Charges brought against suspected serial rapist from coastal region: One of the incidents occurred at the entrance to Rehovot

The central region prosecutor's office filed an indictment Sunday morning against Eitan Farhi, 39, a resident of Herzliya, for allegedly carrying out a series of rapes in the coastal area.

The indictment accuses Farhi of rape, perjury, burglary, indecent acts and indecent acts in public against four women.

Farhi is suspected of assaults carried out since September 2004 in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Rehovot and Gedera.

One of the incidents occurred at the entrance to Rehovot, when a 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped and assaulted as she made her way home from a youth movement activity.

Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday morning rejected the prosecution's request to extend Farhi's remand until the end of legal proceedings against him, and instead extended it by only 10 days.

In the request for a remand extension, the prosecution stated that "the crimes of which the accused is suspected were carried out with cruelty, and included murder threats against the women."

Farhi rejects the accusations, claiming he was in the north of Israel at the time.

Farhi's defense lawyer, Amikam Hadar, claimed another accusation against his client was dropped after the victim failed to recognize him in a police lineup.

The suspect "believes he will eventually be released as he is not guilty of committing these deeds," Hadar said. "A line of defense will be formulated in the near future as we receive forensic material to help us."

The indictment and request for a remand extension were based on DNA tests of the suspect's semen found at the places of assault, on pinpointing the location of the mobile phone in use by the accused at the time and on other evidence.

Source: Nir Hasson. Charges brought against suspected serial rapist from coastal region. Haartez (23 July 2006) [FullText]