World Jewish News

Goel Razton (photo by JPost.com)

Tel Aviv cult leader arrested for 'enslaving' 17 women, rape

A 59-year-old cult leader from south Tel Aviv who was romantically involved with 17 women and fathered 40 children with them was arrested on Tuesday morning on suspicion of "enslaving" members of his group and raping a number of the women. 

Goel Razton, a self-styled 'spiritual guru,' was arrested during police raids on two addresses in Tel Aviv's Hatikva neighborhood on Tuesday morning, following a 7-month-long undercover investigation.

His 17 partners were detained for questioning and later taken with their children into temporary protective care by the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services.

A media gag order on the arrests was lifted on Thursday.

The investigation was launched by Tel Aviv police's Central Unit in July 2009, when welfare services received information over alleged "sexual offenses within the family," police said.

After receiving the intelligence, an unprecedented inter-organizational effort was launched, involving dozens of police detectives, 150 social services employees, and central district state prosecutors, who concluded that sufficient evidence existed to prosecute Ratzon.

Police prioritized the investigation above other cases and were allocated nearly unlimited funds out of fear for the safety of the women and children, one source close to the investigation said this week.

Police refused to say whether the children had become victims of sexual offenses.

Goel Ratzon has long been the target of suspicion by authorities, and welfare services are facing intense criticism for not acting sooner to disband the group.

But the women who lived with Ratzon did so on a voluntary basis, and both police and welfare services believe they were powerless to act until new anti-enslavement legislation was introduced in 2006.

Previous checks on children from Ratzon's group, carried out by social services at kindergartens, found that they were well dressed, well fed, and equipped for school, a fact social services believes ruled out the possibility of an intrusive investigation up until now.

An amendment to the anti-enslavement law, which prohibits anyone to "hold a person in conditions of slavery, including sexual slavery," enabled the authorities to act this week. The offense carries a 16 year maximum prison sentence.

The authorities are interpreting "slavery" in this case to mean "psychological slavery," resulting in total control by Ratzon of the women and children who lived with him in several different apartment complexes.

Armed with the new legislation, sources said, it was possible to move against Ratzon since the evidence allegedly shows that the women had "no choice" but to comply with his demands.

The undercover investigation made use of electronic monitoring equipment, and may have relied on an insider or a former insider.

Detectives mapped out where each woman and child slept in Ratzon's Tel Aviv housing complexes.

Social services are now highly concerned over how the women will react to the arrests and the sudden manner in which their routine was disrupted. One source described the women as "being in a state of mourning."

Social services must now decide which women can be released to the care of family members together with their children. Other women may be permitted to care for their children only under the supervision of professionals. Some women could be deemed to pose too great a risk to their children, requiring separation. One woman is suspected by police of collaborating with Ratzon in a manner which jeopardized the safety of minors.

Authorities are viewing the first stage of the operation to disband the cult as a success, but say that the process of rehabilitating the women and children is a long and arduous one.

"This is a human and social phenomenon that is unacceptable in any civilized country," one source familiar with the investigation said. "The safety of the women and children were at risk."

JPost.com