Israel police arrest U.S. rabbi in bizarre case of sexual abuse, fraud

The Israel Police released Thursday the profile pictures of a Jerusalem yeshiva rabbi arrested on suspicion of rape through fraud, after posing as a secular Jew to seduce women on Tinder. 

His real photo and the one he used on dating apps was released by Israeli police so that more victims could come forward, after they may have been duped into having sex with the married man. He was remanded in custody for five days.

The suspect, Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Paryzer, is a 35-year-old American citizen who teaches at a yeshiva for foreign students in Jerusalem. He is married with two children, but deceived women online that he was someone else.

He told his victims that he was interested in a long-term relationship, but in reality he was only looking for sex as a married man with children and, as a result, assaulted several of them under false pretenses.

The case came to light in part thanks to a confrontation that the victims decided to organize together, which resulted in one of the women who had been in contact with the rabbi inviting him to her home, where several other of his victims were waiting for him.

"Consensual sex performed under false pretenses, ie. false identity of the perpetrator, is a criminal offense that is legally defined as rape," the group of women posted on social media as part of a warning message and statement.

All together, seven women have filed complaints, and the police are looking for other possible victims. On his profile, created with the fictitious names of Jake Segal or Jake Westman, the man claimed to be a trainer of guide dogs.