Boarding School Counselor Convicted of Assaulting Student: "I Was No Longer in Control"
A boarding school night counselor has been convicted of assaulting a 15-year-old student. Security footage and the defendant's own confessions were central to the court's ruling.
A security camera video documenting a night counselor running toward a boarding school student and hitting him repeatedly with punches and kicks, alongside confessions he made at the scene and during his interrogation, led Judge Anat Grinbaum-Shimon to convict the counselor of assaulting a minor by a person in charge. The judge rejected the defense's claims that he was not responsible for the student and determined that he actually served as the responsible adult figure at the boarding school during the incident.
According to the indictment, the defendant ran toward the student in the boarding school hallway and began hitting him with punches and slaps all over his body following disciplinary problems attributed to the student, who was 15 at the time. After the minor fell to the floor, the counselor allegedly continued to hit him and even kicked his body and head while he was lying on the floor. As a result of the assault, the complainant suffered from severe pain, bled from his head, and sustained a scratch on his right arm.
During the trial, the prosecution presented the security camera video, in which, according to the judge, "the assault is clearly visible." The verdict states that the complainant is seen walking in the hallway, "when suddenly the defendant is seen running toward him and starting to hit him with punches all over his body. The complainant falls to the floor and then the defendant continues to hit him with punches and even kicks him."
In addition, photos of the injuries, body camera videos of the police officers, and testimonies of the police personnel who arrived at the scene were presented. In one of the body camera videos, the defendant is heard telling a police officer: "First thing I admit, I hurt him," and later adds: "I admit that I was no longer really in control of myself." In his police interrogation, he admitted that he attacked the complainant with punches and kicks, expressed remorse, and said that when the video was shown to him, it was "shocking."
The complainant testified that the relationship between him and the defendant was tense even before the incident and that on that night he went out to drink water and turned on the light in the hallway, then the defendant arrived and began to hit him. He added that following the incident "his life was ruined" and that he suffers from trauma. The court determined that his testimony was "reliable, orderly, and consistent" and that it matches the filmed documentation.
The defendant claimed he was not a night counselor with real responsibility but a volunteer whose role was limited to turning off the lights. However, the court determined that in practice, he served as the person in charge of the students during the night hours, was the only adult figure present, and was responsible for their well-being. The judge rejected the defense's claims regarding investigation failures and lack of proof of injury. Consequently, the defendant was convicted of the offense of assaulting a minor by a person in charge.
