The Haifa District Court sentenced an Tel Aviv dance instructor to eight years in prison, who was convicted of rape and serious sexual offenses against his 13-year-old student at the time.
Kirill Chaikin Shahaf, 30, was also convicted of indecent assault on a minor male student. He also received a two-year suspended sentence and will pay a fine of 100,000 shekels ($ 30,000) to the girl, Yuval Raz.
Raz agreed to be identified by name and said during the procedure: “I revealed my story to prevent other victims from experiencing what I did and to help as many girls as possible. I don’t think [the sentence] will affect me, but the punishment will discourage many people who will think twice before committing rape. I would like to say to women: allow yourself to feel comfortable and say it’s not your fault. ”
Open the Yuval Raz View Gallery at Haifa District Court on Sunday. Credit: Rami Shllush
The story began when Raz filed a complaint against Chaikin Shahaf in August 2021. Raz, now 18, told investigators that at the age of 13, when she was a student in a dance studio, he had complete sexual intercourse with her in his apartment several times and for several months. She was arrested at the dance school where she taught and confessed to raping her when she was a minor.
The indictment filed in September 2021 accused Chaikin Shahaf of aggravated rape and assault on modesty. He had taught the Raz dance for several years and had fed her as a leading dancer. In early 2018, he invited her several times to Kiryat Motzkin’s apartment, apparently to teach her to dance as part of his personal relationship with her.
During these meetings, he committed serious sexual offenses against Raz, despite her resistance and without her free consent. He was initially charged with four counts of rape, but later the indictment was amended to two counts.
Judge Orit Weinstein, the head of the full court, stated that Chaikin Shahaf “committed his acts by using the manipulation and exploitation of his status”, adding that the plaintiff confessed that she saw the accused as a god who could promote her in the world. dance. The defendant was aware of her veneration and used emotional manipulation. ”
Weinstein turned to Raz on behalf of the committee and said: ‘We would like to support the applicant. We hope that with the signing of the sentence, the brilliance will return to her eyes and start a new chapter in her life, a healthy, strong and happy chapter, in which she will be able to leave behind all the events. and to overcome the damage resulting from his conduct ”.
Weinstein added: “We also hope that the applicant will be able to show the world that she has the strength at the end of the day, continuing to succeed and dancing with all her strength and emotion, every day, with a smile. . ”
Following the sentencing, Raz said: “I am grateful to the prosecution and the court. I feel that justice has been done. “