Third-graders raped 9-year-old boy at Chelyabinsk gymnasium

«My child is open, he is trusting. They told him: «Let»s go to the toilet, we«ll have a laugh». And he went. And then they just twisted him and didn«t let go… This went on for five days…», — says the mother of the victim, Vanya.

This week, Chelyabinsk was shocked by the news that third-grade students at a prestigious gymnasium raped a nine-year-old boy. The mother has been trying for four months to get the perpetrators punished, but so far without success. We look into why the children involved in the assault haven«t been suspended from lessons and whether teachers should be held responsible for what happened within the school walls.

Vanya«s mother (the child»s name has been changed at the request of Russian legislation. — Ed.) recalls with a trembling voice the events of the last days of September, when she found out what her son«s classmates were doing to her nine-year-old son at the gymnasium. It all started with a message from the teacher.

«The teacher wrote to me that she was worried my child was being drawn into power games by boys in the class against his will. She asked me to talk to him, — says Anna (the mother«s name has been changed, — Ed.). — I saw this message and knew something was wrong. I came home, and in the evening started talking to the child, I asked what was happening at school? And it was as if he was waiting for it. That is, he didn»t say anything himself, he was afraid because the boys had intimidated him».

When her son started telling, Anna was horrified.

«On the first evening he only told half. He says: «Mom, they forced me to take [a classmate»s penis] in my hands, he showed me and told me how to take it«, — recalls the boy»s mother. — I didn«t sleep all night. I wrote to the teacher at 5 a.m., I say: »We need to meet. This is a criminal case«. And then over the weekend he confessed to me».

Then the mother told us in detail how her son was sexually assaulted.

«And this went on for five days and even several times a day! It all happened during breaks in the school toilet», — she added.

According to the mother, there were three assailants; Vanya had had conflicts with them before, but she hadn«t taken them seriously.

«I«m not the kind of mother who will make a fuss because a child was pushed. I said: »What, can«t you handle a boy?» But I didn«t know it was an OPG [organized criminal group], — she continued. — They could hit him in the genitals, intimidated him: »If you tell your mom or the principal, you«re done!» These children swear, they feel a sense of impunity».

School«s Reaction

After her son«s confession, Anna immediately went to the Investigative Committee (SK) and filed a report. An investigation was launched. After that, the boy»s mother went to the gymnasium.

«When I came to the principal, the psychologist, the teacher, and the deputy principal were sitting nearby. I asked: «How do you see things developing? Please, isolate the children for the duration of the investigation so my child can attend school». To which I was told: «We don»t have the authority, we don«t have the right to do that». And my child was on distance learning for a month, and those children went to school, everything was fine for them, until I wrote to the Russian Ministry of Education, — the boy«s mother is outraged. — Only in November did the deputy principal call me and say those children would be transferred to another building, allegedly there was an order from the prosecutor»s office. After that, my son returned to school».

A 74.RU correspondent tried to get comments from the school and the education committee on this situation, but they replied that they could not say anything «due to the work of the Investigative Committee». However, a source in education confirmed that by law, a school can only suspend children at the request of parents.

«Transfer to distance, family, or home schooling is the right of parents, not a punishment for the child. The school cannot forcibly transfer a student to these forms of education. Expulsion as a disciplinary measure is allowed if the student has reached the age of 15, has repeatedly committed disciplinary offenses, and other educational measures have been applied to them without result», — explained our interlocutor.

Anna also contacted the children«s rights ombudsman, but, according to her, received no help.

«I got a formal reply that the case was transferred to the Investigative Committee», — she said.

The deputy head of the apparatus of the children«s rights ombudsmen in the Chelyabinsk Region, Igor Mayorov, explained that this was not entirely the case:

«The mother applied. Of course, we involved all services and the commission on juvenile affairs and the protection of their rights, the issue was considered by the commission. And help was offered to the mother, but at that time she refused, said she had her own psychologist, — he reported. — Now we have sent a letter again to the «Family» center, I know they have already contacted the mother, she should come for a conversation to determine what kind of help the child needs now».

Children Are Not Guilty?

Anna also contacted the parents of the offenders immediately, but they predictably defended their sons.

