History of seduction
Katya's parents have been divorced for many years, her father lives in the Pskov region, her mother Victoria and her daughter live in Anapa. For the past nine years, Katya has annually gone on vacation to her father, who was close friends with the local priest Ilya Spirov, rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" in the village of Krasny Luch. In May 2022, Spirov once again came to the Krasnodar Territory on personal business and, according to a recently established tradition, visited his former parishioner and her then 15-year-old daughter. Since Victoria knew about the friendship of her ex-husband with his confessor and trusted Spirov, his proposal to take Katya to her father in the Pskov region by car did not arouse any suspicions in her. “Without a second thought, we sent her with him with the permission of her father. And on the way there, literally a day later, they make a video call and report that they are in a relationship, ”says the girl’s stepfather, and her mother adds:“ And he began to paint very beautifully what kind of love they have. I asked: “Did you have something?” – to which he said: “We could not resist.”
Victoria and her current husband immediately turned to the guardianship authorities and the Investigative Committee. A criminal case was opened with the help of a lawyer under Article 134 “Sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years of age committed by a person over 18 years of age”. At the same time, Victoria turned to the man who is called Putin's confessor, Metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov, Father Tikhon Shevkunov. She managed to get a telephone conversation and state her version of events. After this call, Spirov was suspended from performing the sacraments and worship. The decision of the church court on his defrocking was made after the end of the civil court, on September 5, 2022.
“The whole parish, except for me, immediately took the side of Father Ilya,” says Irina P., a former parishioner of Spirov . The Insider> , – and still there are rose-colored glasses on everyone. They don't believe it happened. Everyone thinks that the story is far-fetched, that he was slandered. This person is a good psychologist, he has an answer to any question, and he himself said that he reads books that help him influence the psychology of a person so that he makes exactly the decision that he needs. In addition, he regularly, every month, collected money from parishioners. SMS messages were constantly sent to everyone. Either for food, or for gasoline, or for something else. And even large sums were sent, about 20 thousand rubles, and at that time he changed one car after another. And the parishioners collected for him lawyers. He said, without hesitation, more than once that he went into meditation and practiced the expansion of consciousness, that he heard some voices, some images. And he considered himself a god. Apparently, he picked up all this in his sect, from the Anastasievites or while he was a Krishnaite.
Spirov said without hesitation that he went into meditation and practiced the expansion of consciousness, that he heard some voices, some images. And he considered himself a god
The near-religious and near-mystical movement "Ringing Cedars of Russia", or "Anastasia" appeared in the early 90s and still exists. Its participants believe in the existence of the Siberian righteous Anastasia, who is fed by squirrels. It keeps the wisdom of the ancient Vedrusses and the power of the cedars, which is successfully monetized on its website by the founder of the movement, Vladimir "Megre" Puzakov.
A psychological and psychiatric examination recognized Spirov as sane. The investigator and Victoria's lawyer explained to her that the trial in the usual manner would last at least six months. In order not to go to the Sebezhsky District Court of the Pskov Region with a second small child several times over 2,000 kilometers, Katya's mother and stepfather decided to agree to the lawyer's proposal that the trial be held in a special order – without questioning the accused and the applicants, without examining the evidence. Such a trial takes place in one session, at which only mitigating and aggravating circumstances relating to the personality of the accused are examined, the decision is made on the same day. (The fact that the connection between Katya and Spirov arose a year before the April trip to the Pskov region, that is, when Katya was only 14 years old, Victoria found out immediately before the court.)
Sex in the back seat
Here are some excerpts from the judgment dated August 23, 2022:
“The defendant Spirov I.V., being a person who has reached the age of 18, committed sexual intercourse with a person who has not reached the age of 16, under the following circumstances:
– In the period from 20.10.2021 to 30.10.2021 Spirov I.V., being in his car parked on the side of the village of Dubrovka, Sebezhsky district of the Pskov region, experiencing for under 16 years of age […] Ekaterina 2007 . sexual desire, in order to satisfy his sexual passion, having the intent to repeatedly engage in sexual intercourse with her, invited her to have sexual intercourse, to which she voluntarily gave her consent. Spirov I.V., realizing that […] Ekaterina had not reached the age of 16, by mutual agreement with her, without the use of violence, had sexual intercourse with her in a natural form, inserting his penis into the vagina last, thereby violating normal physical and moral development […] Catherine and her right to sexual integrity.
— […] in the period from 10/20/2021 to 10/30/2021 Spirov I.V., being at the place of residence, […] invited her to have sexual intercourse, to which she gave her voluntary consent.
