Paedophile abuses 7-year-old boy for 52 days by hiding him in bunker

A court in Russia has sentenced a paedophile to 19 years in prison for sexually abusing a 7-year-old boy and holding him captive for 52 days after kidnapping him in September 2020.

The 28-year-old man, Dmitry Kopylov, has been charged with 62 separate crimes against the boy and another victim who was not held captive. The court has also ruled that Kopylov must undergo psychiatric treatment and serve his sentence in a high security prison.

The boy was kept in a sound proof underground bunker and abused repeatedly by the man at his house in Makarikha, Vladimir region. The bunker had a jail-style bed and a heater and was located right beneath his house.

Russian special forces went to rescue the boy after receiving a tip from a US Interpol officer who had come across a dark web user with a possible link to the abduction, per a report in The Mirror. The officers had to cut through a steel door to gain access to it and rescue the boy.

Interpol's Crimes against Children unit passed their data onto their Russian colleagues and the Russian special forces were then able to track down the suspect, an Interpol press release had said earlier.

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."

"While we're truly delighted that this story has a safe ending, many children are still out there awaiting rescue," he added.

Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs later released a video of the rescue mission. It shows Russian special forces barging into Kopylov's house and freeing the little boy from captivity in November 2020.

The boy was seen laughing when the forces stormed the house and refused to communicate with anyone but his parents. However, he is healthy and doing better now.

Kopylov says he would appeal his sentence because he "didn't kill anyone." When asked why he committed the crime, he said: "I couldn't take it anymore....I wanted a child for too long." He also apologised for what he did and said: "I did not behave like a human being, but I simply had no other choice."