«When I only knew half the information, I wrote to them, the mothers mostly reacted like this: «This is, of course, horrible! We»ll talk«. And that»s it. No one even apologized. Everyone thought the matter would be swept under the rug within the chat, — she said. — And then, when the child confessed to me what really happened, I wrote to the governor, the children«s ombudsman, the Investigative Committee, but the parents seemed stuck in the stage of denial: »No, this can«t be», «My child couldn»t do such a thing«. All these guys now have lawyers».

A criminal case was opened, but not under the article on violent acts of a sexual nature against a child under 14 (Part 4, Article 132 of the Russian Criminal Code), but under the article on negligence (Article 293 of the Russian Criminal Code) against as yet unidentified employees of the gymnasium. The fact is that all three possible participants in the crime are under the age of criminal responsibility; the maximum they face is being registered with the juvenile affairs inspectorate, and additionally, SK and police officers can go to court to place them in a temporary detention center for juvenile offenders for a month.

«The investigator is taking preventive measures, including considering the placement of the minors in a temporary isolation center», — a source in law enforcement assured us.

However, so far only the instigator has been registered with the Juvenile Division of the police; this happened after the SK issued a refusal to initiate a case under the article on violent acts of a sexual nature against a child, the Chelyabinsk city police department told 74.RU.

We contacted the father of a child who appears in the investigation materials. He is a public figure and refused to comment on what happened, but clearly does not consider his son a criminal.

«I really want to comment on this case, but the investigator and lawyer forbade me from doing so, as the issue concerns my minor child, who is now in a state of stress because of what he saw», — he explained.

The desire of parents to protect their children is understandable, even if they have committed a crime, but turning a blind eye to what happened is unacceptable, psychologist Elena Tevs is sure.

«I can say that this kind of behavior cannot be justified by anything, even at such a young age, — the specialist says. — Certainly, the measure that will be taken regarding the boys who committed this crime will, to some extent, perhaps scare them, bring them to their senses, but this is only a temporary measure. I believe they need a consultation with a competent psychiatrist so a specialist can examine them, give a conclusion, and then there should be a set of psychocorrectional measures, because this is, without a doubt, a warning sign. It«s impossible to say with certainty that these boys will grow into, say, hardened criminals or sexual maniacs, but in any case, we must look at why it happened: were there any initial deviations, or was it some situational theme where adolescent exploratory behavior, unfortunately, led them into such a terrible topic».

The psychologist believes that even 30 days of isolation is insufficient in such cases:

«Here, prolonged work with specialists is needed who will try to steer them in the right direction, but all this is done slowly».

Who Will Answer for the Assault in the School Toilet?

It turns out that responsibility for the crime has now been shifted to the school, and there have been precedents where principals were found guilty.

«Theoretically, school employees can be held criminally liable. In Yekaterinburg, there was a similar case recently at the boarding school at Vtorchermet, and there the school head was found guilty, — lawyer Sergei Kolosovsky said. — But for this, official powers must be established and a violation of these official powers must be identified».

Our colleagues from Yekaterinburg«s E1.RU reported in more detail about that case. According to court materials, the principal there knew about the assault at the school but preferred to deal with the children herself, without involving law enforcement. What questions investigators may have for the employees of the Chelyabinsk gymnasium is still unclear. At the same time, school toilets have long been a headache for many school administrators, as cameras in them are illegal, and having staff on duty there is an extremely controversial solution.

After Anna decided to publicize the story of the assault at the gymnasium, because she despaired of getting a just punishment for its participants over four months, the situation was taken under control by the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, and the materials were transferred from the district department to the 3rd department for the investigation of especially important cases of the regional SK directorate.

«The investigation has established that in September 2025, officials of one of the schools in the Traktorozavodsky District improperly performed their duties, as a result of which three students aged 8 and 9 committed unlawful acts against their peer. An investigative group has been created to carry out the necessary investigative and procedural actions. Currently, investigators are interrogating employees and students of the educational institution, establishing all the circumstances of what happened, as well as the persons subject to criminal liability», — the regional directorate of the Investigative Committee concluded.

Recall that in January of last year, a horrific story happened in a small settlement near Miass. Teenagers first beat, then forced a 12-year-old schoolgirl to undress in the freezing cold and started filming a video for adults. A few days later, these clips ended up in local chats, horrifying adults. The Investigative Committee opened a case, but the teenagers were under the age of criminal responsibility. Residents of the settlement demanded punishment for them. All the details are in our article.