Jerusalem – 14-year-old Israeli Boy Found In Severe Neglect, Allegedly Caged Since Birth

Jerusalem – A 14-year-old boy was found by Israeli police on Thursday allegedly isolated in his parent’s ramshackle apartment since his birth.

Police found the boy in a severe state of neglect after neighbors contacted the Hadera Municipality to complain of a strong stench emanating from the apartment on Shivtei Yisrael Street. Hadera municipality workers and police then broke into the house through a window, expecting a dead body, and instead they found the boy in a state of severe neglect and his parents. The house was filled with trash and debris.

The parents of the boy, in their 60s, were detained by police on suspicion of child neglect and the child was transferred to welfare services. Channel 2 reported that the boy told social workers that he “wen’t out every two weeks.”

An initial investigation found that the parents moved to Hadera in 2009, without notifying the municipality that they had a son. Reports further indicated that the boy had been locked up since he was born and did not leave the apartment or go to school.

Photos circulating in Hebrew media show what is allegedly an outdoor cage built of scrap metals, that the boy was permitted to use. The boy was taken to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center and found to be in generally good health, Maariv reported.

Attorney Dan Gilad of the Public Defender’s Office, who represents the mother told Maariv, that she claims to have acted in her son’s interest. “The mother is upset and in a difficult mental state. She is worried about her son’s condition,” he said.

Chico Vakhnin, a neighbor who spoke with Channel 2 described the scene when police arrived. “I went to the back of the house and saw the boy in the room with the bars,” he said, “When the police came in they saw the house full of mess and garbage, the police could not stand it, the social workers had tears in their eyes, the boy was really a zombie. This was the second time I had seen him, the first time I saw him was nine years ago and from then I didn’t see him.”

The Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social services said they were waiting for a full assessment of the boy’s psychical and mental health in order to assess his condition and are examining the suitability of family members or other means to care for the boy.