Cult Leader Arrested in Israel

Goel Ratzon, a man from Tel Aviv, Israel, has been arrested on suspect of being a polygamist cult leader. He maintained a harem and was fathering dozens of children with the women he kept. To be more precise, he is said to be living with 17 women and has had around 40 children with them. His arrest was a follow-up of an undercover investigation run by the police after they received some complaints against him by a few of the women. He has been changed with sexual offense, rape, incest, and enslavement, besides numerous other crimes.

Ratzon had kept the women and children in different locations in South Tel Aviv, and they were all cramped into apartments. The living conditions were horrible, according to the police who carried out the raids. One apartment even seemed to house around 10 women and nearly 20 children. Ratzon, besides the crimes mentioned above, allegedly also used the women's money and physically abused them if they ever tried to revolt against him. He is said to have a book of rules, and the women were supposed to live by those rules. Any act outside any rule resulted in punishments and even fines. No one was allowed to ever challenge his authority. But Ratzon denies all allegations and said that the women were all with him voluntarily and that the rule book that he used in no way amounts to enslavement.

All the children have been placed in temporary care, while police are busy questioning all the women. Goel Ratzon's lawyer, Shlomzion Gabai, has made it clear that her client denies all charges. She said, "He may be different, but he's not a criminal."