https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10735817/Father-forced-friend-dig-grave-kill-sexually-abused-daughter.htmlFather who forced his friend to dig his own grave and kill himself after discovering he had sexually abused his daughter, six, is jailed for 18 months
Vyacheslav Matrosov, 34, attacked his former friend Oleg Sviridov, 32, last year
Matrosov attacked Sviridov after learning he had sexually abused his daughter
Matrosov killed the paedophile after seeing graphic evidence on friend's phone
The former engineer was sentenced to 18 months in jail for Sviridov's murder
Sviridov's body was found in a shallow grave he appeared to have dug himself
By David Averre and Will Stewart and Tom Brown For Mailonline
Published: 15:22, 20 April 2022 | Updated: 16:02, 20 April 2022
A distraught father who forced best friend to kill himself when he discovered the man had sexually abused his daughter, six, has been jailed for 18 months in a strict regime Russian penal colony. Child sex abuser Oleg Sviridov, 32, was forced to dig his own grave in a forest. He died soon after from knife wounds following a fight with father Vyacheslav (Slava) Matrosov, 35, who secretly buried his corpse in the unmarked grave. Investigators concluded that Sviridov took his own life during the forest fracas in which Matrosov made clear his fury over the sex abuse. Matrosov was initially held on suspicion of murder but this triggered a public outcry in Russia. He was this week convicted of 'inciting' his friend 'to suicide' by Krasnoglinsky Court in Samara. The close friendship broke down when the father found sickening and graphic footage on his friend’s mobile showing Sviridov forcing his daughter to perform a sex act on him. The girl was just six when the explicit sex abuse footage was filmed on Sviridov’s phone. His daughter, now nine, was heard pleading: 'Oleg, that's enough, I can't take it anymore. I want to go home'.
Matrosov, a former rocket engine factory worker, could have been jailed for 15 years if he had been charged with murder. There was a wave of public support in Samara region for Matrovov after he was linked to the killing of paedophile Sviridov, and the case was highlighted around the world. Locals in village Pribrezhnoye raised money for his initial legal fees. They supported him for 'saving our children by ridding us of a child sex attacker'.
There was an outpouring of public support for the Matrosov in the weeks following the incident, including from prominent journalists on Russia's tightly-controlled broadcast news. Locals from Vintai village started a petition to demand the rocket engine factory worker should be acquitted and spared jail after admitting to the killing which reached 2,500 signatures. 'Sviridov fell asleep, and Vyacheslav took his mobile phone and decided to see what his friend was looking at,' the petition for Matrosov read.
'Every father would have done this [killed someone they saw abusing their child]. This will be an example to everyone. Therefore, we demand understanding from the executive branch, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee.'
Prominent TV journalist and former Russian presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak told her followers: 'All parents are standing up for the paedophile's killer.'
Unusually, the father was held under house arrest not in detention pending the trial. He was charged 'inciting a person to suicide by threats or abuse'. One source close to the case said that detailed forensic evidence showed that Matrosov had not stabbed Sviridov in a forest where the dead man’s body was found later in the makeshift grave. There are claims Sviridov was given an ultimatum to go to the police and confess to sexually abusing the girl, or face the father's wrath. A relative said Sviridov was seen badly beaten on the day in September 2021 he disappeared, more than a week before his body was found in the makeshift grave near Vintai village. Two other children in the village are feared to have been abused by Sviridov. 'We were all very sad and upset after hearing the verdict in court,' said Oksana Kazakova, 43, a Matrosov family friend and Sviridov’s ex-girlfriend, whose daughter was also allegedly abused. 'Everyone was hoping that Slava would get a suspended sentence, but he got 18 months. We were shocked. Of course, we understand that he could have received a far longer sentence. And 18 months is not much time. We really hope that he will get a presidential pardon at the end of the year. That would be a huge blessing for all his friends and family.'
Matrosov, a former rocket engine factory worker, was not required to wear an electronic tag while he awaited his trial. He faced prosecution for 'inciting a person to suicide or attempted suicide by threats or abuse', which carries a maximum six year sentence. Matrosov said he initially reported the rapes to local police who then launched a manhunt for Sviridov, but the father claimed he managed to track down the alleged child abuser before the cops. He did not deny killing Sviridov, but alleged the paedophile 'stumbled on the knife during a quarrel' and maintained his death was not intentional. Police sources said that the deceased man's phone contained sickening videos which showed violent rapes of other village girls, aged six and 11. The videos indicated that the suspect had been abusing children for five years before Matrosov discovered the footage on his phone. It has also been reported that one of his alleged victims was the daughter of his former partner. The woman had a daughter from her first marriage,' a friend told Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. Now it has turned out he was abusing the child.'
Sviridov's ex did not know anything about the alleged abuse, said the woman friend who had known Sviridov for more than 15 years. She is a very good caring mother,' she said. 'I can imagine what she feels like now the truth has come out. He was constantly seen with the girls, the daughter of his partner and Vyacheslav's older daughter, in the village. It never crossed anyone's mind what he was doing with children.'
Sviridov's mother said that her son had often been a babysitter for Vyacheslav's children and the two men had been long-time friends. 'I don't know how it got to this,' she said, referring to the rape of Vyacheslav's daughter. 'He must have been drunk. Most likely he was drunk. They left their children with him all the time. When he baby-sat these girls he came back home as normal, in a good mood.'
Villager Tatiana Zubova, said: 'I know him personally, he is a good father and husband.'
Lawyer Vera Podkolzina said proving Sviridov's guilt from video evidence was critical to a lenient sentence for Matrosov. MP Oksana Pushkina called for harsher legal sanctions to deter child sex abuse. 'We need tough legislative measures against paedophiles,' she said.
