Gedera rapist sentenced to 21 years for home invasion attack on mother

The court also ordered him to pay NIS 200,000 in compensation, comprising NIS 150,000 to the woman and NIS 50,000 to her son, who was two years old at the time of the attack.

The panel directly addressed the woman at the end of its ruling, saying that she had suffered an unbearable and life-altering assault and continued to contend with its effects on her and her children.

“It took strength and fortitude for her to stand in court and testify about the severe harm she experienced,” the judges wrote, expressing hope that the end of the criminal proceedings would allow her to find the strength needed for her own recovery and that of her children.

According to the ruling, Abu Issa drove from his home in Tel Sheva to Gedera and parked near the woman’s building. He had previously worked at a construction site near her home and was familiar with the area.

He approached the building at around 2:22 a.m. wearing dark clothing, gloves, a hood, and a covering over his mouth and nose. He was carrying two rolls of thick tape, which the court said demonstrated significant advance preparation and an attempt to avoid identification.

Abu Issa climbed onto the balcony of the second-floor apartment and entered through a closed but unlocked window.

The woman had been sleeping with her three children, then aged approximately two, four, and five-and-a-half, and woke to nurse her toddler. After hearing noises from the balcony, she entered the living room with the child and encountered Abu Issa.

When she cried out for help, he covered her mouth, threatened to kill her, threw her to the floor, and bound her hands and legs. He also covered her eyes and mouth with tape as her toddler stood nearby crying.

He then removed the toddler from the room and raped the woman as she cried.

Afterward, Abu Issa brought the child back to his mother, went into the kitchen, took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator, and drank it. He told the woman that her older children could help release her.

Her four-year-old son subsequently awoke and, after Abu Issa fled, used a kitchen knife to cut through the tape binding his mother.

The attack left the woman with injuries to her wrists, ankles, back, and lip, as well as a broken front tooth. The court said victim-impact reports showed that both she and her toddler developed post-traumatic symptoms and that the attack had profoundly affected the entire family.

The judges found that the toddler’s exposure to the violence against his mother, his fear and helplessness, and his presence before and after the rape amounted to psychological abuse of a minor.

They described the attack as a prolonged and terrifying event and emphasized that it took place inside the woman’s home, which should have been a place of safety for her and her children.

The court rejected a defense argument that Abu Issa’s actions were not at the highest level of severity because he had used oil during the rape and removed the toddler from the room before the sexual assault itself.

His actions were cruel regardless, the judges said, and were carried out while terrorizing the woman and threatening her life and the lives of her children.

Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Abu Issa to 24 years in prison, while the defense sought a sentencing range of nine to 14 years. The court set the appropriate range at 17 to 23 years and placed Abu Issa in its upper third, noting that he had not accepted responsibility, expressed remorse, or undergone treatment.

The panel also ordered the forfeiture of Abu Issa’s car, finding that he had used it to travel to the apartment and flee afterward. It declined to impose a separate fine.

Time spent in custody since his arrest on February 4, 2023, will generally be credited against the sentence. However, the court refused to credit an 18-month period during which Abu Issa was simultaneously serving a separate prison sentence for causing the deaths of two friends by negligence in a traffic accident.