Ariel Daycare Staff Face 400+ Abuse Charges
Three women were indicted Sunday for alleged physical violence against 17 children, including infants as young as six months old.
By Larissa Bell ·
Natalia Kisilevsky, the 37-year-old manager of the Luchik daycare in the West Bank settlement of Ariel, was indicted on Sunday, November 8. Two caregivers, Daryna Khalupa, 37, and Anna Pagelsky, 40, were also charged in connection with more than 400 alleged acts of abuse and assault. The victims were 17 children, some of whom were babies and toddlers, with the youngest attending at six months of age.
The three women appeared at the Central District Court in Lod. They face charges for abusing minors or helpless persons, assaulting helpless individuals under their care, and aggravated assault. Yehonatan Eilon-Hirsch of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office submitted the indictment. Prosecutors requested that the defendants remain in detention until the legal proceedings are complete.
The indictment describes a pattern of prolonged physical violence. Prosecutors allege the women covered children’s airways with their hands, paper, or cloth while gripping the backs of their necks. They reportedly shook the children, bent their bodies forward, and pressed them against mattresses for extended periods. In some cases, the obstruction of breathing continued after the children began choking and struggling for air, leaving them dazed and unsteady.
Additional charges include force-feeding restrained children. The caregivers allegedly tilted children’s heads back, forced their jaws open, and rapidly pushed pureed food into their mouths before wiping their faces with paper. Other allegations involve leaving children alone in dark, closed rooms as punishment, where they cried without supervision.
A mother of an 18-month-old told Ynet that her son attended the facility for only 26 days. She reported that he began waking up screaming 15 times a night and became anxious around other children. Injuries led her to suspect abuse before police intervened. Channel 12 News reported that investigators found messages between Pagelsky and another parent. In one exchange, Pagelsky sent a photo of a scratch and attributed it to outdoor play.
The case follows a series of daycare abuse investigations in Israel since 2020. Following nationwide protests, most daycare centers serving at least seven children under three were required to install cameras unless 70 percent of parents objected. Former Likud lawmaker Oren Hazan, whose child attended the facility, said to Channel 12 that the staff “murdered my children’s souls.”
Courtroom footage from public broadcaster Kan showed parents confronting the defendants as security personnel escorted the women away. The prosecution cited the frequency of the offenses and the victims’ young ages in seeking continued detention.
