Inside underground dungeon where paedophile kept seven-year-old boy prisoner for 52 days after snatching him from a school bus – as the pervert is jailed for 19 years in Russia
- A video shows the grim basement where a boy, 7, was held and sexually abused
- The paedophile was jailed for 19 years for kidnapping a boy in Russia
- The child was rescued and reunited with his after 52 days following a tip off by Interpol based on intelligence from the West
A paedophile has been jailed for 19 years for kidnapping a seven-year-old boy as he got out of his school bus and holding him hostage in a bleak cellar for 52 days.
Dmitry Kopylov, 28, has been sent to a strict regime penal colony in Russia.
A video shows the grim basement where the boy was held and sexually abused.
Kopylov was charged with 62 separate crimes against this child, and another earlier victim who was not held hostage.
They included ‘committing sodomy and other sexual acts against a young boy’, and making and distributing child pornography.
His crimes dated back to 2015.
A judge ruled that Kopylov must undergo psychiatric treatment while serving his sentence of 19 years and 11 months in a high security prison.
The child was rescued and reunited with his parents in November 2020 following a tip off by Interpol based on intelligence from the West.
Russian special forces cut through a steel door and broke a window to enter the lair where he was held, a chilling low-ceilinged basement with bare walls, specially built to hold an abducted child.
Basement where Dmitry Kopylov held his victim. The chilling low-ceilinged basement with bare walls was specially built to hold an abducted child
A ladder leads into the basement where the boy was imprisoned. The hatch door led to an even lower level while the paedophile lived upstairs
The child was rescued and reunited with his parents in November 2020 following a tip off by Interpol based on intelligence from the West
The ‘brainwashed’ boy ‘laughed with joy’ when officers entered but later cried.
After he disappeared a huge search involving police, army and volunteers had failed to locate him.
Them, police received a tip off from Interpol, tracing the boy to the abductor’s lair some 14 miles from his home in Gorki village, Vladimir region, where he had gone missing in late September.
Kopylov was snared after allegedly boasting about holding the boy in chats between paedophiles on the dark web.
The spooky underground bunker with a jail-style bed and a heater was sound insulated beneath Kopylov’s house in Makarikha, Vladimir region, some 185 miles from Moscow.
A hatch door led to an even lower level, while the paedophile lived upstairs.
When heavily armed officers stormed the building the suspect was sitting with the boy on a sofa.
Footage shows Kopylov being held by special forces officers.
While still in the hell hole, the boy – in the arms of a plainclothes Russian policeman – is heard berating the officers for smashing the window when they broke in.
Kopylov told Vesti TV in court that he felt ‘remorse’ for his crimes.
‘I would like to apologise to my victims,’ he said.
‘I did not behave like a human being, but I simply had no other choice.’
He said he would appeal his sentence because ‘I didn’t kill anyone, I didn’t make them disabled’ and he would be held with murderers.
Kopylov was snared after allegedly boasting about holding the boy in chats between paedophiles on the dark web
Russian special forces cut through a steel door and broke a window to enter the lair where he was held. Footage shows Kopylov being held by special forces officers
When heavily armed officers stormed the building the suspect was sitting with the boy on a sofa
Kopylov, pictured appearing in the dock during his trial, said he will appeal the sentence
Asked why he felt compelled to kidnap the boy, the paedophile said: ‘I couldn’t take it anymore….
‘I wanted a child for too long.’
Computer geek Kopylov, from Suzdal, is the son of an electrician and a kindergarten teacher, both dead.
He had bought the house and was carrying out extensive renovations, including the construction of the underground bunker.
Colonel Irina Volk, of the Russian Interior Ministry, said the tip about the boy had been received ‘from foreign colleagues through Interpol channels’.
The boy’s whereabouts had become clear from ‘publications in the shadow segment of the Internet’, she said.
It is believed US specialists were crucial in establishing the identity of the alleged paedophile with help from agencies in other countries.
Interpol secretary general Jürgen Stock said: ‘A young boy is back where he belongs – with his family – thanks to dedicated specialist officers and swift action by authorities around the world.’
But he warned: ‘While we’re truly delighted that this story has a safe ending, many children are still out there awaiting rescue.’
The boy’s father Alexander, 49, said: ‘He was very happy to see his mother. He hugged and kissed her. We are overwhelmed with feelings…
‘It is an explosion of emotion and relief that the ordeal is over. Finally he is found.’
The child is now receiving ‘strong psychological help’, it was revealed.
A photo shows the boy reuniting with his family after the ordeal. The boy’s father Alexander, 49, said: ‘It is an explosion of emotion and relief that the ordeal is over. Finally he is found’
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