BREAKING NEWS

State appeals lenient sentence of rapist to Supreme Court

The state on Tuesday appealed the lenient six month community service sentence handed down by the Tel Aviv District Court to convicted rapist Yaniv Nachman, asking the Supreme Court to stiffen the sentence to around four years in prison.
Although Nachman had served some prison time over the course of his arrest, the lenient sentence for such a grave crime, which can carry up to 16 years of prison time, brought a public outcry of protest, including from Knesset members of the government and the opposition.
Though the district court found that the plea bargain context, Nachman's regret and his prior consensual sexual history with the victim were reasons for leniency, the state argued that the court departed from the reasonable spectrum of sentences for rape offenses. Beyond the state's arguments, others added that prior to the deal, Nachman was accused of a wide range of sexual offenses besides the single rape charge.