Convicted sexual abuser, cult leader and polygamist Daniel Ambash, who was serving a 26-year-sentence in the Ayalon Prison in Ramle, died suddenly on Friday morning, Israel Prison Service (IPS) Spokesperson’s Unit announced.
Police arrested nine people Monday suspected of being members of a Jerusalem cult.
In August, 2011, the cult’s three central defendants were indicted in the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday, in a case of what police and social workers have called the worst abuse of its kind they have seen in decades.
The charge sheet for members of a polygamous cult in Israel includes details of a series of offenses, including slavery, abuse of minors, false imprisonment, sex offenses and severe violence.
Israel Police, in cooperation with Jerusalem district officers and social services, arrested nine members of a cult living in Jerusalem and in the Tiberias area over the past few weeks, on suspicion of carrying out emotional and physical abuse of women and children over a two year period.
Police and social workers familiar with the case described severe physical, emotional, and sexual violence, that landed several of the children in the hospital, some multiple times.