Israeli cybersecurity chief arrested in Las Vegas child predator sting, freed on bail, returned to Israel

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) announced on August 15 that eight men had been arrested during a two-week multi-agency sting involving the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. Police confirmed that Alexandrovich, 38, was among those taken into custody and booked into the Henderson Detention Center. He was charged with luring a child with a computer for a sex act, a felony under Nevada law. According to The Guardian, court records show Alexandrovich was released on $10,000 bail after an initial appearance and then returned to Israel.

The sting targeted suspects who allegedly believed they were meeting children for sexual encounters. Among those arrested alongside Alexandrovich was Neal Harrison Creecy, a 46-year-old pastor at a Las Vegas church, who resigned after his release on bail, according to local CBS reporting cited by The Guardian. Police also arrested a former Las Vegas police officer and an Indian engineering student, Ynet reported.

Sometime after Alexandrovich’s arrest became public, his LinkedIn profile was deleted. Screenshots reported on by Mediaite showed that his account had identified him as the executive director of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, a government agency that operates under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Prior to its removal, his last post referenced attending the Black Hat 2025 cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. In another post reported by The Guardian, he wrote about Israel’s role in artificial intelligence development, saying: “The future of cybersecurity is being written in code, and it seems a significant part of it is being authored in #TelAviv and powered by LLMs.”

Israeli media initially offered a different version of events. Ynet, an Israeli outlet, reported on August 14 that an employee of the National Cyber Directorate had only been “briefly detained for questioning” before returning to his hotel and later flying home. Netanyahu’s office backed that version of events in a statement, denying any arrest had taken place. “The employee, who does not hold a diplomatic visa, was not arrested and returned to Israel as scheduled,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

That narrative quickly had holes poked in it after US authorities publicly contradicted it. The US State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs Bureau wrote on X that Alexandrovich “was arrested in Las Vegas and given a court date for charges related to soliciting sex electronically from a minor,” adding that he did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a judge pending trial. “Any claims that the U.S. government intervened are false,” the statement said.

A statement by the US Attorney of Nevada also posted on August 18, "Last week, Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was arrested in a Nevada Internet Crimes Against Children joint operation and he was booked into the Henderson Detention Center. This important multi-agency operation targeted child sex predators who preyed upon the most vulnerable members of our communities." They maintain that the Clark County District attorney's Office "is handling the prosecution."

By Saturday, Ynet acknowledged that court and police documents confirmed Alexandrovich’s arrest, bail, and release. The outlet also reported that he was suspected of attempting to lure a child with mental disabilities. The Cyber Directorate later said its earlier statements were “based on information provided to us,” and confirmed that Alexandrovich is now on leave “by mutual decision.”

It is not known who posted Alexandrovich’s bail or how he was permitted to leave the United States before his court date. Under Nevada law, the charge of luring a child with a computer can carry a sentence of one to ten years in prison.