Senior Israeli Official Arrested in Las Vegas Child Solicitation Sting
Two weeks ago, a high-ranking Israeli official was detained in Las Vegas on suspicion of trying to entice young people to meet for sex. The 38-year-old Executive Director of the Israel Cyber Directorate, Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, was in town for the Black Hat USA cybersecurity conference, which took place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center from August 2–7.
Las Vegas police, which helped carry out the operation, said Alexandrovich and seven other people were lured to a site in nearby Henderson, Nevada, where they were detained as part of a multi-agency sting targeting internet child predators.
The eight accused faced "felony charges of luring a child with a computer for a sex act," which carries a sentence of one to ten years in jail under Nevada law. After being questioned, they were released from the Henderson Detention Center after being booked there, according to the police.
After being freed, Alexandrovich went back to Israel, although Las Vegas police stated that indictments against all eight suspects were anticipated shortly. No extradition request has been made public as of yet.
Alexandrovich's LinkedIn profile was removed on Friday following the initial news of his detention. However, screenshots of him attending the Black Hat Briefings—the primary technical talks for Black Hat USA—were preserved.
The Israel Cyber Directorate put Alexandrovich on leave while they conducted an inquiry, according to Israeli media. The government organization, which reports to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, insisted in a statement on Friday that Alexandrovich was not taken into custody, even though police reports suggested otherwise.
“A state employee who traveled to the US for professional matters was questioned by American authorities during his stay,” the statement read. “The employee, who does not hold a diplomatic visa, was not arrested and returned to Israel as scheduled.”
The FBI, Homeland Security, the Nevada Attorney General's Office, the Las Vegas and Henderson police departments, and the Nevada Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force coordinated the two-week sting.
