The Haifa Magistrate's Court judge, Zaid Falah, today acquitted Dan Rogel, one of Israel's top security industry officials and a two-time recipient of the Israel Security Award, on charges of sexual harassment against a young woman suffering from mental retardation.
According to the indictment Rogel, who denied what was attributed to him throughout and claimed a false plot, sexually harassed a young woman suffering from mental retardation in October 2010 when she returned from her job to the assisted living facility where she lives and got off at a bus stop near his home while he was walking his dog. He called her to approach him and approached her with his dog, grabbed the sleeve of her jacket, brought her closer to him and asked her if she wanted him to do her a favor. When she answered in the negative, he touched her breasts over her shirt and groped them, all this despite her pleas to stop and that she was uncomfortable.
Judge Ziad Falah stated in his decision: "The complainant's version is full of contradictions and bewilderments. Her words did not fit with some of the statements of the prosecution witnesses that were supposed to strengthen her statements. When sometimes the prosecution witnesses themselves said that the complainant's statements in a certain matter were not true and I reject her version regarding the criminal acts she attributed to the accused. Compared to the complainant, the accused made a credible impression on me, He spoke consistently and his words to me are consistent with what he said to the police and they fit well with the defense witness's words and are even supported by the prosecution's evidence. In addition, the accuser was unable to prove that what is attributed to him in the indictment was required, therefore I order his acquittal."
Attorney Tami Ullman, who represented Rogel and led to his full acquittal, said in response to Hai Fe: "This is a case that in the first place there was no place to file it, the complaint is unfounded on its face, and we are happy that we will do great justice to the accused, who suffered a lot until he was fully acquitted."