**Israeli police have arrested the leader of an alleged polygamist cult and accused him of enslavement and sexual offences including rape.**The suspect, Goel Ratzon, has been living in Tel Aviv with 17 women with whom he had up to 40 children.
Police launched an undercover investigation in June 2009 after complaints from some of the women.
Mr Ratzon says the women were with him voluntarily and that a book of rules he used did not amount to enslavement.
The women and children were kept in cramped apartments in several locations in the south of Tel Aviv, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Mr Rosenfeld told the AFP news agency that in one case, police raided a three-bedroomed apartment where 10 women and 17 children were found in a “terrible state” living in “horrible conditions”.
Mr Ratzon is said to have asked them to live by a book of rules which specified behaviour and punishments, including fines.
The women are now being questioned by police, and the children placed in temporary care.
Mr Ratzon’s lawyer, Shlomzion Gabai, told the Associated Press news agency that her client denied all the allegations, adding: “He may be different, but he’s not a criminal.”