Israeli police have arrested a 59-year old cult leader who fathered 40 children with 17 women, on suspicion of "enslaving" members of his group and raping a number of the women, dpa reported.
Goel Ratzon - who styled himself a "spiritual guru" - was taken into custody in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning, but news of his arrest was only released Thursday.
"We have managed to gather a great deal of evidence regarding the offenses of holding people under conditions of enslavement, and rape," a senior Tel Aviv police officer told a news conference.
Police said that in addition to allegations of rape and enslavement, Ratzon was also suspected of trying to persuade some of the women to commit suicide.
Two women were also arrested in the affair, one on suspicion of physical abuse, and the other on suspicion of failing to report abuses to the authority.
The investigation into Ratzon was opened in July last year, when welfare services received information over alleged "sexual offences within the family," police said.
Ratzon kept his family under tight control, laying down a set of rules, which included forbidding "idle chatter" and allowing the women to converse with each other only in the living room.
Violations of the rules carried a monetary fine.