In Chita, orphanage teacher Elena Smolina will be tried for child abuse

A criminal case was sent to the Ingodinsky District Court of Chita against the 57-year-old teacher of the Chita center for helping children without parental care, “Orange” Elena Smolina, who is accused of bullying three pupils of the Chita orphanage No. 1. This was reported on the website of the prosecutor's office of the Trans-Baikal Territory.

Smolina is accused of unlawful deprivation of liberty of minors, improper performance of educational duties involving cruel treatment of children, and torture of a minor (Part 2 of Article 127 of the Criminal Code, Article 156 of the Criminal Code, paragraph “d” of Part 2 of Article 117 of the Criminal Code). “Mediazona” wrote in detail about the abuse of children at the Chita orphanage and the development of the denunciation campaign.

In the summer of 2015, children from the orphanage vacationed at the Molokovka children's camp near Chita, where Smolina was then acting director. According to investigators, Smolina tied children with tape to the wooden railings of the stairs for minor offenses. She dressed one boy in a woman's dress and exposed him to public ridicule, forcing him to wear orthopedic boots. Smolina put the child in a large bag and forced other children to take him out into the forest outside the camp, she also put him in a box for storing fire equipment, and locked him in a cage for storing fire equipment. She beat the same boy on the hands with a rod because he took a banana and two candies without asking.

As reported on the website of the regional Investigative Committee, Smolina refused to express her opinion on the merits of the accusation, citing Article 51 of the Constitution. As a result of a criminal investigation into bullying in an orphanage, the Deputy Minister of Social Protection of the Population and the Deputy Head of the Department in the regional Ministry of Social Protection were fired.