– […] in the period from 07.12.2021 to 14.12.2021 Spirov I.V., being in his car parked on the side of the road near the village of Krasnokamenka, Yalta district of the Republic of Crimea, […] invited her to have sexual intercourse to which she gave her voluntary consent.
– […] in the period from 01/05/2022 to 01/20/2022 Spirov I.V., being in the hangar room at km 27 of the Tolkachevo-Sebezh highway, […] invited her to have sexual intercourse, to which she gave her voluntary consent.
— […] Spirov I.V., being at the place of residence, […] invited her to have sexual intercourse, to which she gave her voluntary consent.
— […] in the period from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on May 23, 2022, Spirov I.V. your voluntary consent.
The judge of the Sebezhsky District Court Sergey Olegovich Dmitriev considered the positive characterization of the defendant at a permanent place of work and took into account the presence of “two young dependent children, one of whom is a disabled child”, as well as a full confession of guilt and repentance. The judge found no aggravating circumstances in the case. Judgment under Art. 134 part 1, providing for from 480 hours of community service to 4 years of restriction of freedom, sounded like this:
“Given the nature and degree of social significance of the committed crime, […] sentence him to 120 hours of corrective labor.”
“Given the nature and degree of social significance of the crime committed, to impose a sentence of 120 hours of corrective labor”
Harassment after conviction
Having served the term appointed by the judge and divorced his wife, the defrocked Ilya Vyacheslavovich returned to Anapa and began secretly meeting with Katya after school. According to Victoria, Spirov gave Katya a phone, to which he continued to send voice messages. Here is one of them:
“So, you study the Gospel and think that our relationship is sinful, we should repent of it. You don't understand where I found that it's not a sin. Christ always said that he came to fulfill the law. The law is described in the Old Testament. My education is quite serious. This is not a joke education. [It] gives me a fairly large knowledge of the Old Testament, the New Testament and further acts of the first apostles. So, everywhere until almost the 10th century, it was about polygamy. There has always been polygamy. If a married man took a young woman who was not promised to anyone as his wife, then there were no problems with this. It was not considered a sin, and there was no adultery. Before everything moved to Greece, since we have Greek Orthodoxy of Greek roots, that is, they have monomarriages. That is, the marriage of one with one, respectively, they have one wedding. […] If you poke around according to the canons of antiquity, according to the Old Testament, according to the books of the apostles, then the fact that we entered into a relationship with you is not a sin. There is such a thing as telegonia. You and I once discussed this, that when a man first enters a woman, a girl, then her gene pool becomes all from this man: both the son and the children, if she gives birth to another, already subsequent men, have part of the gene pool of the first man . That is, as soon as we had the first contact with you, we united into a single body and flesh. And since then you have become my wife. Indeed, you should obey your parents. There are no questions in this, they must be obeyed. But as soon as you became mine, you and I connected at the genetic level, at a deep level, you left the submission to your parents and entered into submission to me.
Since the meetings of the lovers continued, Victoria and her husband decided to put Katya under “house arrest” and take away her phone: “She recently asked:“ On what basis are you keeping me at home? ”Katya’s stepfather says. “We were in a psycho-neurological dispensary, with a lawyer, in guardianship authorities, and under family law we have the right to educate her.” Victoria adds:
“Katya said that she would only speak to me through a lawyer. She says: “Mom, I love you, but when you fight me, you are like a stranger to me.” Nevertheless, we communicate very well, discuss problems at school and the art school, but when I start telling her that nothing good will happen to him, she often closes. Sometimes I speak under pressure so that she hears something. We try to work with her almost every day.”
In his audio messages, Spirov says that on the night of April 1-2, when Katya turns 16, he plans to come to her on a motorcycle and take her away from home to get married and never return there. To back up his words with deeds, Spirov turned to the guardianship authorities of the Krasnodar Territory regarding Katya's illegal detention under house arrest and deprivation of communication with the outside world, in connection with which her family is now being checked.
Spirov did not respond to The Insider's requests for comment.
The silence of the ROC
All representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, contacted by The Insider, declined to comment, only the priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad Father Alexei (Lebedev) agreed to comment on Spirov's actions.
“Of course, the highest requirements must be applied to Orthodox priests. They are present from the very moment a person is prepared as a candidate for ordination. There are the Apostolic Canons and the so-called search, that is, a questioning in the church-canonical sense of a person who claims to become a clergyman. High demands are placed on him in terms of moral purity, and is considered both an activity before becoming a priest, and after. It seems to me that the choice of a divorced person for this position is doubtful. By the way, the fact that he was a Hare Krishna or an Anastasian is not necessarily a negative factor for me personally. This may characterize him as a person seeking.
