Senior Israel National Cyber Directorate official arrested on suspicion of paedophilia

Israeli media has reported that a senior official in the Israel National Cyber Directorate was arrested in Las Vegas on suspicion of online paedophilia.

According to a report on the Israeli news website Ynet, Tom Alexandrovich, 38, was arrested for questioning by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department during a conference he had attended on behalf of the cyber directorate last week.

He was arrested along with seven other suspects as part of "a multi-agency operation targeting child sex predators [which] led to the arrest of eight individuals over the past two weeks", Las Vegas police said in a statement.

The suspects, according to local police, "face felony charges of Luring a Child with Computer for Sex Act".

The Israel National Cyber Directorate, which is supervised by the Prime Minister's Office, said in response: "The employee informed the Directorate that during his trip to the United States he was questioned by the US authorities on matters not related to work matters, and returned to Israel on the scheduled date of return.

"The Directorate has not yet received additional details through the authorised channels. If it receives, the Directorate will act accordingly. 

"At this stage, in a joint decision, the employee went on leave to deal with the matter until things will become clear." 

However, Ynet reported that, contrary to the directorate’s statement, Las Vegas police documents indicate that Alexandrovich - head of the cyber directorate’s technological defence division - was arrested in the US. 

According to the report, the Israeli senior official was released on $10,000 bail after appearing before a judge.

"The documents indicate that Alexandrovich is suspected of seducing a mentally ill child using computer technology to have sex," Ynet said.

In response, the Israel National Cyber Directorate added that it "was not involved in any matter related to the bail".

Israel Police refused to comment on Alexandrovich's situation after his return to the country, saying: "As a rule, any complaint or information that raises suspicion of committing a criminal offence is examined by the police, and where there is a reasonable basis for suspicion that a criminal offence has been committed, an investigation is opened in accordance with each case and its circumstances.

"We do not provide details regarding the existence or non-existence of investigations, and this does not confirm or deny their existence." 

The case comes after another senior Israeli official was accused of inappropriate behaviour.

Israel's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yossi Shelley, was recalled last month after senior Emirati officials complained of inappropriate conduct.

Shelley, who served as director general of the Prime Minister’s Office before becoming ambassador to the UAE, is considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A senior Israeli foreign ministry official told Channel 12 on Saturday that "the subject he talks about all the time in an exaggerated way is prostitutes", adding: "That's what he tells everyone about, that's what he likes to talk about the most."

According to the report, Shelley used to go to "dubious places" during his time in the UAE. When Emirati officials sought to coordinate these visits, "Shelley went wild and just attacked the security guards by shouting: 'You won't lock me up.'"