Brazil to extradite Israeli child abuse suspect

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WASHINGTON (JTA) — Brazil’s Supreme Court said it will extradite the chief suspect in an Israeli child abuse case.

The Brazilian court handed down its ruling on Thursday.

Elior Chen was the spiritual leader of a Jerusalem sect that was found to have been abusing children, including a 4 and 5 year old who were hospitalized in critical condition last March, reported Ha’aretz. Chen allegedly ordered his followers to discipline children by beating, burning, pushing and shaking them, or tying them up in order to "correct" their behavior.

An international warrant for Chen’s arrest was issued in April, after he initially fled to Canada following the arrest of one his followers in Jerusalem on charges that she had abused her eight children at the directon of Chen. One of those children remains in a coma.

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