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Al Arabiya
9 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
US denies intervening in case of Israeli official accused of Nevada sex crime
The US State Department said on Monday the American government played no role in the release of an Israeli official charged with soliciting sex electronically from a minor. Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was one of eight people charged last week following an undercover operation 'targeting child sex predators,' the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued last week, opens new tab. Alexandrovich faces a felony charge of luring or attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person to commit a sex act 'with use of computer technology,' according to Nevada State court records reviewed by Reuters. Israeli media said on Thursday, opens new tab Alexandrovich, who they described as a senior department head in Israel's National Cyber Directorate, was released by US authorities and is back in Israel. Reuters could not establish why Alexandrovich was in the Las Vegas area, but at the time the city was hosting Black Hat, one of the cybersecurity industry's most prominent conferences. A representative for Black Hat said the conference did not share data on attendees. The report that an Israeli official accused of a felony sex crime was allowed to return home drew a storm of speculation online. Alexandrovich 'did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a state judge pending a court date. Any claims that the US government intervened are false,' the State Department said Monday on the social media site X, opens new tab. Bond paid The court records reviewed by Reuters show a $10,000 bond was posted in Alexandrovich's case at the Henderson Detention Center, southeast of Las Vegas, on August 7. Reuters could not immediately confirm Alexandrovich's whereabouts and could not immediately locate contact information for him. The records indicate he is due back in court on August 27. The Israeli Embassy in Washington and the Israeli Prime Minister's Office did not immediately return messages. Israeli media quoted the Prime Minister's Office as denying that Alexandrovich was arrested, saying only that a 'state employee' was 'questioned by American authorities during his stay' and he had 'returned to Israel as scheduled.' Reuters could not immediately ascertain the circumstances around Alexandrovich's arrest. The Las Vegas police statement credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nevada Attorney General's office, the Henderson Police Department, the North Las Vegas Police, and the Department of Homeland Security with helping to pull off the undercover operation. The FBI referred Reuters to a statement from the Nevada US Attorney's office, which in turn said the case was being prosecuted by the District Attorney's office in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas and Henderson. The District Attorney's office did not immediately reply to an email requesting a comment. The Nevada Attorney General's office referred questions to the Henderson Police Department, which did not return messages seeking comment.
Arab News
12 hours ago
- Arab News
9/11 victims' fund architect slams changes to New Hampshire abuse settlement program
CONCORD: An attorney who helped design and implement the 9/11 victims' compensation fund says New Hampshire lawmakers have eroded the fairness of a settlement program for those who were abused at the state's youth detention center. Deborah Greenspan, who served as deputy special master of the fund created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, recently submitted an affidavit in a class-action lawsuit seeking to block changes to New Hampshire's out-of-court settlement fund for abuse victims. She's among those expected to testify Wednesday at a hearing on the state's request to dismiss the case and other matters. More than 1,300 people have sued the state since 2020 alleging that they were physically or sexually abused as children while in state custody, mostly at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester. Most of them put their lawsuits on hold after lawmakers created a settlement fund in 2022 that was pitched as a 'victim-centered' and 'trauma-informed' alternative to litigation run by a neutral administrator appointed by the state Supreme Court. But the Republican-led Legislature changed that process through last-minute additions to the state budget Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed in June. The amended law gives the governor authority to hire and fire the fund's administrator and gives the attorney general — also a political appointee — veto power over settlement awards. That stands in stark contrast to other victim compensation funds, said Greenspan, who currently serves as a court-appointed special master for lawsuits related to lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan. She said it 'strains credulity' to believe that anyone would file a claim knowing that 'the persons ultimately deciding the claim were those responsible for the claimant's injuries.' 'Such a construct would go beyond the appearance of impropriety and create a clear conflict of interest, undermining the fairness and legitimacy of the settlement process,' she wrote. Ayotte and Attorney General John Formella responded by asking a judge to bar Greenspan's testimony, saying she offered 'policy preferences masquerading as expert opinions' without explaining the principles beyond her conclusions. 'Her affidavit is instead a series of non sequiturs that move from her experience to her conclusions without any of the necessary connective tissue,' they wrote. The defendants argue that the law still requires the administrator to be 'an independent, neutral attorney' and point out that the same appointment process is used for the state's judges. They said giving the attorney general the authority to accept or reject settlements is necessary to give the public a voice and ensure that the responsibility for spending millions of dollars in public funds rests with the executive branch. As of June 30, nearly 2,000 people had filed claims with the settlement fund, which caps payouts at $2.5 million. A total of 386 had been settled, with an average award of $545,000. One of the claimants says he was awarded $1.5 million award in late July, but the state hasn't finalized it yet, leaving him worried that Formella will veto it. 'I feel like the state has tricked us,' he said in an interview this week. 'We've had the rug pulled right out from underneath us.' The Associated Press does not name those who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly. The claimant, now 39, said the two years he spent at the facility as a teenager were the hardest times of his life. 'I lost my childhood. I lost things that I can't get back,' he said. 'I was broken.' Though the settlement process was overwhelming and scary at times, the assistant administrator who heard his case was kind and understanding, he said. That meeting alone was enough to lift a huge burden, he said. 'I was treated with a lot of love,' he said. 'I felt really appreciated as a victim and like I was speaking to somebody who would listen and believe my story.' Separate from the fund, the state has settled two lawsuits by agreeing to pay victims $10 million and $4.5 million. Only one lawsuit has gone to trial, resulting in a $38 million verdict, though the state is trying to slash it to $475,000. The state has also brought criminal charges against former workers, with two convictions and two mistrials so far. The 39-year-old claimant who fears his award offer will be retracted said he doesn't know if he could face testifying at a public trial. 'It's basically allowing the same people who hurt us to hurt us all over again,' he said.
Al Arabiya
13 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Man convicted of 1982 murder executed in Florida
A 67-year-old man convicted of the 1982 murder of a woman he abducted from her office was put to death by lethal injection in the southern US state of Florida on Tuesday. Kayle Bates was sentenced to death in 1983 for the murder of Janet Renee White, 24, who worked at an insurance company in Lynn Haven, Florida. White was attacked at her office by Bates after she returned from lunch and was stabbed to death in nearby woods. Bates was executed at 6:17 p.m. (10:17 p.m. GMT) at the Florida State Prison, according to officials. There have been 29 executions in the United States in 2025, the most since 2014, when a total of 35 inmates were also put to death. Twenty-four of this year's executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad, and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate. The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane. Florida has carried out the most executions in 2025 with 10. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others – California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania – have moratoriums in place. President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment, and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use 'for the vilest crimes.'
