Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Cases of Shlomi Nagar and Oded Dabush, soccer coaches, Ashkelon, Israel


Second soccer coach accused of abusing boys in Ashkelon
By YIGAL GRAYEFF
Jerusalem Post
February 14, 2006

Police disclosed on Monday details of an investigation into another
soccer coach from Ashkelon accused of abusing boys who trained under him.

This is the second time in two days that Southern police have
publicized allegations of sexual abuse by soccer managers in the city.

Shlomi Nagar, a 43-year-old former drug addict, was indicted last month
for allegedly having had relations with one child and carrying out
improper acts with six others, all of whom are under 14 years of age.
Police said that, after every training session, he would request that one of
the children stay behind with him and the rest leave.

Police first opened the investigation in November after receiving a
report from an Ashkelon school counselor that a local team manager was
rumored to be abusing boys under his care. However, it wasn't until the
beginning of January that the police were able to find a child who would
provide them with testimony against Nagar, who was arrested soon
afterwards. Some of the victims were afraid to fully cooperate, police said.

During the investigation, one mother told police that she noticed a
change in her son and persuaded him to tell her his "secret," with the boy
also saying that he knew of other children who had allegedly been
abused.

Nagar was a drug addict until three years ago but underwent
rehabilitation in Tel Aviv before setting up four soccer teams of 20 boys each in
Ashkelon. He didn't work for the council but coached under the
supervision of the parents.
There had been a gag order on the case until now, although Beersheba
District Court lifted this on Monday despite the police wanting the
investigation to remain secret.

The disclosure of the probe follows the publication of details on
Sunday of an investigation into 26-year-old Oded Dabush, who is suspected of
abusing between 20 and 30 children. Asst.-Cmdr. Yoram Levi of the
Southern District Police said, because the suspect had contact with a great
number of children, the number of victims could be as high as 60 or 70.

Dabush worked with the Ashkelon municipality for three months in
after-school sports clubs, although police are investigating incidents that
may have taken place between one and a half and two years ago.

During his interrogation, Dabush said he only dealt with teenagers aged
14 and up, although one 15 year old said he was abused when he was 13,
said Levi.

The suspect has a document from Hapoel Tel Aviv saying he passed a
coaching course, although Levi said he was not a registered coach.

The officer added that Dabush would write down his victims' names and
sexual acts and rate their performance on a scale of 1-10. He was caught
two weeks ago and placed under house arrest.

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