Violation of sexual integrity is a rather serious sin. There are words in the Gospel that adulterers and fornicators do not inherit the kingdom of God. This practice is absolutely forbidden, especially for a priest. He not only cannot do this, he cannot even look at a woman with lust or have any other passion. In short, this is not just a problem at the level of the middle manager, because to whom more is given, the demand is higher. If the manager is condemned only by the labor collective and criminal proceedings, then the priest is condemned by the entire Heavenly Host.
Power is a strong drug, and the priest has power, both pedagogical and hierarchical. A man dressed in golden robes stands on a dais and says something – as if on behalf of the Church, but at the same time everyone understands that only those who are on the icons speak on behalf of the Church, and all the rest only on their own behalf. "Batiushkism", which is often found in Orthodoxy, is an influence in which a person begins to bathe. The parishioners say: “Oh, what a priest, what a spiritual, what a smart, what a beautiful beard he has,” and now he begins to use it. And this can and should be fought, there are many examples of successful struggle. And a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church can be imprisoned for a crime, and the diocese will be interested in this cleansing, as evidenced by the case of Spirov.”
The Insider knows more than 20 cases of successful fight against pedophilia in the Russian Orthodox Church: Ulyanovsk sexton Alexander Bersenev received 20 years for raping 19 boys; in the Komi Republic, priest Denis Vandyshev was found guilty of molesting girls aged 7 to 12 and also received 20 years; priest Roman Pogrebnyak from the Stavropol diocese was sent to prison for 14 years for violence against 9-12-year-old boys, and the confessor of the Zenit football club and popular Orthodox radio and TV presenter Gleb Grozovsky was sentenced to 14 years in a strict regime colony for sexual assault for at least three girls aged 8-12.
What to do for victims and their families
According to statistics, about 50% of crimes related to sexual inviolability occur in the family and in the inner circle of friends. And only 23% of cases occur on the street with people unknown to the victims. There are more and more known cases of pedophilia, harassment and violence in areas where there is an imbalance of power every year. Coaches, teachers, teachers, bosses, priests are professions where there is a relationship “guru – student, boss – subordinate” and there is a temptation to use this power. The Insider spoke to experts who told us how to protect underage children from sexualized abuse or how to act if a child has already suffered from it.
Anna Levchenko, director of the NP "Monitoring Center" and the project "Surrender a pedophile!":
“There is a misconception that pedophile priests are covered by the diocese, the Investigative Committee and the FSB. This has not happened for a long time, such cases are rare. If it turns out that a priest is involved in sexual crimes, they will deal with him even tougher than with an ordinary pedophile, including through the ROC. I have met with the church hierarchy and I know what their attitude is. They say, “Report it. If you don’t want to go to the Investigative Committee, go to the diocese so that we can go for you. We don't need all this." Father Fyodor (Lukyanov), with whom I spoke, the head of the Patriarchal Commission for Family, Women and Children, says that the parishioners themselves are silent. It is beneficial for them [the churches] to show that they found the black sheep and figured it out, and vice versa, the veil of the conspiracy is unprofitable, they say, “everyone there is like that.”
For some reason, people here think that pedophiles are some kind of separate category of people with horns on their heads, a scary face from a series about cops from the 90s. The problem with pedophilia is that it is very common, much more than the history of maniacs. It rarely happens that a pedophile grabs a child, rapes and kills – this is usually what a maniac does. Pedophiles are almost always people from a close circle, and in the rest of their social life they are no different. They really sincerely fall in love with children, they lift them up to heaven before the stage of sexual relations and say how wonderful and good they are.
For some reason, people here think that pedophiles are some kind of separate category of people with horns on their heads from a series about cops from the 90s
The victims of a pedophile can be children who are in a bad social situation, if it is a marginal family. Or if the parents are good and the child has everything, but the parents are at work all the time, and the child has no contact and he feels abandoned – then the pedophile comes to very fertile ground.
Literally today I received a letter from a subscriber with a question: “How to explain to children about pedophiles and how to teach them to save themselves? At what age is it possible to have such conversations? “My answer is this: there can be no clear instructions and scripts. As such, there should be no “serious conversations” with children. It only scares them. In this format, both kids and teenagers do not perceive information. If we're not trying to keep kids out of everything, but just being honest with them about everything age-adjusted and answering questions when it's appropriate and when they feel like talking, then there won't be a problem.
