Israeli police officer indicted for using databases to harass, extort women

A police officer has been indicted on 15 counts, including extortion, sexual harassment, and invasion of privacy, for allegedly using confidential police databases to harass and extort women. Samer Sheikh, 28, who served in the Yarkon district's traffic division, is accused of repeatedly accessing personal information of numerous women from police tablets, even off-duty, since 2022.

Prosecutors allege Sheikh stored screenshots of this information on his personal devices. He then reportedly used fake WhatsApp accounts to contact the women and their relatives, sometimes impersonating different individuals or using the profile picture of one of the victims. The indictment details a campaign of sexual harassment, threats, and extortion targeting at least 14 main complainants, as well as their family members and friends.

One central allegation involves Sheikh secretly recording intimate video calls with a former partner. He is accused of threatening to distribute these recordings unless she participated in further explicit calls. In other instances, he allegedly used intimate images as profile pictures for fake accounts and sent sexual material to a woman's brother and fiancé to reinforce his threats. The indictment also states he threatened to publish intimate photos and videos unless women complied with his demands for sexual acts during video calls.

According to the indictment, Sheikh continued his alleged harassment even after women rejected him, blocked his numbers, or threatened to report him to the police. The final charge focuses on his alleged abuse of his position, including unlawfully accessing police databases.