A gruesome rape case in Chelyabinsk now involves threats against the foster parents

Earlier this month, the Chelyabinsk publication 74.ru published an investigative report about the rape of orphans at a local boarding school. According to journalists, the school’s administrators sold time with the orphans to different men.

Andrey Lepekhin, the lawyer for one of the families that adopted a raped child, says his clients have been threatened by local officials who don’t want the case prosecuted. Lepekhin told Meduza that the regional human rights commissioner, Irina Butorina, threatened to take away a family’s adopted children, if the family spoke to reporters. Another source told Meduza that the family also received a threatening anonymous phone call. Butorina denies the allegations.

Local investigators have opened a sexual abuse criminal case, reportedly detaining a 51-year-old man. Law enforcement are also investigating the boarding school for criminal negligence, and the facility’s director has reportedly stepped down.