In the Jewish Autonomous Region, a verdict was passed on the abbot of the church and the bell ringer for molesting more than 50 boys

In the Jewish Autonomous Region, a court passed a verdict in the case of the rector of the church and his assistant-bell ringer, who were accused of molesting more than 50 children, reported RIA Novosti in the regional prosecutor’s office.

“The court sentenced the former priest to 18 years of imprisonment in a strict regime colony with a ban on teaching activities for eight years and restriction of freedom for two years,” the representative of the prosecutor’s office explained.

The ringer received 12 years in a strict regime colony with a seven-year ban on teaching and a two-year restriction of freedom, she added.

The criminal case deals with the molestation of 53 minors. The priest was charged with 51 episodes, the bell ringer – five episodes. The clergy committed two crimes together.

The defendants admitted guilt in part.

Hieromonk Spiridon (Yuri Abramov), rector of the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in the village of Amurzet, Oktyabrsky District, was detained at the end of 2019. Before that, a local resident appealed to the Investigative Committee with an application against him. The priest was searched, during which, according to a RIA Novosti source in law enforcement agencies, a collection of “objects that are far from spiritual purpose” was confiscated. At the same time, the investigation found out that the assistant to the clergyman, the bell ringer Sergei Moos, also participated in the molestation of children.

Spiridon has been working with children since 2007. He also combined church service with his job as a school computer science teacher.

Spiridon led a stormy social activity, collaborated with the Cossacks, border guards, told “Moskovsky Komsomolets” Archbishop Ephraim of Birobidzhan and Kuldur. Before accepting dignity, he was a member of United Russia, from which he later left, since, according to the charter of the Russian Orthodox Church, a clergyman cannot be a member of any political parties and associations.

One of the sources of RIA Novosti said that Abramov was tried under six articles of the Criminal Code, and the bell ringer – one. Among other things, we are talking about sexual abuse of children, the production of pornography, compulsion to sex. In addition, the hieromonk, according to the investigation, systematically (in ten episodes) used alcohol and drugs with the boys.

The Russian Orthodox Church removed Abramov from the ministry. According to Vakhtang Kipshidze, deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church stands for a comprehensive investigation of this case.