Rights and Accountability 19 August 2025
A photo of Tom Artiom Alexandrovich published in Israeli media and attributed to Israel’s National Cyber Directorate.
This article has been updated since initial publication.
The US government is denying that it helped a senior Israeli official leave the country after his arrest on a serious child sex crime charge.
And on Monday, the Israeli-born top US federal prosector in Nevada confirmed that she is declining to prosecute the official, leaving the matter instead to local authorities – a sign the US is trying to downplay the matter and shield Israel and the accused pedophile from the consequences.
“The Department of State is aware that Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, an Israeli citizen, was arrested in Las Vegas and given a court date for charges related to soliciting sex electronically from a minor,” the US foreign ministry’s Near Eastern Affairs bureau posted on Twitter/X on Monday.
“He 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 added.
The denial is unlikely to quell concerns that Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, was given special treatment – especially amid ongoing controversy over US and Israeli government links to pedophile child-trafficking mastermind Jeffrey Epstein.
Israeli-born US prosecutor appointed by Trump
And in a further twist on Monday, Sigal Chattah, the acting US attorney – the top federal prosecutor for Nevada – confirmed that Alexandrovich was arrested in an “important multi-agency operation” that “targeted child sex predators who preyed upon the most vulnerable members of our communities.”
“As a result of the operation, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office is handling the prosecution,” Chattah added.
This signals that the federal government is washing its hands of the matter – leaving Alexandrovich to be prosecuted at the state level.
The US Department of Justice can and does file federal charges in such cases – especially when federal agencies are involved in a sting – but has, for some reason, chosen not to do so in this one.
A federal prosecution would carry much more force, especially if Alexandrovich refuses to return from Israel to the US.
Now a US federal official, Chattah is an Israeli-born lawyer who has been politically active with Zionist organizations, including the Israeli-American Council, a lobby group funded by pro-Israel tycoons Adam Milstein and Sheldon and Miriam Adelson.
Last month, more than 100 retired judges signed a letter objecting to President Donald Trump’s appointment of Chattah, calling her unqualified and citing “her well-documented history of racist remarks, conspiracy theories and threats of violence.”
Chattah has previously called for Israel to “wipe Gaza off the map” and labeled the entire population there “terrorists” and “animals.”
In the hours after this article was initially published, Chattah deleted her personal Twitter/X account “@Chattah4Nevada” on which she had posted these racist and genocidal statements.
Attempting to lure a child for sex
So what do we know about the Alexandrovich case and the fact that a man facing a serious criminal charge was allowed to leave the country?
On 15 August, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced that it had arrested “eight child sex predators” in a multi-agency sting involving local, state and federal authorities including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
“This operation was conducted as part of the ongoing efforts to reduce violent crime and protect children in our community,” the police stated.
The police identified Alexandrovich, 38, as one of the suspects who were arrested and taken to the Henderson Detention Center on felony charges.
The sting involved undercover officers and federal agents posing as children online and interacting with the accused men.
Authorities claim the men charged in the sting believed they were going to meet a child for sex.
Alexandrovich planned to meet with a decoy pretending to be a 15-year-old girl with whom he had chatted online when he was arrested, according to documents obtained by Las Vegas TV station KLAS.
“The sexual contact included bringing a condom and taking the decoy to ‘Cirque du Soleil,’” police said, according to KLAS. Alexandrovich allegedly arrived at the agreed-upon meeting location using a rideshare service and was then arrested.
“Alexandrovich did not appear before a judge and posted bond before his state-entitled probable cause hearing and before prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against him, meaning no judge could put any added restrictions on his release, records indicated,” KLAS reported.
One of the other suspects charged in the sting was reportedly a pastor at a local church.
According to the Clark County, Nevada, court records system, Alexandrovich allegedly committed the offense on 6 August and is charged with attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct – a felony punishable in Nevada by between one and 10 years in prison, in addition to fines of up to $10,000.
In Nevada this is a Category B felony, the second most serious type of crime, after offenses that involve causing death or grievous injury.
According to the court record, on 7 August, Stephen L. George, a justice of the peace, made a “probable cause” determination – a finding that there is enough evidence to bring a charge – and set Alexandrovich’s bail at $10,000.
A justice of the peace is a low-level magistrate.
Typically, police will seize and obtain a search warrant for any device used in the commission of the type of crime of which Alexandrovich is accused. It is unclear whether any computers or mobile phones were seized from him and retained by US authorities.
Israel a haven for fugitive sex offenders
Alexandrovich posted the bond of $10,000 on 7 August and was released “prior to PC review” – in other words without a pre-trial custody review or hearing.
The Israeli official’s next court appearance is set for 27 August, but it is questionable that he will ever face justice in the United States.
This is because Israel is a notorious haven for fugitive Jewish sex criminals, including pedophiles, who flee there knowing the Israeli government will not extradite them.
The National Cyber Directorate, which is overseen by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed that Alexandrovich has returned to Israel where he has been placed on leave.
