Pedophiles teach out of "love" for children

Pedophiles bait children in a variety of ways. It's even more frightening when the criminal is a teacher.

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Pedophiles look for employment at schools, daycare centers and sports clubs to get closer to their potential victims. They take advantage of schoolchildren who naively trust their teachers and trainers.

Our April 3 article "Advertisements, Web sites and beauty contests feed pedophilia" discussed how society pushes mentally ill individuals to commit heinous crimes against children. Today we continue to address this issue to help our readers better protect their children.

Chronology

In Moscow in 2000, authorities arrested Sergey Yuxatskiy, a 54-year-old gym teacher with a 20-year career at schools. Yuxatskiy was accused of molesting children aged 9-10. Before the trial, the prosecutor released the suspect, prohibiting him from leaving the area. Authorities then searched for Yuxatskiy for 1.5 years before he was captured in Voronezh. The court found the accused guilty of over 12 incidents of molestation. Yuxatskiy was sentenced to a mere 12 years in prison.

Yaroslav Zhelezov, a pornography enthusiast in Saint Petersburg, has been arrested on numerous occasion due to his love for children. While working as a schoolteacher, Zhelezov molested his students. He only received a conditional sentence for his crimes. After quiting, he found work as a stoker. At the same time, he opened a photo studio in his apartment. Over several years, he photographed nude children aged 3-12, whose parents were paying 100-300 rubles per session. Eventually, Zhelezov couldn't keep watching – he craved more. Zhelezov waited for a child to enter his apartment building and then dragged him to the basement. Luckily, the child's screams were heard by neighbors. Residents in the building then saw a man run out of the building. They reported the incident to the police, who arrested Zhelezov the following day. He was sentenced to one year in prison for attempted rape.

Last year in Krasnoyarsk, three pedophiles were convicted for making child pornography for many years. Two were teachers -- one taught music and the other history. The third was an entrepreneur. They received 10-15 years in prison.

How can children be protected from such crimes? How can principals check their teachers to make sure no pedophiles are hiding among their ranks? What protective measures can we take as a society to help our children feel safe at school?

Hunting for a pedophile

Experts say it's difficult to weed out pedophiles, which is why many go unpunished today. Pedophiles can only be exposed with the help of law enforcement agencies. Thus victims, their families and witnesses must speak out to ensure these criminals are rightfully punished. Unfortunately, most victims prefer to keep silent. Some fear retribution, as many pedophiles threaten their lives. Others are just embarrassed to speak out.

Exposing the pedophile. Difficult piece of the puzzle

"The relatives of victims can be of great help to us to expose pedophiles," Investigator Aleksander Ilyushin told KP. "If a child's behavior changes drastically, then his/her relatives should try to find out why. If the reason is sexual assault, they need to inform the police immediately. Not everyone reports these crimes, as many prefer to keep their troubles within the family."

Even when a pedophile is exposed, however, the criminal often receives a light sentence.

In the Murmansk region, a pedophile who worked as a teacher received a conditional 2-year sentence. He was accused of molesting 5 students in his tourist study group from 2005-2007. The judge explained the light sentence by stating that too little evidence had been presented and similar situations often occur.

Our legislation's at fault

"The law is too lenient when it comes to pedophiles," Ilyushin said. "In most cases, they get off with 3-4 years of prison time or a conditional sentence. Pedophiles often convince the court that they cannot be held responsible for their actions and they're released from mental institutions within a year."

So-called sexual crimes are addressed in a separate chapter of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, the punishment that pedophiles face is not indicated in any article.

For example, Article 134, "On Sexual Intercourse and Other Acts of a Sexual Character with an Individual Under the Age of 16," does not define if a crime was committed under duress. Attention is only placed on sodomy and lesbianism. There is no mention of pedophilia. The Article envisages a maximum 4-year prison sentence, while even theft can mean a 5-year sentence!

Admittedly, there are sub-points in two articles – Article 131 ("Rape") and Article 132 ("Violent Acts of a Sexual Character"). Accordingly, these articles stipulate a prison sentence of 4-10 years for pedophiles molesting or raping children aged 15-17. If the victim was a child under 14, then the sentence is 8-15 years.

However, pedophiles rarely receive heavy sentences. They are often sentenced to 4 years and then released conditionally on good behavior. If the pedophile is able to convince the court that he is incapable of being held responsible for his actions, he avoids prison altogether.

What to do?

"Penalty for the crime must be made inevitable – that's what's important," said head advisor of the of the State Duma Committee on Safety Elena Bolchinskaya. "These people cannot be released conditionally before the completion of their sentence. Responsibility for committing these crimes needs to be more stringent."

Criminals who raped children rarely leave prison alive. They're nearly always punished by their cellmates. Pedophiles are well aware of this fact, and do everything in their power to avoid going to prison.

"We need to change our legislation," said Mikhail Vinogradov, renowned psychiatrist and criminal scientist. "In early February, Saint Petersburg deputies suggested that the punishment for pedophilia be toughened and made similar to the Western model in the State Duma. I support their proposal. We need to pay attention to the fact that first there are wealthy customers who are supplied with children and second there are also individuals who look for child pornography on the Web. The Western model severs the demand that leads to the supply. Interpol has arrested a long list of Internet users in 18 countries who were sentenced to 10-12 years. But here pedophiles don't even receive such sentences."

These individuals cannot be cured. Roughly 99 percent of pedophiles are pronounced by the court to be incapable of being held responsible for their crimes. They must be kept in prison..

Advice to parents

1. Don't leave your children without supervision.

2. Prohibit them from talking to strangers.

3. Learn as much about their teachers as possible when sending your children to school, sports clubs or other study groups. Talk to them yourselves.

4. Speak with your children more often. Learn about all their acquaintances and hobbies.

5. Prohibit them from accepting gifts from strangers.

6. Keep up to date about your child's schedule.

7. If you observe a sharp change in your child's behavior, you must look for the root issue.

Legislation

Will parents who leave their children unsupervised be punished?

Regardless of how often experts say the number of pedophiles is not increasing, this is simply not the case. According to official statistics, the number of sexual crimes against children has grown 30 times in 6 years. If protective measures aren't taken, the number will continue to rise.

The State Duma's Committee on Family is developing legislation on parents' responsibility for their children. Negligent parents will pay fines if their children are out late without supervision. Children under the age of 10 will be prohibited from being on the street alone after 20:00; under 14 after 22:00 and 16-year-old children after 23:00. The new legislation will also control children's activities after school more stringently. Parents will be punished for their children's truancy.

It's difficult to punish negligent parents under Russia's current legislation. Parents can be held accountable for fulfilling their parental responsibilities improperly. However, such occurrences are rare in reality.

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