The Be'er Sheva District Court this morning (Thursday) convicted kindergarten teacher Emilia Ostrovsky of the "Disney" kindergarten in Ashkelon, of multiple offenses of abusing a minor or helpless and assaulting.
Photo: Yaniv Zohar
Ostrovsky admitted, as part of a plea deal, to the facts of the amended indictment, filed by the Southern District Attorney's Office (criminal), that for a period, being in charge of toddlers one and a half to two years old in kindergarten, physically and mentally abused and assaulted them.
The court decision read: "She used systematic violence and cruelty towards toddlers, who were completely dependent on her for the long hours they were in kindergarten, severely undermining the trust the toddlers' parents placed in the defendant. By force, she lifted her hands in the air and then slammed them into the mattress from a considerable height. Them until they burst into tears. "
At the request of the prosecution, Ostrovsky was barred from working in kindergartens or daycare centers until the end of the legal proceedings against her.
The parents of the children at the Disney kindergarten in Ashkelon demonstrate in front of Kiryat Hamishla in Ashkelon against the release of Emilia Ostrovsky under house arrest in Petah Tikva.
Attorneys Inbal Haim and Eran Tzruya of the Southern District Attorney's Office (Criminal): "The defendant confessed and took responsibility for her violent acts against young children. "In the opinion and with the consent of the parents of the toddlers and the State Attorney's Office, you will petition at the stage of the arguments for a punishment appropriate to the severity of the defendant's actions."
"I as a mother do not feel protected"
Ina Springer, the mother of one of the girls who was cared for by Emilia Ostrovsky, spoke to "Israel Today" and commented on the prosecutor's decision.
"What we saw in the videos that were shown to us by the police - is the abuse of her name in small children who do not yet know how to speak, aged two and under. I as a mother do not feel protected, nor do I feel that the state and the prosecutor stand by me with all their might."
Springer.
"We will not leave or let go,"
"We will not be able to bring back what they did to our children," Springer added, "but we are working to address them, with the great hope that the consequences of the kindergarten teacher's actions will not affect them in the long run. This problem needs to be addressed from the root. "
Ostrovsky, 71, has reached retirement age, and Springer fears it will benefit her in court: "If she managed to lift my daughter, who weighs more than 12 kilograms, high and throw her face down on a thin mattress - I think the man is fine. I am very fine. "I do not want her to be portrayed as poor, an old grandmother. What she did to these children - she is a mare! Are you tired of working? You can not? Retire, go work elsewhere. Our children should not be a punching bag."
Regarding her personal case and the treatment of her daughter, she said: "We are currently in psychological and medical treatment. We are doing tests, treating her as much as possible. I see consequences - the girl has become more violent, she has been waking up screaming in the middle of the night for weeks. "I see things about her that were never there before," she concluded.