Relatives concerned about condition of 90-year-old teacher from Dinskaya after teenagers accuse him

The health of a 90-year-old resident of Kuban, whom teenagers accused of indecent acts due to relieving himself behind a tree, has deteriorated significantly due to the persecution. On August 6, the man will undergo an examination for "the presence of pedophilia," which, according to lawyers, is not objective.

As "Caucasian Knot" wrote, teenagers in Kuban accused a 90-year-old pensioner of indecent acts, who was relieving himself near his dacha. The man is blind in one eye and has only 10 percent vision in the other, he insists that he did not see the teenagers on the pier 20 meters away from him. According to the lawyer, the pensioner faced pressure and threats, and investigators forced him to admit guilt.

The investigation sent the 90-year-old retired teacher for an outpatient (without hospitalization) psychological and sexological examination, which is scheduled to begin on August 6. According to the investigation, this examination should confirm the question of the "presence of pedophilia" in the accused. According to his relatives, the elderly man, suffering from severe diseases of the genitourinary system, became the victim of an absurd slander of a group of teenagers who mistook his forced urination in a secluded place for "lewd acts."

"Real criminals need to be punished, and not turn a sick 90-year-old man who has not even seen those who accuse him into an accused," emphasized lawyer Alexei Avanesyan.

The accused is a former physics teacher, his 86-year-old wife is also a teacher, she worked all her life as a teacher of Russian language and literature. Relatives describe the pensioner as a caring husband and loving father. "We are used to teaching our children honesty and responsibility, and now we ourselves have become victims of a monstrous misunderstanding," said his wife.

Investigators accuse the pensioner of indecent acts against four underage girls. The teenagers, aged 14 and 15, claim that on June 2 they saw him behind a tree, allegedly committing indecent acts of a sexual nature. The man himself categorically denies the accusations. "I was just going to the dacha to feed the chickens, but due to urinary incontinence I was forced to relieve myself in a deserted place. I did not see anyone there and could not see, I am almost blind," the pensioner explained during his first interrogation, conducted without a lawyer.

On June 4, the pensioner was taken to the investigative department by deception, a criminal case was opened and he was given a written undertaking not to leave. The article on indecent acts (Part 3 of Article 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) imputed to him provides for from five to 12 years of imprisonment.

“There is nothing in the case except the words of four minors and medical documents about the grave health condition of my client, collected by the defense. We presented evidence that he physically could not have committed the incriminated act: prostate hyperplasia, chronic urinary retention, severe erectile dysfunction, cataracts and blindness - all these diagnoses are confirmed by doctors and were established several years ago,” emphasizes lawyer Alexey Avanesyan.

The defense attorney personally checked the scene of the “incident”. “I took measurements: from the tree where the elderly man relieved himself to the pier where the teenagers were standing, 19 meters. Not only could he not see them, he is not able to distinguish a person from a sack of potatoes at such a distance!” the lawyer says.

The only video shot by the teenagers lasts eight seconds, was shot using zoom, and it is impossible to see what exactly the man is doing. The teenagers claim that they called boys they knew, who allegedly spoke to the pensioner and asked what he was doing, to which the man replied that he was relieving himself. But the accused himself denies this conversation, and neither the boys nor their conversation with the pensioner are recorded on the video.

The investigation refused to seize the teenagers' phones to verify the authenticity of the video and its editing, and a confrontation with the victims was never held. "The investigation should check the evidence, and not just take the teenagers' words on faith. Why is the only video eight seconds long? Why aren't the obvious contradictions being investigated?" the lawyer is indignant.

On August 6, the pensioner, despite his age, stress, and grave physical condition, will be taken for an outpatient psychological and sexological examination. The lawyer emphasizes that his client himself asked the investigation to check the veracity of his testimony on a lie detector, but the investigator refused, ordering a formal examination for the presence of pedophilia.

“There is no method that objectively determines the presence of pedophilia. The expert simply studies the case materials, the examination is subjective and cannot be decisive evidence. But even the very fact of all these procedures, which are of no importance to the case, are additional stress for a 90-year-old sick person and his family,” the lawyer emphasized.

According to his relatives, after the case was initiated, the pensioner sharply weakened: he stopped going to the dacha, lies down almost all the time and experiences severe stress.

Expertise on pedophilia issues is conducted within the framework of forensic medical and psychological-psychiatric studies; in Sochi and the Krasnodar Territory, such examinations are most often performed by specialists from the State Budgetary Healthcare Institution "Regional Clinical Hospital No. 2" in Krasnodar, in particular the forensic medical examination department. According to lawyer Roman Klykov, who is not involved in the case of the pensioner from Dinskaya, these studies are ordered by investigators and courts to assess the mental state and the presence of disorders of desires, but do not provide an absolute guarantee of guilt or innocence. Experts use a range of tests, observation and anamnesis analysis, but such studies are not able to objectively measure a person's intentions and are ultimately considered by the court only as part of the evidence base.

According to statistics cited by lawyer Klykov, about 10-12 thousand crimes against the sexual inviolability of minors are recorded in the country every year, and only less than 5% of them involve defendants over 60 years old. Cases involving elderly defendants have their own characteristics: as a rule, they are not about violent acts, but about so-called "depraved" episodes, including the demonstration of genitals or indecent touching. A significant number of such defendants are diagnosed with dementia, disorders of desire or other mental deviations. Given the age and health of the accused, in some cases the courts limit themselves to imposing the minimum sentence or sending them for compulsory treatment, but it is practically impossible to completely avoid criminal liability.

Although examinations for a tendency to pedophilia are used in Russian judicial practice everywhere, they cannot be considered decisive evidence, confirmed lawyer Maria Spasibukhova, who is also not involved in this case. She cited the case of doctor Vladimir Gromov, in which the plot of the accusation is almost identical to the case of the pensioner from Dinskaya. The examination twice showed that Gromov did not have a tendency to pedophilia, but the court of first instance still sentenced him. Only due to public outcry and subsequent appeal was it possible to obtain a review of the case.

Both lawyers agree that the case under consideration is unique due to the age of the defendant, who is probably one of the oldest defendants under the article on indecent acts in Russia.

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