Tel Aviv BDSM community leaders arrested following allegations of rape, torture

Six leaders within the BDSM community in Tel Aviv were arrested on Saturday night after multiple reports on both Channel 12 and Walla of alleged rape and torture in clubs and private apartments within the community.

One of those arrested was Nisan Gavni, the so-called leader of a group of men who live in an apartment they call “The College.”

According to the numerous testimonies, the group members used the BDSM club Taboo to lure many young women to come to "The College," where they supposedly led a community life of free and healthy sexuality branching off of the BDSM scene.

However, according to police suspicion, as well as numerous testimonies, it was a trap to perpetrate and normalize severe sexual abuses, manipulative exploitation, and cruel rape.

Suspects under investigation

The police are investigating the involvement of at least ten suspects, including Gavni, Shalom Boharon, and Guy Shmuel.

Walla reported back in March that, following numerous complaints filed with the police, a criminal investigation is being conducted into this community by the crime-fighting unit of the Ayalon region on suspicion of serious sexual offenses, including rape.

Even after the report on Channel 12’s Uvda (an Israeli investigative journalism show similar to CBS’s 60 Minutes) over a year prior, Taboo continued to operate until it was eventually shut down by police.

One argument in the closure order was that “there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the business owners are using the business to commit criminal offenses, including multiple sex crimes."

A double-digit number of complainants arrived at the police station, where each one detailed at length the severe sexual abuses they allegedly suffered, both at "The College" and in the club.

Erez Harel contributed to this report.