Daycare Abuse Trial Faces Dismissal Over Technicality in Petah Tikva

The trial of a mother and daughter accused of systematic physical abuse against toddlers at a Kfar Saba daycare opened on Sunday at the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court, with the defense seeking to throw out key security footage due to a procedural technicality that could derail the entire prosecution.

Bracha Alon, who managed the facility, and her daughter Shani Becker, who worked as an assistant, face multiple serious counts of assaulting minors under their care in September 2020. During Sunday's opening of the evidentiary phase, defense counsel argued that police seized the nursery's security camera recordings without a proper, updated court order, demanding the evidence be deemed inadmissible.

Specific Allegations and Testimony

Investigator Shimon Boaron testified during the proceedings regarding the warrant timeline, stating that investigators initially believed the footage corresponded to the correct dates before realizing it covered an earlier period. While police sought subsequent judicial approval, the defense maintains the warrant was never properly updated, leaving Judge Gil Gabai to decide whether the crucial video evidence will stand or be thrown out.

The proceedings drew outraged reactions from parents attending the hearing. A mother of one of the victims criticized the procedural challenge, stating, "It is an absolute disgrace that the defendants could evade punishment on a technicality after being caught on camera acting violently toward our children."

According to the indictments, Bracha Alon perpetrated a series of violent incidents in September 2020, including striking a 15-month-old toddler on the arm, forcefully pulling the ear of a two-year-old girl, and shaking and pulling the head of an eight-month-old infant during feeding. Her daughter, Shani Becker, is similarly accused of striking toddlers in the dining area and forcefully shaking a nine-month-old infant while trying to force him to lie down in a playpen.