Moscow police arrest monk, known locally as ‘practically a saint,’ on child sex abuse charges

Source: 47news

Police in Khimki, outside Moscow, detained a 44-year-old hieromonk from the Savior Transfiguration Monastery, a men’s monastery in Murom. He is accused of committing violent sexual acts against a girl younger than 12, according to the Russian news outlet 47news.

Investigators say the clergyman used a fake name to meet a schoolgirl from the Leningrad region on VKontakte in February 2026. The two began corresponding, and he convinced her to send him nude photographs. The hieromonk has reportedly confessed to police.

People who know him told 47news that he had taken monastic vows long ago and “was completely uninterested in close relationships,” and that novices and parishioners “considered him practically a saint.”

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Moscow police arrest monk, known locally as ‘practically a saint,’ on child sex abuse charges

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Moscow police arrest monk, known locally as ‘practically a saint,’ on child sex abuse charges

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