Guilty of rape and indecent acts was not jailed - for allegations of brain damage: A serious indictment was filed in the Jerusalem District Court against an elderly man in his 80s, for serious sexual offenses against two women and a girl.
But already at the beginning of the trial, his defense attorney raised an original and unusual claim, as a result of which the defendant will compensate the women - without sitting one day in prison.
According to the indictment, the elderly man picked up a girl who asked for a ride, drove her to a secluded place and offered her payment for sexual intercourse with him.
At one point he stopped his car and raped her while blocking her mouth, and later even tried to perform an act of sodomy on her, but without success.
In the second case, it was alleged that the defendant kissed a minor who picked up a hitchhiker and touched her chest, and in the third case it was alleged that he committed indecent acts on another woman against her will.
The defense attorney for the elderly man, Adv. Ariel Atari, argued in court that before the trial opens, it should be examined whether his client can be prosecuted, since he suffers from a special medical problem resulting from his advanced age.
It is, he says, an organic brain injury, which is essentially similar to an injury from Alzheimer's disease, and therefore he is unable to understand the meaning of his actions.
"Extremely light punishment"
The defense attorney's claim is considered exceptional, since it is not a mental illness that caused the misunderstanding of the act, but because a physical defect in his brain caused it.
To substantiate the claim, Adv. Atari enlisted the help of a senior expert from Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital who analyzed the defendant's health status, and supported his claims that he did not understand the context and social significance of his actions in the sexual field.
As a result of this testimony, the State Attorney's Office agreed to an exceptional arrangement according to which the elderly person will be convicted of offenses of indecent assault and indecent acts, will compensate the women with NIS 108,000 - and the State Attorney's Office will not seek additional imprisonment.
This week, the court adopted the settlement, and in sentencing refrained from imposing a prison sentence on the defendant.
Adv. Ariel Atari,
Advocate Ariel Atari responded: "We based our argument on a medical and legal analysis of the defendant's special condition, and proved that just as Alzheimer's causes older people not to understand the general context of their actions, so in our case - so the trial ended with a particularly light sentence."