You don’t need to raise children in an ideal world, you need to talk to them and with them about the fact that there are bad people, that they can be nearby, that even the closest ones can cause harm and pain. We ourselves need to stop tabooing the topic of sexual relations for ourselves, and then conversations with children will be built easily and simply. At the age of five, a child should clearly know the “rule of panties” – no one, not even a dad or a doctor, can undress and touch a child without your presence, and if someone has violated this rule, urgently need to tell mom.
Не нужно растить детей в идеальном мире, нужно говорить с ними о том, что есть плохие люди, что даже самые близкие могут причинить вред
С детьми постарше можно уже говорить о педофилах. Обсуждайте с ними новости, приводите примеры, спрашивайте их мнение и спрашивайте, не было ли в их окружении чего-то похожего. Выстройте общение в семье так, что с вами не стыдно было об этом говорить. Дайте понять, что вы в любом случае защитите ребенка, даже если он совершит ошибку по глупости или наивности, вступит с кем-то подозрительным в переписку или не сможет сказать „нет“.
Доверительные отношения в семье — это база. Отсутствие в семье табу — это база номер 2. Изначально у детей никаких табу нет, они навязаны взрослыми. Они считывают смущение взрослых и понимают, что это какая-то неприятная и стыдная тема, хотя им самим не стыдно. Современные дети нам открыто пишут и называют все своими именами, абсолютно не стесняясь, а из родителей надо слова клещами вытаскивать. Девочка 12 лет пишет прямо: „Мне какой-то мудак-педофил прислал член во всех ракурсах“, — а ее мама что-то невнятное говорит мне в трубку: „Он прислал моему ребенку такое!“ Важно понимать, что, когда мама закатывает истерику, у ребенка может возникнуть отвращение не к педофилам и извращенцам, а к теме секса и половых органов вообще, что во взрослой жизни может привести к проблемам в личной жизни, в том числе к половой дисфункции у мальчиков и фригидности и аноргазмии у девочек.
Если вы думаете, что над ребенком было совершено сексуализированное насилие, не должно быть инфантилизма родителей, которые не готовы брать ответственность ни за себя, ни за ребенка. Нам звонят на горячую линию, и я поражаюсь. „Я папа такой-то девочки и сдаю педофила. Разберитесь“. Я говорю: „Если вы папа, то вы должны написать заявление в Следственный комитет. Мы можем помочь вам его составить и окажем юридическую помощь, но сначала вы должны пойти и обозначиться, что вы отец этого ребенка и что вы пойдете бороться за его права“, — а он говорит: „А вы тогда на что? Вы же специальные люди, которые должны этим заниматься, вот я вам и звоню“».
Мы даем консультации, инструктируем, как себя вести и что делать, но мы не сможем защитить вашего ребенка вместо вас».
Алексей Федяров, адвокат, директор центра правовой помощи Status:
«Если исходить из того, что сказали родители Екатерины, ими были допущены грубейшие ошибки, которые и привели к такому, мягко говоря, странному приговору: родители согласились на особый порядок заседания, не приехали на заседание, согласились с приговором судьи и не обжаловали его в установленном законом порядке в течение 10 дней. Если бы они сделали все иначе, приговор был бы другой, даже несмотря на то что девочка пока не считает себя жертвой.
У нас сексуальные преступления часто не воспринимаются как преступление. Классическое изнасилование — да, плохо. А вот то, что потрогали ребенка, что ему прислали, что проговорили — ну да, плохо, дядя чего-то шалит, сейчас к психологам сходим. То, что это преступление, в голове пока не укладывается. Вы как родитель или опекун обязаны осуществлять функции воспитателя над ребенком, должны понимать, что иначе вы скрываете особо тяжкое преступление.
Первым делом родитель должен определить, какое преступление было совершено. Здесь могут подходить четыре статьи Уголовного кодекса — 131, 132, 134 и 135. Статья 131 — это изнасилование, то есть проникновение половым членом во влагалище. 132 — насильственные действия сексуального характера. Это анальный, оральный контакт и любые другие сексуальные действия, включая прикосновения и другие способы получения сексуального удовлетворения, вплоть до насильственного показа порнороликов ребенку или получения удовлетворения в форме эксгибиционизма.
Все, что совершается в отношении потерпевших, которым не исполнилось 12 лет, законодатель относит к насилию. То есть априори считается, что потерпевшие не осознают характер совершаемых ими действий и не могут оказать активного сопротивления. Даже если не было собственно физического насилия. Если был половой акт в любой форме или если присланы или продемонстрированы фото или видео порнографического содержания ребенку до 12 лет — это насильственное преступление.
