US denies intervening in case of Israeli official accused of Nevada sex crime

WASHINGTON – The US State Department has said the American government played no role in the release of an Israeli official charged with soliciting sex electronically from a minor.

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was one of eight people charged last week following an undercover operation “targeting child sex predators”, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued last week.

Alexandrovich faces a felony charge of luring or attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person to commit a sex act “with use of computer technology”, according to Nevada State court records reviewed by Reuters.

The Israeli media said on Aug 14 that Alexandrovich, whom they described as a senior department head in Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, was released by US authorities and is back in Israel.

Reuters could not establish why Alexandrovich was in the Las Vegas area, but at the time the city was hosting Black Hat, one of the cyber-security industry’s most prominent conferences. A representative for Black Hat said the conference did not share data on attendees.

The report that an Israeli official accused of a felony sex crime was allowed to return home drew a storm of speculation online.

Alexandrovich “did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a state judge pending a court date. Any claims that the US government intervened are false”, the State Department said on Aug 18 on social media site X.

Bond paid

The court records reviewed by Reuters show a US$10,000 (S$12,850) bond was posted in Alexandrovich’s case at the Henderson Detention Centre, south-east of Las Vegas, on Aug 7.

Reuters could not immediately confirm Alexandrovich’s whereabouts and could not immediately locate contact information for him. The records indicate he is due back in court on Aug 27.

The Israeli media quoted the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office as denying that Alexandrovich was arrested, saying only that a “state employee” was “questioned by the American authorities during his stay”, and he had “returned to Israel as scheduled”.

The Las Vegas police statement credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Nevada Attorney-General’s office, the Henderson Police Department, the North Las Vegas Police and the Department of Homeland Security with helping to pull off the undercover operation.

The FBI referred Reuters to a statement from the Nevada US Attorney’s office, which in turn said the case was being prosecuted by the District Attorney’s office in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas and Henderson. REUTERS