Israeli cybersecurity official indicted on child sex charge
The Israeli cybersecurity official who was arrested in a child sex sting in August has been indicted by a Clark County grand jury.
Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, 38, was charged with luring children or mentally ill persons with the use of technology with the intent to engage in sexual conduct, according to the three-page indictment filed Thursday in District Court.
Online court records show Alexandrovich is scheduled to appear for an initial arraignment Oct. 15 and is being represented by Las Vegas-based defense attorney David Chesnoff.
The indictment alleges Alexandrovich “willfully, unlawfully and knowingly” communicated with an undercover FBI agent, whom Alexandrovich believed was under 16, with the intent to “solicit, persuade or lure” them to engage in sexual conduct through online applications like WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, and Pure, which describes itself on its website as an app that allows users to “date, play and misbehave” anonymously.
Chesnoff said he was unavailable for comment Thursday, citing observance of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson’s office was not immediately able to comment when reached via email.
Alexandrovich last appeared in court via video conference Sept. 3 after missing an arraignment the week prior on the grounds Chesnoff and prosecutors agreed to waive his attendance. Alexandrovich was arrested in Henderson Aug. 15 as part of a multi-agency operation that targeted alleged child sex predators in the Las Vegas Valley and returned home to Israel after posting a $10,000 bail after the arrest.
At the Sept. 3 hearing, Henderson Justice of the Peace Barbara Schifalacqua ordered Alexandrovich not to have contact with minors and not to use social media or apps for dating.
The Jerusalem Post described Alexandrovich, an Israeli resident, in an Aug. 16 article about his arrest as a “senior official at the Cyber Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office,” and that he managed substantial budgets at the agency and supervised teams that worked on critical infrastructure.
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky.
