Anna Khobotova's rehab center investigated for abuse
On Tuesday, 25 November, the investigative committee for Moscow Region reported the arrest of an administrator of a rehabilitation center near Istra, where children were beaten and abused. A 16-year-old boy who suffered from numerous abuses is now in a coma.
The president and owner of this rehab, 37-year-old Anna Khobotova, has not yet been detained. According to the investigation, she is currently being sought.
Business on Helping Children
She is from the city of Novocherkassk in Rostov Region. There she started her business: helping children for money from their parents. The fee for a month«s stay in such a »school« was around 100,000 rubles (approximately $1,100 at current rates). The website indicates that such centers exist in Moscow, Moscow Region, Yekaterinburg, and Rostov-on-Don.
However, the legal address of the company is listed only in the southern city.
About herself on the website, Anna Khobotova writes: »in the centers, teenagers learn not only to talk about their feelings but also to truly hear themselves.«
She began this activity back in 2013, when she founded the human rights organization »Flowers of Life.« As Khobotova herself claims, she organized sports and entertainment events for children who needed psychological support. Moreover, she represented the interests of children who had problems with the law before government authorities.
Khobotova opened her center in 2018. Since then, she has regularly given interviews, press conferences, and actively promoted child protection in Rostov Region.
In the education section, it is indicated that in 2012 she graduated from the Russian Academy of Justice, becoming a specialist in the field of justice. In 2015, from Southern Federal University with a specialty in psychologist-psychotherapist.
After which she decided to take an additional course, in 2017 at the «Center for Psychological Safety» she mastered «Ericksonian hypnosis.»
Ericksonian hypnosis is a method developed by American psychiatrist Milton Erickson. It is distinguished by the absence of rigid categorical orders or direct suggestions. Essentially, it is a dialogue between the patient and psychologist during which the patient must find a way out of the situation themselves.
After starting her «professional» activity, Anna Khobotova regularly opened funds, centers, and clinics. In a short time from 2015, she registered 13 companies, opening an individual entrepreneurship (IP) three times in her name. Also, two companies were opened in her father«s name. Only one of the 13 is still active and registered in Rostov. Her revenue for 2024 was 2.3 million rubles (approximately $25,600 at current rates).
The Ideal Image of Khobotova
Among the awards, Khobotova has a medal from Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, an honorary diploma from the Moscow Patriarchate, a diploma from the Chairman of the Federation Council, a medal from the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Rostov Region, with which her company was in litigation, more details here.
She was regularly invited to various shows, podcasts, and media comments. Often she publicly spoke about how to properly raise children and gave recommendations.
Anna Khobotova, by the way, was a frequent guest on the TV channel »Spas.« In the program »Family Rescue Service,« she spoke on the topic of the influence of anime on teenagers.
»It«s clear that not all comics are bad, but there are some that are downright deadly,» she stated on the program. «They are aimed at making the child try to kill themselves, there is zombification. For interest, look, there »kill the boy,« »kill yourself,« and so on. This is an appeal to parents, if you see that they are watching this – it must definitely be banned. But it»s better to offer some alternative.«
As Khobotova modestly stated about herself, her key competencies were:
«Building effective communication between teenagers and family.»
In one of the recent interviews with a girl who was undergoing rehabilitation in her center, there was the following dialogue:
«What additional assignment were you given?» asked Anna.
«I was given the assignment: »Why I hate everyone.«»
«Why do you think you were given it?» she sighs heavily.
«I think that I was constantly going around and complaining about everyone, I had many conflicts in the group.»
«Okay, go ahead, read it out.»
After this conversation, the girl reads out her «explanatory note,» where she comes to the conclusion that she hates in people what is in herself. And therefore, everyone irritates and annoys her, to which Anna Khobotova nods approvingly.
All this is accompanied by an advertising annotation, which says that such assignments are important as they help the teenager see their experiences from a different angle.
«This is a sincere conversation – about finding oneself, about honesty, and about small steps towards internal changes,» Anna summarizes.
Moreover, Anna cited not very obvious achievements that helped children. In one interview, she said that children «have to study in the center.»
«Over many years of work, we have not had a single child who did not pass the exams for the 9th grade. Children call, thank, say: »I myself would not have passed the exams and could not enter college, technical school.« This is true. We motivate to study, whether you want to or not, the child will have to study. When 15-20 people are studying, they will have to sit down to study,» Khobotova shared on the center«s social media.
About the principles of her work in the rehab, Anna Khobotova exemplarily answered in an interview with »Komsomolskaya Pravda« on 23 October of this year, when there were already cases of abuse of children in her center.
»The basis is the same principles on which healthy child-parent relationships should be built. Every child is a personality to whom we show lively interest. We teach them responsibility and cause-and-effect connection: any action has consequences. If you break the rules – you get consequences, if you try – you get encouragement. The internal motivation system is important: older ones can become mentors, perform important functions. This helps them feel significance and see perspective, as in adult life.«
How exactly these «lessons» were conducted will be investigated by the authorities. Already, REN TV reports that pupils were often forced as punishment to write the same phrase 21,000 times.
«As long as I irresponsibly treat my responsibility, it deprives me of free time and hinders recovery.»
Moreover, according to REN, for particularly guilty ones in the rehab, there was a punishment – they were forced to put dirty socks in their mouths, their hands were tied with tape, and they were starved.
Earlier, MSK1.RU published detailed reviews that parents of children studying in Anna Khobotova«s boarding school wrote. We have gathered all that is known about the rehab near Istra in our article.
