Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav will be charged with raping a woman who once worked for him and other sex crimes against former female employees, the Justice Ministry said March 8, nearly a year after Katsav called off a plea bargain that would have allowed him to escape jail time.

The charges stem from a series of complaints filed by four women who worked for Katsav when he was tourism minister in the 1990s and president earlier this decade. Katsav has denied any wrongdoing.

Katsav resigned in 2007, two weeks before his seven-year term expired, under a plea bargain that would have required him to admit to lesser charges of sexual misconduct.

The deal would have allowed him to avoid charges carrying up to 20 years in prison. But in a dramatic reversal last April, he scuttled the plea bargain and said he would stand trial to clear his name.