The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI) on Wednesday urged the State Attorney’s Office to appeal both the convictions and the sentence imposed on Edward Kachura, a psychiatric nurse sentenced last week to seven years in prison over the death of teenage patient Lital Yael Melnik.
Kachura was convicted at the Haifa District Court of causing death by negligence and of committing sexual offenses against Melnik, who was hospitalized at a psychiatric ward for adolescents at Haifa’s Carmel Medical Center. He was acquitted of murder. The court ruled that while prosecutors had not proven intent to cause death beyond a reasonable doubt, Kachura bore criminal responsibility for the fatal chain of events.
Kachura demonstrated 'a prolonged pattern of exploitation'
In a letter sent Tuesday to State Attorney Amit Aisman, the ARCCI argued that the verdict and sentence fail to reflect the gravity and sustained nature of Kachura’s conduct, which it described as a prolonged pattern of exploitation rooted in extreme power imbalances between caregiver and patient.
In its request, the organization argues that Kachura abused his position as a psychiatric nurse while fully aware of Melnik’s impaired judgment and inability to provide informed consent. The organization contended that he manipulated the concept of her “free will” to justify repeated sexual offenses and later relied on the same distortion in the circumstances that led to her death.
“Despite the extreme and severe circumstances of this case, the offenses of which Kachura was convicted – and certainly the sentence imposed – do not reflect the seriousness or the systematic nature of his actions,” the letter stated, adding that the ruling cannot stand as is.
Attorney Hila Neubach, who heads the legal department at the ARCCI, said the case represents a profound failure to protect one of society’s most vulnerable populations: “This is a case marked by severe circumstances and extreme power disparities.”
She continued, “It is unacceptable that someone entrusted with the care of a minor hospitalized in a psychiatric institution exploited her condition, committed sexual offenses over a prolonged period, and ultimately brought about her death – and was sentenced to only seven years in prison.”
Neubach said the justice system bears a responsibility to safeguard those at greatest risk and called on the prosecution to issue a clear normative statement by filing an appeal. “We cannot accept the verdict as it stands,” she said.