“He said he would punish me in the name of God. I was scared”: a “pastor” from Lviv was convicted of 147 episodes of violence against girls

The Galician District Court of Lviv sent to a psychiatric hospital Ruslan Moskalenko, a well-known philanthropist and religious activist, 49 years old (the last name has been changed at the request of the victim, who agreed to speak with me), who is accused of raping minor girls from 9 to 14 . The pedophile is accused of 147 (!) episodes of violence against minors. The investigation was able to identify 11 injured girls. However, the police claim that there may be many more.

“The testimonies of the victims of the pedophile would be enough to put the pastor in prison for 15 years”

— Not all of the pastor’s victims are already ready to go to the police and write a statement against him, – told “FACTAM” a law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. — This man started committing his crimes against children as early as 2005. That is, 17 years have already passed. Many of the victims are over 25 years old. Some have families of their own. They just don’t want to go public now. For some reason, they fear that they should be ashamed of what an adult pervert has done to them, that they will be scorned by neighbors or colleagues. But that’s their choice. In no way can I judge anyone for this. In the end, we have 11 official victims who have testified in this case. The testimonies of the victims of the pedophile would be enough to put the pastor in prison for 15 years. But just recently, the expertise recognized him as insane, and by a court decision, Moskalenko will be sent to a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment for the rest of his life.

– Do you think he is actually mentally healthy?

– I can only express my own opinion. When I saw Moskalenko in court, I had doubts that he was faking. When the judge asked him questions, he did not answer them. He sat with his eyes closed and swayed. But when he took the girls to the utility room of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, he behaved differently! But I cannot deny the decision of the experts.

Ruslan Moskalenko is a well-known philanthropist in Lviv. In the 1990s, he graduated from the theological seminary, but did not become a priest. Instead, he suddenly announced himself as a pastor and opened a youth Christian community “Children of Jesus” (the name of the community has been changed. — author), which was never officially registered.

He was often seen in boarding schools and orphanages with gifts. Apparently, this is how Moskalenko was looking for new victims. He invited children, mostly girls, to rest in Christian camps. He took them out into nature, organized various activities with the children. And for a long time, no one suspected what was actually happening behind the closed doors of the “Children of Jesus” organization.

“Remember I bought you ice cream yesterday? Now you owe me 15 minutes”

FACTS was able to speak with a woman who says she is one of the victims of a pedophile. The woman asked to be called Regina.

“For a long time I did not dare to speak about it.” But the investigators already have my statement, he says Regina. — My older sister brought me to Moskalenko. She said that a Christian camp is being organized for the summer and I have the opportunity to rest for free.

Maybe Moskalenko singled me out among other girls. Maybe I was flattered at first. I didn’t understand anything then. I was nine years old. So sometime on the third day in the camp he called me over and said, “Remember yesterday I bought you ice cream? Now you owe me 15 minutes.” I didn’t understand what minutes he was talking about. And then Moskalenko specified: “For ice cream, you will be with me for 15 minutes. You will do as I tell you.” And asked me to remove my panties. I said I wouldn’t, it was a shame. But he started to explain that there is nothing so shameful about it, it is natural and everyone does it.

I don’t want to tell all the details. But in short, he forced me to undress, photographed me. Then he undressed himself. But this, as it turned out, was not the worst.

Sometime on the fourth or fifth day in the camp, he slept with me. He led to some room in the temple. He said I had behaved badly and now he must punish me in the name of God. I was afraid. And then after that happened, he slept with me almost every night for several years… Every damn night! He came to my boarding house in the evening and took me to the cell of the monastery, where he had a study. I slept with him in the same bed.

I was afraid to tell anyone what was happening to me. I was afraid to tell my mother, I was afraid to tell my sister. But I was most afraid him.

“So sex with girls was like ‘God’s punishment’?”

– Later I found out that he slept with more than just me. Many girls from this religious organization we belonged to went “through him”. Yes, he said it was punishment. That God ordered him to punish us. He had such a system: for each mistake he gave us “minutes”. Did not clean the plate after eating – got 10 minutes, quarreled with other girls – 15. Said something bad about him – half an hour. This is the time he and I had to spend in the temple utility room. He wrote everything who owed him how many minutes.

But sex was also a payment system for some benefits. He could buy chocolate, but he had to pay with his body.

— Initially, Moskalenko had an office in one of the monasteries near Lviv. In the cage. The monks trusted him, says our law enforcement source. — However, suddenly they suspected something and asked the “pastor” to leave the monastery.

Read also: Attacked a child on the playground: near Kropyvnytskyi, a pedophile tried to make fun of a teenager

“All of Lviv knew him as a pious man”

— The whole of Lviv knew him as a pious man, — spoke during the investigation Hieromonk Sava. — Of course, we were for him to do good deeds. So they gave him a cell for the office. He brought gifts there, which he later distributed to children at various events.

– Did you bring the children to the cell? – – asks the investigator.

“Yes, he brought the girls.” This seemed strange to us and we asked him to leave the monastery.

Moskalenko was not idle for long. In 2001, he started working as an external relations coordinator in the St. Sofia High School-Gymnasium educational complex. According to eyewitnesses, the “pastor” often took girls to this school on weekends.

In the school itself, Moskalenko characterized himself well. “Outwardly, he was a very positive person. But no one could look into his heart. We will pray for a fair verdict.” – says the official announcement of the high school management.

By the way, Moskalenko’s lawyer Hana Khudoba called his client’s case “ambiguous.”

— The examination established that he was not responsible. You should see how long he was in this state. After all, it is likely that he committed his acts against the girls while already incapacitated. During the trial, Moskalenko did not react to anything, he was like a vegetable. He wanted to kill himself several times. And for many episodes the statute of limitations must have already expired, she said lawyer Hana Hudoba in a conversation with journalists.

Earlier, “FACTS” published the story of the victim of a famous metropolitan photographer who turned out to be a pedophile.

Read also: The youngest was 11 years old: in Chernivtsi, pensioners raped girls and recorded their “feats” on video

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