JERUSALEM
An Israeli court sentenced a polygamist cult leader to 30 years in prison on sex offense charges including rape, Israel's radio reported on Wednesday.
The court said Goel Ratzon, 65, has "enslaved young women" throughout 30 years. He had 21 women he considered his wives, the report said.
It also quoted one of the women as saying that Ratzon described himself as the "world's savior" in order to entrap his victims. Ratzon, for his part, reportedly denied all charges and insisted the women voluntarily lived with him.
Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported that Ratzon kept the women, with whom he fathered children, in four houses and that he strictly imposed a certain lifestyle on the women with "special rules" such as abstinence from smoking, drinking or eating meat.
Polygamy is illegal in Israel.
www.aa.com.tr/en
