A senior Israeli official was arrested in the United States earlier this month and charged with seeking sexual conduct with a minor, only to be released on bail with no conditions or monitoring, allowing him to flee to Israel.
The case involving Tom Artiom Alexandrovich in Nevada is now stirring controversy, with politicians and social media commentators accusing the government of interfering in the judicial process to allow the cybersecurity official to return home without facing justice.
On Monday, the US Department of State was prompted to weigh in, posting on X that any “claims that the US government intervened are false”.
Court records from Nevada’s Clark County show that Alexandrovich was charged with luring or attempting to lure a child online to engage in sexual conduct – a felony that carries up to 10 years in jail in the case of a conviction. He was released on a $10,000 bond, but no monitoring appeared to take place.
Richard Davies, a criminal defence lawyer in Nevada, told Al Jazeera that the apparent lack of conditions on Alexandrovich’s release despite the seriousness of the charges was “fishy”.
“Average Joe gets arrested, he would appear in front of the justice of the peace within 24 hours. The justice of the peace in that county would issue bail conditions, which very typically would include a GPS device, restrictions on movement, not being allowed to leave the state,” Davies said.
“So the fact that this individual was not only allowed to leave without an ankle bracelet or a GPS device, not only to leave the state, but also leave the country, is highly unusual and suspect.”
The timeline
Alexandrovich was arrested on August 6, but the incident was not made public until more than a week later, when the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced an undercover operation “targeting child sex predators”.
A task force of local and federal agents had arrested eight suspects, including Alexandrovich, over two weeks.
“This operation was conducted as part of the ongoing efforts to reduce violent crime and protect children in our community,” the police said.
According to a police report, first obtained by the Breaking Points podcast, the authorities allege that Alexandrovich made sexual contact on two online and texting platforms with an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old girl.
“The sexual contact included bringing a condom and taking the decoy to ‘Cirque du Soleil’,” the report said.
He was arrested as soon as he arrived to meet the decoy.
During his interview with law enforcement officers, Alexandrovich said he thought the person he was chatting with was 18.
Then he repeatedly invoked his flight to Israel, the report says.
“Alexandrovich stated it was very important he get numbers for his flight. Alexandrovich stated his flight is on Friday [August 8] to New York and then will fly to Israel.”
Davies, the lawyer, said the mention of the flight should have given the court additional pause about granting Alexandrovich bail without stringent conditions.
“The fact that he wants to leave the country should be an aggravating fact to restrict his movement even more,” the lawyer said.
Trump administration denies involvement
Alexandrovich’s next court appearance is set for August 27.
It is not clear how or why he was released despite being a flight risk. The lower court judge whose name appears next to the bail determination did not return Al Jazeera’s request for comment. Neither did the Clark County District Attorney’s office.
The State Department denial has done little to sweep away the controversy. On social media, the case has drawn increased scrutiny and stoked speculations, with some likening Alexandrovich’s release and what they see as President Donald Trump’s administration burying the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene raised the case on Tuesday, drawing a contrast between freeing Alexandrovich and blocking Palestinian children from Gaza from entering the US for medical care.
“Two recent decisions made by the State Department both involve children,” she wrote.
“We need to be the America that allows war torn children to come here for life saving surgeries and the America that never releases a foreign child sex predator that our great LEO’s [law enforcement officers] caught.”
Last week, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Alexandrovich was arrested and downplayed the incident .
“A state employee who traveled to the US for professional matters was questioned by American authorities during his stay,” Netanyahu’s office was quoted as saying by Israeli news outlets.
“The employee, who does not hold a diplomatic visa, was not arrested and returned to Israel as scheduled.”
Justice Department blames local Democrat
With the spotlight on the Trump administration, the Justice Department has tried to shift the blame for the release of Alexandrovich to the local Democratic prosecutor in Clark County.
Acting US Attorney for the District of Nevada Sigal Chattah on Monday released a statement saying that the Clark County District Attorney’s office – not federal authorities – “is handling the prosecution” of the Israeli officials.
Shortly after that proclamation, Chattah wrote on social media: “A liberal district attorney and state court judge in Nevada FAILED TO REQUIRE AN ALLEGED CHILD MOLESTER TO SURRENDER HIS PASSPORT, which allowed him to flee our country.”
She added that Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel are “outraged” about the incident.
“The individual who fled our country should have had his passport seized by the state authorities. He must be returned immediately to face justice,” Chattah said.
— US Attorney Nevada (@USAO_NV) August 18, 2025
Meanwhile, the controversy has brought scrutiny to Chattah’s record, who has a history of posting bigoted and dehumanising posts against Palestinians.
On her now-deleted personal X account, Chattah has referred to Palestinians in Gaza as “animals”, called for wiping the territory “off the map”, and suggested that “even the children” in the enclave are “terrorists”.
The Justice Department and Chattah’s office did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Davies noted that Alexandrovich could still be extradited to face trial in the US, but the issue would require political will.
“The court should be concerned about protecting children in this community and nationwide. So it’s highly unusual – again – to allow this person to leave. Can they extradite them? Yes, they can. Will they? I guess that remains to be seen.”