The Cyber Directorate also initially denied Alexandrovich had been arrested, but later acknowledged this was incorrect.
Alexandrovich was not traveling on a diplomatic visa, the Israeli government said, but was representing the Israeli government at a “professional conference” in the United States.
According to the Israeli publication Anashim ve Machshevim (People and Computers) Alexandrovich was attending the Black Hat and DEF CON conferences at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Israel also denied it paid his bail or intervened to secure his release.
Flight risk
The major question is why Alexandrovich was allowed to post bail and leave the country at all.
Being granted bail is not automatic.
The purpose of bail is to ensure that a defendant who is released before trial returns to court later. Bail money is a guarantee: If the defendant complies with all their court dates, the money is returned to them. If they do not, they lose the money.
But courts routinely deny bail if a defendant is a flight risk or poses a potential danger to the community.
In Nevada – as is common in other states – the factors courts use to determine whether a person is granted bail pending trial include: social and family ties and residency in the community where the alleged offense was committed; the seriousness of the charge and length of a potential prison sentence; prior criminal record; potential danger to the community and any other factors that might indicate that the person is at risk of fleeing the court’s jurisdiction.
Typically, those deemed a flight risk or a danger to the community are denied bail or released with strict conditions that may include surrendering their passport, house arrest or GPS monitoring, as well as monetary bail.
Alexandrovich was an obvious flight risk given that he faces a serious charge and potentially years in prison and was merely a foreign visitor in Las Vegas who could and did return to a country where he is beyond the reach of American law.
In April, for instance, a Las Vegas man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for engaging in a sexually explicit conversation with someone he believed was a child and for possessing child sexual abuse material on his phone.
All this would have been known to any officials processing Alexandrovich after his detention, including the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and local authorities involved in the sting.
Indeed Alexandrovich told police he intended to flee. Citing the police arrest report, Fox 5 Vegas, a local TV channel, reported that “After he was placed under arrest, police said he was shocked and started asking for a way to contact someone about his international flight back to Israel” and that “Alexandrovich told police his family lives in Israel.”
And yet, he was allowed to walk out of jail and leave the country – especially odd given the Trump administration’s professed obsession with cracking down on noncitizens accused of heinous crimes.
In fact, Alexandrovich received the most lenient treatment afforded to the eight people arrested in the sting.
Based on court records, only two other suspects named in the Las Vegas police press release were released on $10,000 bail like Alexandrovich.
Two others were released on bail of $20,000 or more, one was released on a $5,000 bond with electronic monitoring and two others were denied bond and remain in jail.
Cover up
There is no question that efforts are being made to downplay, if not cover up, the matter as much as possible.
Israel is undoubtedly aware of the potential damage, especially given how low its global standing has fallen – even in the United States – due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Senior Israeli officials have convened an “under the radar” committee to examine how to minimize any potential fallout to US-Israeli relations and intelligence cooperation arising from the affair, according to Anashim ve Machshevim.
From Israel’s perspective, that concern is understandable, given the importance of Alexandrovich’s role. The Israeli publication notes that Alexandrovich’s Linkedin profiles – which were deleted over the weekend – listed him as one of the developers of Israel’s “cyber Iron Dome” and that he developed the country’s national cyber strategy.
Israel may not need to worry too much, given how the US government and media act as its shield.
One can only imagine, for instance, how The New York Times and The Washington Post might play up such a story if it involved, say, a senior Russian official.
But as of this writing, three days after news of Alexandrovich’s arrest and flight back to Israel broke, both newspapers have reported nothing.
The matter may gain traction among Trump’s base – riled by his ongoing attempts to distract from the Epstein affair.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the few right-wing members of Congress who has been willing to criticize Trump for failing to uphold his “America First” promises, took up the matter in a Twitter/X post on Saturday.“Pedophiles should not be released, they should face justice,” Taylor Greene wrote. “No matter what country they come from.”
Meanwhile, Representative Thomas Massie, another rare Republican willing to challenge Trump, posted on Monday that “Americans want transparency” about Epstein, “not smoke and mirrors.”
On Tuesday, Taylor Greene pressed the issue – denouncing the State Department for its recent decision to suspend issuance of US visas for Palestinian children from Gaza in need of medical treatment, while apparently protecting an accused Israeli pedophile.“The most concerning question is when and how did America become so subservient to Israel that we immediately release a CHILD SEX PREDATOR after arrest, with a 100 percent locked up case with evidence, and let him off to fly back home to Israel?” Taylor Greene wrote, asserting that no other country’s national would receive similarly favorable treatment.
Comments
child abuse
Permalink Peter Purich replied on
It is understandable - heinous - but understandable, given that "Israeli" tortures, rape, and "disappear" (ie. murder) children, Alexandrovich thought of nothing of luring a child and torture, rape, and "disappear" another one.
As Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program Director Defense for Children International - Palestine said "We are at a terrifying inflection point where Israeli forces are detaining Palestinian children in record numbers, torturing them with intense brutality, and refusing to disclose their numbers or whereabouts." https://www.dci-palestine.org/
Add new comment