Israel Arrests Russian Priest On Child Abuse Charges; Extradition To Home Country Soon, by Kalyan Kumar, International Business Times (September 23, 2014)

Israel Arrests Russian Priest On Child Abuse Charges; Extradition To Home Country Soon

A Russian priest in Israel is facing extradition after Russia sounded an international arrest warrant for the alleged sexual abuse of two minor girls. Grozovsky, 35, belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church. This father of four is a known figure in social circles. Grozovsky is also claimed to have served as adviser to Maksim Mitrofanov, director of FC Zenit sports club, reported AFP.

The Israel police arrested Gleb Grozovsky on Sunday and is planning to extradite him to Russia. Grozovsky arrived in Israel in September 2013 as a tourist and applied for citizenship. Israel rejected his request and asked him to leave. But the Russian priest asked the High Court to act against the directive, but the verdict of the court has been released yet.

Sexual Assault

Grozovsky is facing the charge of assaulting two underage girls at an Orthodox summer camp on the Greek island of Kos in June 2013. The investigators have also collected information about a series of similar crimes in Saint-Petersburg by this offender. The priest was active among the Saint-Petersburg drug addicts and ran many church-affiliated youth programmes and hosted its own radio show. Grozovsky has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct. In April 2014, the priest wrote a letter on VKontakte, Russia's popular social media Web site, defending himself and asserting that he would return to Russia to defend his innocence.

The En.Ria.Ru reported that the priest has been detained on Russia's request. According to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, the abused girls were 9 and 12. The molestation happened at a hotel in Philadelphia Orthodox travel club at the Greek island of Kos.

The Moscow Times reported that Grozovsky's effort to acquire Israeli citizenship was an apparent bid to dodge the justice in Russia. If the priest is convicted on charges of assault as a first-time sex offender, Grozovsky will face 20 years in prison. For repeat sex offenders, Russia administers chemical castration. Meanwhile, many eminent public figures have come out defending the priest. They expressed disbelief in the allegations against him. The celebrities included football star Sergei Semak and rock singer Vyacheslav Butusov.