The Department of Police Investigations recently filed an appeal with the Jerusalem District Court against the light sentence, which they claim was imposed on a police disciplinary officer convicted of committing sexual harassment offenses against a police officer in regular service at the border.
Against the discipline, he was convicted of repeatedly making offers to the policewoman and throwing statements of a sexual nature at her, both in verbal conversations and in text messages, even though she expressed her unwillingness to do so.
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court sentenced the defendant to 350 hours for public benefit, probation and compensation to the victim of the offense in the amount of NIS 1,800.
As part of the appeal, the State seeks to aggravate the sentence imposed on the defendant to an actual prison sentence, and to increase the amount of compensation awarded in favor of the complainant.
The notice of appeal filed by Adv. Hela Edelman states that the mitigating sentence is inconsistent with the principle of adequacy, which requires an affinity between the severity of the acts in the circumstances and the severity of the sentence. The
notice of appeal states:
He sexually assaulted a complainant who served as a fighter in regular service, while performing the acts, consistently, with determination and escalation to achieve his sexual purpose.
"The acts were committed by the respondent through messages he sent to the complainant or when he met her face to face, during their military service. He carried out his actions taking advantage of the power gaps and age gaps between him and the complainant, ignoring her repeated requests to stop his actions."