Priest arrested in Jewish Autonomous Region on suspicion of pedophilia

In the Jewish Autonomous Region, the rector of the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in the village of Amurzet, Oktyabrsky district, Hieromonk Spiridon is suspected of molesting minors. On November 25, the court arrested him for two months.

As reported on the website of the Birobidzhan diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Hieromonk Spiridon (in the world Yuri Abramov), by decree of the diocesan bishop, was exempted from all church obediences in the Birobidzhan diocese. During the investigation, he is prohibited from holding services.

The Khabarovsk Territory Today news agency, citing a source in law enforcement agencies, writes that a criminal case has been initiated under the article “Depraved acts against minors committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy.” A relative of the priest, who is suspected of involvement in the crime, has also been detained.

According to the news agency EAOMedia, cases of sexual violence against minors were documented as a result of joint actions of several law enforcement agencies.

In addition to serving in the temple, Abramov works as a computer science teacher in a rural school. School director Natalya Yakovleva said he had been working for a long time and was “completely ordinary.”

Earlier, the rector of the Holy Trinity Simeon Convent of Mercy in Saraktash, Orenburg Region, Nikolai Stremsky, was arrested . He was deprived of custody of eight children, and his adopted boy was also taken away. Seven girls are victims in the case. According to investigators, from January to August 2018, Stremsky repeatedly committed indecent acts against six daughters, and also raped one of them.