Psychologist Yuval Carmi, 67, has been sentenced to 39 months in prison for sexually assaulting two women when they were his patients, The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled on Tuesday morning.
Kim Ariel Arad, one of the two patients involved in the case and the person responsible for breaking the story to the public, was present at the sentencing. The other woman has chosen to remain anonymous. There are a number of other alleged victims.
The sentence of three years and three months is close to the one requested by the prosecution – three years and 10 months – as opposed to the 10 months requested by Carmi’s attorneys.
The prosecution’s representative said this was a severe case of sexual assault between a powerful figure, the medical provider, and less powerful figures, the patients, so his sentence should be similarly more severe.
Carmi will also pay NIS 100,000 in compensation to Arad and NIS 30,000 to the second victim.
What is the Yuval Carmi case?
The disgraced psychologist was convicted twice of sexual assault: once in December 2021 and again in January 2022.
He admitted to his crimes as part of a plea deal with the state in exchange for a change in the language in the indictment from committing “indecent acts without consent” to “indecent acts between a mental health provider and their patients.”
Arad has maintained throughout the case that she was upset and dissatisfied that he wasn’t indicted on charges of rape.
When Carmi was arrested in January 2021 for sexual transgressions, he was initially charged with rape, but the word was later removed and his indictment instead described his crime as “sexual relations.”
"The prosecution was convinced during the hearings that there was no justification for accusing my client of rape."
Yuval Carmi's attorneys in 2021
“The prosecution was convinced during the hearings that there was no justification for accusing my client of rape,” Carmi’s attorneys said at the time.
In February 2021, after he was released to house arrest following the first reported rape, police publicized his name, which urged other victims to come forward, thereby adding more cases.