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A court has recognized the evidence collected by the Lipetsk Region Office of the Investigative Committee sufficient to convict a married couple found guilty of a number of major crimes committed against their adopted daughter: failure do discharge the duties of bringing up a minor, torture and murder (Part 156, Part 2, items “d” and “f” of Article 117, Part 2, items “c”, “e”, “g” and “j” of Article 105 of the RF Penal Code). In addition, the husband was found guilty of sexual abuse and attempted rape of the girl under Part 4, item “b” of Article 132, Part 3 of Article 30, Part 4, item “b” of Article 131 of the RF penal Code.

The court and investigators have revealed that in September 2015, by the decision of the administration of Bobrov District, Voronezh Region a 5-year-old girl from a special needs boarding school was given to a 33-year-old resident of Lipetsk Region as a foster child and then was adopted by him. No data on specific features of the girl’s development had ever been hidden from the adopting family. Being perfectly aware that those features required correction considering the mental background of the child’s development, the man and his 32-year-old wife raised the girl following a method of their own: for a long time the helpless child was tortured and beaten by those who had recently had intentions to take care of her. Anything that came to hand was put to use for beating, whether it was a stick, a skipping rope or a basin. The child could no longer stand the tortures, she got worse by day, while her apology for parents did not even think about calling a doctor. Instead, they treated her themselves and kept on “raising” her. They applied for qualified medical aid only on 21 March 2016, when the girl had stopped showing any signs of life.

Forensic examinations showed that the girl’s body had traces of more than 60 kinds of effects and fresh scars sustained by the girl during a period between 2 weeks and several months before her death.

The investigators revealed that the cause of death was a multitrauma to the body aggravated by heavy blood loss and internal injuries. Additionally, they found out that the girl had been sexually abused.

The husband and wife were put in custody during preliminary investigation and confessed to the crime at the first questioning. They then confirmed the confession on the crime scene and gave detailed account of the crimes. Both of them had psychiatric evaluation which confirmed their sanity and the fact that they had been perfectly able to appreciate their actions.

The court has sentenced the man to 22 years in a maximum-security correctional facility and his wife to 14 years of imprisonment.