged with more than 400 instances of abuse of toddlers. The figure of more than 400 cases appears consistently across all three reports.

Where Ariel is

Ariel is an Israeli city in the northern West Bank, in the area Israelis refer to as Samaria. The reports do not suggest that the location has any bearing on the case beyond being where the daycare operated.

The role of the prosecution

In Israel, criminal indictments for serious offences are filed by the State Attorney's Office, known in Hebrew as the Praklitut. Ynet attributed the warning about the defendants' dangerousness to the Praklitut. An indictment is a formal statement of charges, not a finding of guilt; the three women are entitled to contest the allegations in court.

A prosecution assessment of high dangerousness is the kind of argument typically made when the state asks a court to keep defendants in custody, or under strict conditions, while a trial proceeds. The reports do not say whether such a request was made in this case or what a court decided.

Why cases like this draw attention

Abuse in early childhood settings is a sensitive subject in Israel, where many parents place infants and toddlers in daycare. Cases in which caregivers are accused of harming children too young to speak often rely on video footage or on the accounts of other staff, because the victims themselves cannot describe what happened. The reports on the Ariel case do not say how the alleged abuse came to light or what evidence the prosecution relies on.

The scale alleged here, hundreds of incidents involving 17 children, is what both outlets placed at the centre of their coverage. Ynet's headline described the charge sheet as difficult to read.

What the reports do not say

• Whether the three defendants or their lawyers have responded to the charges, or how they intend to plead.
• When the alleged abuse took place, over what period, and how it was discovered.
• Whether the defendants are in custody and whether the prosecution has asked for detention until the end of proceedings.
• Which court will hear the case, and whether the daycare is still operating or what supervisory body oversaw it.
• Any response from the parents of the children involved.