'Cinderella' paedophile targeted impoverished girls, filmed rapes and blackmailed victims

A wealthy husband and father, dubbed the 'Cinderella Rapist', is accused of abusing eight girls between 14 and 17 although police believe there may be "many more" victims who have not come forward.

Businessman Nikolay Gavrilov, 40, hung around outside schools and targeted girls wearing "poor clothes", according to Russian investigators.

He would offer the girls cleaning jobs at his apartment or office. But he wasn't looking for a cleaner.

Once he had the girls on their own, he raped them. Often he would film the sick attacks and use the footage to blackmail the children into further sexual encounters.

Police say he thought he was untouchable because he was so rich. Russia is one of the most unequal societies in the world.

Investigators believe there could be several victims beyond the eight he is standing trial for raping. They are urging any young girls who may have been abused by Gavrilov to come forward and speak out.

Gavrilov, from Krasnoyarsk in central Russia, had also been called the 'the paedophile with a plait' because of his hair cut.

However, he has had to lose the extravagant hair style and grow a beard when he went on the run in March. For months authorities chased him down, searching his many properties across Russia several times.

On 13 September, he was finally caught at his brother's apartment and detained ahead of his trial. Armed police broke into the flat with a circular saw and snagged the alleged peadophile.

Olga Shamanskaya, from the Krasnoyarsk region Investigative Committee told the Siberian Times: "The suspect invariably used one and the same scheme. He drove in his car to a college and waited until he saw a girl in poor clothes.

"He started a conversation and offered each girl the same job - to clean up in his flat or office. If the girl agreed, he drove her to his apartment and raped her.

"Some episodes he recorded on camera and later blackmailed the victims making them come to his place again where he raped them again.

"He was so sure of his impunity. He also searched for girls on websites of those looking for a job."