Kiryat Motzkin flower seller indicted for alleged rape of employees, minors

A Kiryat Motzkin flower salesman was indicted for the sexual assault of nine employees, some of them minors, the Haifa District Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday.

Zarviel Aivazov, 43, is alleged to have committed a variety of sexual offenses including rape, sodomy, attempted rape, attempted sodomy, indecent acts, sexual harassment, threats, and exposing minors to dangerous drugs.

The victims, women aged 15-21, were immigrants from the former Soviet Union and in financially unstable situations. Aivazov offered them a high salary of hundreds of shekels per evening to sell flowers outside entertainment businesses including strip clubs in northern Israel.

How did Aivazov abuse his victims?

Aivazov allegedly forced the women to come to work in makeup and revealing clothes and plied them with alcohol and drugs to make them more compliant. He would allegedly make sexual comments about their mode of dress and appearance.

The indictment detailed how Aivazov allegedly would accompany the women as a driver would bring them home. In the back seat of the vehicle, the flower salesman would sexually assault the women.

In several incidents he had the car stop at an apartment, where he raped or attempted to rape some of the women.

The prosecution asked that the accused remain in arrest during the duration of the legal proceedings.