A kindergarten teacher and teacher’s assistant were arrested in Modi’in on suspicion of child abuse, Israel Police announced on Sunday.
The arrests followed an investigation prompted by a report alleging abuse.
According to Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, an anonymous post was made on a Facebook page for residents of Modi’in accusing the teacher of multiple types of abuse against the children in her daycare, including “mocking them, yelling at them, [and] force-feeding them.”
“Not even once did I hear a child’s laughter or any word of sympathy and affection from her,” the post read.
“We tried in all kinds of ways to reach you, but you prefer to bury your head in the sand.”
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from the daycare and, based on the findings, continued with covert investigative activities, analyzing numerous video recordings, police noted.
The suspects were questioned and subsequently detained. On Monday, based on the findings of the investigation, the police said it was set to request the court to extend the teacher’s and the assistant’s detention.
Similar incident in Tel Aviv
In late December, Tel Aviv police arrested an additional daycare owner and her two assistants on suspicion of child abuse. According to N12, parents of a 14-month-old toddler reported the suspected abuse after discovering a fracture in their child’s hand.
“Israel Police received a complaint at the end of last week regarding child abuse at a daycare center in north Tel Aviv,” the police stated. “Upon receiving the complaint, North Tel Aviv police officers opened an investigation and collected various findings.”
“The videos are difficult to watch,” a police source who was exposed to the footage reportedly told N12.