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Benny SelaIsraeli sex maniac
Country:
 Israel |
Content:
- Biography of Beni Sela
- Early Life
- First Arrest and Prison Sentence
- Continued Attacks and Arrest
- Prison Sentence and Additional Conviction
- Escape and Recapture
Biography of Beni Sela
Beni Sela is an Israeli sexual maniac who was accused of 35 cases of rape against women, including teenagers. He would break into the homes of women and girls who were alone at the time and sexually assault or rape them. He typically committed these acts late at night or early in the morning. Sometimes, he would threaten them with a knife or physically harm them. His victims ranged from young women to teenage girls and even girls as young as 13.
Early Life
Beni Sela's father was an alcoholic who, according to Sela, abused him. Shortly after his bar mitzvah at the age of 13, Sela witnessed his father commit suicide by jumping from an electric power pole. After his father's death, Sela remained with his mother and two younger brothers.
First Arrest and Prison Sentence
Sela began his attacks on women in 1994. In 1995, he was arrested for sexually assaulting his underage cousin. According to the accusation, he had been molesting his cousin since she was 8 years old until she turned 15. Initially, Sela denied the charges but later admitted to them. He was sentenced to two years in prison and was released after serving 18 months at Ayalon Prison. (In Israel, it is common practice to reduce a sentence by one-third for good behavior, but Sela's sentence was only reduced by one-fourth for some reason.)
Continued Attacks and Arrest
After his release from prison, Sela continued to assault women and girls. In one instance, he turned off the lights in an apartment building and attacked a 12-year-old girl who peeked out of her apartment. For several years, Sela lived in an apartment with a girlfriend. When the relationship ended, he returned to the neighborhood of a-Tikva in southern Tel Aviv, where his mother and brothers still lived. Sela worked as a plumber and courier. His neighbors, unaware of his previous incarceration, described him as a pleasant and friendly young man.
In December 1999, Sela attacked two teenage girls in broad daylight on the street. The girls called for help, and the arriving police officers arrested Sela. When his DNA was tested, it matched the DNA found at the crime scenes of many of the serial rapist's victims. Shortly after his arrest, the police announced that Sela was guilty of at least 24, and possibly 34, cases of sexual violence. Sela only admitted to the most recent attack. Pursuant to an agreement between the defense and the prosecution, Sela pleaded guilty to 13 assaults, and charges were not brought against him for the rest. The victims were also not required to testify in court.
Prison Sentence and Additional Conviction
Sela was sentenced to 35 years in prison for his crimes. The possibility of early release was questionable in his case, as he had already been released early once before and went on to commit new offenses. In late 2003 or early 2004, Sela gave a letter to one of his victims, a 17-year-old girl at the time, in which he detailed his plans to attack her, how he raped her, and her home address. The letter was mistakenly delivered to Sela's mother's mailbox. The press reported on this on January 12, 2004.
For this act, Sela was additionally sentenced to 9 months in prison. As a result, his total sentence amounted to 35 years and 9 months. If he had served the entire sentence, Sela would have been released in September 2035. In January 2004, Sela also appealed to the Supreme Court to have his sentence reduced. However, on January 20, 2004, the Supreme Court upheld the original sentence.
Escape and Recapture
On November 21, 2006, at 11 am, Sela was supposed to appear in the Tel Aviv Labor Court for a labor dispute. He had filed complaints against his former employer in 1999, and the case had been ongoing for 7 years with multiple delays. However, the notice that Sela showed to the prison guards had a different, impossible date: November 24, 2006, which fell on a Friday when the court did not operate. The guards were unaware of this and brought Sela to the court. Another inmate was in the car with him. One of the guards stayed in the car while the other escorted Sela, who was handcuffed but had his legs unrestrained. When Sela walked away from the car, he claimed to have forgotten something inside. The guard returned to the car, and during that time, Sela climbed over a wall over 2 meters high with barbed wire on top. When the guard returned, he discovered that Sela had disappeared.
In a subsequent investigation, a police officer wearing handcuffs was able to climb the same wall in just 30 seconds.
Two weeks later, on the evening of December 8, Sela was apprehended in a stolen car on his way to the city of Nageria. The Minister of Internal Security, Avi Dichter, held a live press conference regarding this arrest.
