The Times of Israel
10 August 2016
Police say suspects pocketed funds raised to combat
nonexistent group they claimed was kidnapping, forcibly converting Jewish
children
By Tamar Pileggi
Three Jerusalem residents who allegedly swindled
donors into giving money to combat a nonexistent Christian cult they claimed
was kidnapping, sexually abusing and forcibly converting hundreds of
ultra-Orthodox Jewish children to Christianity have been arrested, police said.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said investigators
launched an investigation into the supposed cult two years ago after receiving
reports that children in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Sanhedria neighborhood ages
4-10 had been ritually and sexually abused by a Christian group.
The two-year investigation that concluded this week
soon determined that no such cult ever existed, and police said the individuals
behind the claims made up the story in order to solicit donations from
concerned people in Israel and abroad which they later pocketed. […]