The Central District Court in Lod sentenced former Netanya daycare assistant Shelly Shenkar to seven years in prison on Monday for abusing and assaulting 12 toddlers who had been placed in her care.
Judge Efrat Fink also ordered Shenkar to pay a total of NIS 300,000 in compensation to the children and imposed two suspended prison terms. The State Attorney’s Office, which had sought a 10-year sentence, said it would study the ruling and consider an appeal.
Shenkar was convicted in February of nine counts of abusing a helpless minor as a caregiver, 33 counts of assaulting a helpless minor and causing injury, and two counts of aggravated assault.
The children, who ranged in age from seven months to a year-and-a-half, attended the Hagan Hashakuf daycare in Netanya. The offenses took place between May 29 and June 27, 2024, with roughly 60 violent incidents documented on 13 of the 15 days Shenkar worked at the daycare.
Prosecutors said security-camera footage documented roughly 60 violent episodes. The court found that Shenkar pushed, slapped and kicked children, pulled their hair, grabbed their faces and lifted or dragged them by one arm before throwing them onto floors, mattresses or into playpens. Some of the children were asleep when she pulled or threw them.
Vicious, violent abuse of children
In one incident, Shenkar struck an eight-month-old baby in the head and covered his face with a towel as he resisted and cried after refusing more food. In another, she pulled a sleeping toddler by the arms and threw her onto the floor, later kicking her in the face as she lay down.
The court found that most of the violence had no apparent purpose. Although a small number of incidents occurred while Shenkar was performing tasks such as cleaning or stopping potentially dangerous behavior, Fink said she used excessive force that remained criminal.
The judge rejected the defense’s argument that Shenkar had been unable to cope with the workload and was suffering from burnout, noting that she was young and had worked at the daycare for only a short time.
“Each toddler who was harmed is a world unto themselves,” Fink wrote, finding that the children and their families could carry the effects for years.
Abused children wake at night screaming, have outbursts, perform self-harm
Parents told the court that their children suffered problems including waking at night screaming, angry outbursts, self-harm, separation anxiety, eating difficulties and fear of physical contact. The court said there was no evidentiary basis for finding lasting physical injuries, but stressed that several of the assaults carried a high risk of causing severe harm.
Fink set the appropriate sentencing range at six and a half to 10 years. She declined the prosecution’s request to impose a harsher sentence for the purpose of deterring others, ruling that the state had not presented the evidence required to show that a particular punishment would provide effective general deterrence.
The court nevertheless described violence by caregivers against young children as exceptionally serious, particularly because the victims cannot protect themselves or explain what happened to them.
In mitigation, Fink considered that Shenkar was 22 when she committed the offenses, had no previous convictions, had admitted the underlying conduct and had begun regular psychological treatment. Shenkar told the court she was sorry and expressed compassion for the children and their families.
Shenkar had been acquitted of several charges for legal reasons. The court made clear that those acquittals did not mean the acts had not occurred: Some assault counts were absorbed into the more serious abuse convictions, while other conduct supported a lesser form of assault than prosecutors had charged.
Her prison term will be reduced by the time she spent in custody from July 21 to September 12, 2024. Nine of the children were awarded NIS 30,000 each, while the other three were awarded NIS 10,000 each. The compensation is to be paid in 24 monthly installments beginning October 1.
Central District prosecutor Ofir Fahima said Shenkar had exploited the children’s vulnerability and the authority entrusted to her. She said the state had sought 10 years to convey that attacks on helpless children and violations of parents’ trust required severe punishment.