Дальше идет статья 134 УК РФ: половое сношение и иные действия сексуального характера с лицом, не достигшим 16-летнего возраста. И потом уже статья 135: развратные действия в отношении несовершеннолетнего, то есть действия, которые носят сексуализированный подтекст. Здесь говорится о беседах явно порнографического содержания с целью получения удовлетворения, переписки, пересылка фотографий и ссылок на порнофильмы.
Есть еще статья 133, она крайне редко встречается, — это понуждение. Чаще всего это харассмент в отношении уже взрослых потерпевших для служебного продвижения, когда прямого насилия вроде бы и нет. Это редчайшая квалификация, через меня за 26 лет ни одного такого дела не проходило.
После того как родитель или опекун прочитал эти статьи, важно избежать распространенной ошибки — не идти сразу в травмпункт или в полицию. Полиция не уполномочена расследовать убийство, не уполномочена расследовать и ни одно из преступлений сексуального характера. Нужно идти в Следственный комитет. Но Следственный комитет сейчас Александром Ивановичем Бастрыкиным устроен так, что просто прийти туда, обратиться с сообщением о преступлении, особенно в нерабочее время и в выходные, очень и очень тяжело. Ты просто придешь к закрытой двери. Писать в электронную приемную бесполезно, они на сообщения о преступлениях не реагируют. Если это рабочий день, нужно идти в Следственный комитет именно не по месту жительства, а по месту совершения преступления, и добиваться, чтобы вас приняли.
Следственный комитет устроен так, что обратиться с сообщением о преступлении очень тяжело. Ты просто придешь к закрытой двери
Желательно идти сразу с адвокатом, в идеале — да простят меня коллеги — с бывшим сотрудником прокуратуры или Следственного комитета. Если это нерабочее время или нерабочий день, нужно с ребенком идти в полицию и просить незамедлительно вызвать Следственный комитет. Поскольку полиция очень не любит заниматься преступлениями на сексуальной почве, их задача — заставить вас забрать заявление. Но будьте настойчивы. Следователь должен вам дать направление на медицинское освидетельствование у судебно-медицинского эксперта. В травмпункте и обычной больнице вы не получите после обследования нужных документов, которые потом можно будет использовать как доказательство в суде. Самое важное, что они будут исследовать, — состояние одежды, телесные повреждения, следы биологического происхождения: эпидермолиз, слюна, кровь, сперма. Поэтому, как бы ни было противно, нужно сохранить следы преступления: нельзя выкидывать одежду, принимать душ. Нужно заставить СК зафиксировать все повреждения и возбудить уголовное дело.
Если насилия не было, как в случае с Екатериной, это не значит, что не было преступления. Если бы Спиров отпирался, вывод судьи был бы сделан, в частности, на основании психолого-психиатрической экспертизы, которую они оба проходили, она установила, что есть в их воспоминаниях. И есть комплекс косвенных доказательств: показания свидетелей, видео с камер. Но если нет признательного показания осужденного, это сложнее.
К сожалению, мы не в Америке, у нас нет охранных ордеров, поэтому пока у родителей не получится оградить Екатерину от Спирова. Мы уже давно бьемся за то, чтобы у нас ввели запрет на приближение, но пока безуспешно — только если бы по приговору суда у него был запрет определенных действий. Спиров имеет право сообщать в опеку о преступлениях, как он их трактует, даже если их совершают родители, и опека обязана это сообщение рассмотреть. Но если он собирается ее увезти из дома даже после наступления 16-летнего возраста, ему грозит статья 126 УК РФ — похищение человека. Грубо говоря, после наступления 16-летнего возраста он может законно вступать с ней в половую связь, потому что достигнут „возраст согласия“, но увозить ее все еще права не имеет. Это будет стопроцентной гарантией того, что он сядет.
Если он собирается ее увезти из дома даже после наступления 16-летнего возраста, ему грозит статья «Похищение человека»
Мое глубокое убеждение — этот случай не системная проблема РПЦ. Есть в принципе проблема сексуальных преступлений. Возьмите любое учебное подразделение казарменного типа, например, армию или тюрьму. Любое закрытое или „элитное“ учебное заведение. В церкви существует проблема иерархии, когда есть пиетет перед батюшками. Это вообще проблема нашего общества: мы привыкли относиться к использованию власти, к насилию и харассменту как к чему-то естественному, обычному, нормальному. Это наша глубокая архаика, я ее ненавижу и борюсь с ней по мере сил».