What tha? of the week : Melbourne Indymedia

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The Jewish diplomat who ran a child prostitution ring out of the Israeli Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hopes to leave safe-haven Israel for a new diplomatic post
in Australia.
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February 12, 2005 -- The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that notorious child pornographer Arie Scher has been flagged as the replacement for Amir Laty, the
former Israeli consul to Australia who was expelled amid extreme secrecy from Australia about a month ago.

The government has refused to explain why Laty, who was only 18 months into his posting, was forced to leave under the threat of deportation. It is believed, and
has been widely reported, that Laty's expulsion was related to espionage, as well as personal "indiscretions."

(Image: A photograph of Arie Scher and accomplice George Schteinberg found by Brazilian police. The photo shows the two men standing, hugging each other. Each
has an arm reaching down toward the front of Professor Schteinberg's swimming suit. While Schteinberg holds his suit waistband down, exposing his private parts, Scher
reaches over to grasp Schteinberg's penis. Australia, meet the new ambassador.)

When the Department of Foreign Affairs was asked for an explanation on why Laty was banished, they suggested asking ASIO, Australia's domestic spy agency. That
the agency was involved confirmed speculation the expulsion was related to national security. Eventually, official sources told the Herald espionage was part of thereason Laty was kicked out. Reports subsequently emerged that Laty might have tried to penetrate "highly sensitive Australian intelligence."

In addition, reports of Laty's indiscretions or "out of hours
activities," as one official put it, have also emerged. A number of women have complained of his unwanted attentions and persistent phone calls. The women had thought at the time his behavior might have just come down to cultural difference -- but they were unnerved nevertheless. Then a report emerged yesterday that Laty had a relationship in Canberra with a woman who worked for the Defense Department.

Arie Scher's choice as Laty's replacement has already sparked outrage. According to dozens of reports, including one in the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv, Scher abandoned
his posting at the Israeli embassy in Brazil five years ago after being implicated in child pornography and before police were able to question him.

Scher, who was the Israeli vice-consul in Rio, and at one point the consul-general, was charged with running an illegal child pornography and prostitution business.
The investigation began when an underage girl testified that she was filmed and photographed by Hebrew language teacher George Schteinberg having sex with Israeli tourists. She also told police that Scher participated in the sessions. In a search of Schteinberg's residence, photographs of children posed on a car with diplomatic
plates were discovered, as well as "massive quantities" of child pornography. Police then traced the car in the pictures back to the Israeli Embassy in Rio de Janeiro.

A search of Scher's apartment confirmed that photographs found at Schteinberg's residence had been taken in the vice-consul's luxury penthouse. "We confirmed that
the pornographic pictures were taken next to the consul's pool and on his deck," said Roberto Costa, a chief investigator for the civil police. "We are going to
charge him with exploiting minors and prostituting them." (Picture: Professor Schteinberg hides from photographers as he's being taken away by police.)

After Brazilian authorities notified the Israeli embassy of plans to revoke Scher's diplomatic immunity, he fled. According to the Brazilian federal police, Scher
departed at 12:57 in the morning for Israel by way of Buenos Aries, Argentina.

Agent Icaro Silva of the Brazilian Police Commission (Copacabana) said that Scher is considered a fugitive wanted for creating child pornography. His escape resulted in
a request to Interpol that Scher be arrested if he ever leaves Israel and that the Brazilian government be notified of any developments in this case.

Prior to Scher's flight, Mr. Schteinberg confirmed that he had assisted in taking nude photographs in the consul's apartment, and that he had sexual relations
with a girl, age 11, who was living with him at the time of his arrest. Agent Silva said the pre-teen had been living with Schteinberg for almost a year, "as had been
arranged by Scher." (Picture: Two pre-teens hang out at a Christian food bank, not
far from the Israeli Embassy in Rio de Janeiro.)

Silva told reporters that nine complete pornographic Web sites were found on the hard drive of Schteinberg's computer, and all were in Hebrew, the language
that Schteinberg taught. "We want to determine the names of the other girls who appear in those photos," said the commission agent. He added that the Web sites confirm that Schteinberg was running an Internet service that brought Israeli tourists to Brazil to have sex with the children.

Silva also connected Scher to another notorious child pornographer, a retired professor by the name of Ablio Nogueira de Faria, age 78, who was in jail for
producing child pornography. A document titled "An Investigation of Arie Scher," written by an unnamed American, was found in the retiree's home which
contained descriptions of criminal acts by Scher. "We want to know if some connection between the cases exists, therefore Nogueira will be interrogated again," Silva told
reporters.

Israel and Brazil do not have an extradition treaty but the Brazilian Government asked the Israeli Government to return Scher. Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Relations
delivered a formal request to Israel's Foreign Ministry stating that Rio de Janeiro's 31st criminal precinct had a criminal case pending against him.

The request was sent to Brazil's embassy in Tel Aviv on October 2001 and later forwarded to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Ma'ariv reported that Israel refused to
extradite Scher and instead conducted its own investigation. They found that Scher had merely "behaved inappropriately for a diplomat." And banned him from
foreign diplomatic missions for five years.

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, Mark Regev, confirmed the disciplinary hearing upon Scher's return from Brazil five years ago. "He
was a young and single man at the time. Now he is married and he's six years older and there is
no reason why he shouldn't make an excellent diplomatic appointment in Australia," Regev told the Herald on Friday.

Other Israeli sources told the Sydney Morning Herald that because of the public nature of the allegations, the Scher inquiry was quietly held at the highest level of the country's Civil Service Commission. They determined that "while some of his behavior was unbecoming, there was nothing close to criminal." [ Apart from that embarrassing case of ongoing 'wanted fugitive' status in Brazil of course -ED]

"He made a mistake when he was younger but there is no reason why he should not go on to have a very strong career as a diplomat," Regev said.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry assured the Herald that Scher's appointment was "just pending" and he had not left for Australia. "The decision to send him to
Australia stands but because of concerns that were raised, the case is being looked at at the highest levels of the ministry," Regev said.

(Pedophile, Arie Scher has re surfaced) Liberty Forum [ Post 293370022 ] http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_crime&Number=293370022#Post293370022