Yekaterinburg School Guard Accused of Harassing 9-Year-Old Girls
At 68 years old, Vladimir Azanov was taken into custody following the allegations of harassment.
In Yekaterinburg, a school security guard was detained for harassing students. The victim girls are only nine years old, and the security guard is 68. As the mothers of the third-graders told, the retiree would take their daughters one by one under the stairs and touch their private parts there.
The sanctions of the article under which the elderly guard is accused provide for up to life imprisonment. In court, Vladimir Azanov admitted his guilt, but his relatives are still convinced that he did not commit the crime.
Here is what is known about this criminal story.
Lured with Candy
The new guard appeared at the school in the ZhBI district in the middle of the first quarter, the girls« parents say. The elderly man seemed harmless and kind, treating students and teachers with candy. The mothers of the victims had no idea that the sweets were bait for their children. The schoolgirls themselves told their parents nothing.
«I would never have found out if our grandmother hadn«t overheard my daughter telling her friends about what happened on the phone. First a candy, then under the stairs,» said the mother of one of the third-graders. «There are cameras in the school. They don»t show what he did to them there, but they show him leading them there.»
The girl was afraid to tell adults what the school guard did to her under the stairs. Her mother had to conduct a real interrogation. The details shocked the woman.
«He touched my daughter through her clothes, her chest and private parts, touching them while he was putting candies in her pockets,» the girl«s mother said.
The children were too frightened to tell their parents about the guard«s inappropriate touching.
The daughter told her mother that not only she but also her classmate had suffered at the hands of the guard. The woman contacted the parents of the second girl. Together they went to the school, and from there — straight to the police.
«The teacher is in shock, saying: he seems so good,» said the mother of the second victim.
Both girls were sent for a medical examination to make sure there was no rape. Fortunately, the examination confirmed this, but after what happened, a school psychologist is working with the children.
«The girls feel sorry for him, worried that grandpa will now be punished,» the schoolgirls« parents say.
«He Is Not a Criminal»
Vladimir Azanov was detained on the evening of 16 December, and after two days he was brought to court, where a preventive measure was determined for him. The guard said that he has no wife or minor children, but has an adult daughter and granddaughters. His relatives do not believe that he harassed children.
«Maybe he patted on the head, friendly on the shoulder, on the back — well, that«s not commensurate with the punishment that now threatens him. He is a joker, could have joked,» a relative of the accused told E1.RU. «He is not a criminal, for us certainly. He has a normal track record, we will collect references, evidence.»
Vladimir Azanov was escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs after the court hearing.
On his social media page, Vladimir Azanov indicated that he graduated from the Yekaterinburg Radio Engineering College and worked at an electromechanical plant. The accused«s sister shared that her brother got a job at a private security company (ChOP) several years ago, but worked at the school recently — previously he guarded other objects.
«He talked to children on their level, found some warm words. He is a man with a normal head,» a relative of the guard said.
The school guard is accused of sexual assault committed against minor children. The lawyer asked to leave Vladimir under house arrest, citing his health problems. Relatives told E1.RU that the elderly man has two serious illnesses at once.
But in the end, the court sent the accused to custody. Behind bars, Vladimir Azanov will spend two months while the investigation is underway.
E1.RU requested a comment from the Yekaterinburg Department of Education, and we will publish the response as soon as we receive it. At the time of publication, it was not possible to reach the private security organization where the man worked. It is known that the ChOP provides security in several other schools and kindergartens in the city.
Another high-profile story happened in Yekaterinburg in November of this year. Then it turned out that a balalaika teacher for money lured schoolchildren to his home and strangled them. He has already been sent to prison. In court, the teacher stated that he did not intend to kill anyone. All news on the topic we collect in a special section.
Read also, how security is generally arranged in Yekaterinburg schools and why women and retirees are responsible for children«s safety.
