Criminal Appeal 3558/24 Anonymous v. State of Israel

Criminal Appeal 3558/24

Judge Ofer Grosskopf:

We have before us an appeal against the verdict and sentence of the Beer Sheva District Court (the Honorable Judge) Yoel Eden) in the bag Criminal 13227-10-21 of June 27, 2023 and March 20, 2024, respectively.  The appellant, a kindergarten teacher who had 29 toddlers in the kindergarten she managed, was convicted of committing Many offenses against small children entrusted to her: 32 offenses of assault according to Section 379 Law The Penalties, 5737-1977 (hereinafter: Penal Law or The Law); 5 offenses of assaulting a minor or helpless person according to Section 368B)A) to the law; 2 offenses of leaving a child unsupervised according to Section 361 to the law; and 2 offenses of abuse of a minor or helpless person according to Section 368C Conclusion to the law.  In addition to the aforesaid, the appellant was acquitted of some of the offenses attributed to her in the indictment.  Subsequently, the appellant was sentenced to the following penalties: 5 years imprisonment to be served in practice; 9 months of suspended imprisonment so that for three years no offense among those for which she was convicted; and payment of compensation to the parents of the minor victims of the offenses, in the total amount of NIS 180,000.

The appeal before us is directed both to the appellant's conviction in a significant part of the offenses attributed to her; They are against the heavy prison sentence she was sentenced to (5 years in prison).  There is no claim of innocence on its basis, since even the appellant now admits that she committed a sin in her duties, and sometimes behaved violently and abusively towards the toddlers who were entrusted with her responsibility.  At its core is the argument that the cases in which it did so were relatively few, and significantly lighter, than emerges from the verdict, in such a way that the general picture that is obtained, even though it still crosses the criminal threshold, does not justify such a severe punishment as it was sentenced.  In other words, the dispute before us is not the question of whether the appellant acted lawfully, in the manner in which the kindergarten teacher should behave – it is accepted by everyone, including the appellant, that she behaved with the toddlers in an improper manner, which should not be seen in our places, and that it is justified to punish her for that.  The dispute in our case is the question of how far the appellant's actions are from the letter of the law, and whether they justify the level of punishment that is customary in relation to "abusive kindergarten teachers" of the worst kind – kindergarten teachers who harm the children entrusted with their responsibility in a severe manner, maliciously and out of malice.