Police in Russia's Far East detained two men on suspicion of sexually abusing children after an IT technician alerted investigators to a client who had brought his computer to a repair shop asking for help in restoring damaged files with child pornography, the Interior Ministry said Monday.
The technician in the city of Vladivostok told police that the client had asked him to restore files damaged by malware, the Interior Ministry branch in the far eastern Primorye region said in a statement. While restoring the files, the technician found photos and videos with child pornography, the statement said.
Investigators identified the children, spoke with their parents and neighbors, and learned that a 56-year-old man who had moved to the building in 2012 was known to have befriended families with small children and was frequently inviting them to visit his apartment, the statement said.
He sexually abused the children if adults left them alone with him, the statement said.
The man was detained and has confessed and helped investigators identify another local resident, aged 64, who has also allegedly been sexually abusing children, the Interior Ministry said. The second suspect has been detained and has also confessed, the statement said.
The victims have been placed into a rehabilitation center to be treated by psychotherapists, the statement said.