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Bryansk Deputy Charged With 212 Child Sex Offenses

Investigators have charged Nikifor Zhukov, a 62-year-old deputy from the Bryansk region, with 212 child sex offenses. Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

Investigators have charged a deputy from the Bryansk region with 212 child sex offenses.

Nikifor Zhukov, a 62-year-old member of the village of Churovichsky's council, sexually abused about 30 schoolgirls aged 11-17 in three districts between July 2007 and May 2013, the Investigative Committee said Tuesday in an online statement.

Investigators said Zhukov's alleged crimes followed the same pattern.

He specifically targeted schoolgirls from poor families, driving them to a secluded area and offering them money to have sex with him in his car, the statement said.

Zhukov also threatened and physically overpowered a number of his victims, before giving them between 500-1,000 rubles ($14-28) in exchange for their silence, according to the statement.

Zhukov frequently met with seven victims under these circumstances and used hard liquor to get them drunk, investigators said.

On one occasion, Zhukov committed an act of sexual abuse alongside a 19-year-old accomplice, who later died in a car accident.

In total, lawyers for the victims are suing Zhukov for 20 million rubles ($560,000) in damages.

Investigators expect to wrap up their inquiry in the near future.

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