Searching for possible victims: the head of a language school is suspected of sexually abusing children

In Khmelnytskyi, a 58-year-old director of a foreign language learning center, who also taught English, has been notified of suspicion. The man is suspected of sexually abusing pupils aged 13 and 14. This was reported on August 4 , 2026, by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, during lessons the director stayed alone with the pupils and committed lewd acts against them. Law enforcement established that the episodes concerning one girl took place during 2018–2020, and concerning the other — in 2023–2025.

According to media reports, the man may have engaged the pupils in sexually explicit conversations, asked indecent questions, and sent one of them corresponding voice messages on a social network. One of the girls also reported unwanted touching.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the victims did not speak about what happened for a long time because they feared condemnation. They turned to law enforcement after learning about the court proceedings in another criminal case against the center’s director — for the intentional possession of child pornography materials.

Former pupils who reported the harassment created a closed community. According to its members, it has already gathered nearly fifty stories. Some women and girls filed reports with the police, others are listed in the case as witnesses. At the same time, this number is not an officially confirmed number of victims in the criminal case: the prosecutor’s office currently reports two identified victims.

The man was notified of suspicion under part 1 and part 2 of Article 156 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Law enforcement are identifying other possible victims and are checking all potential incidents of unlawful activity.

August 4 the Khmelnytskyi City District Court chose a preventive measure for the suspect in the form of detention without setting bail. The motion in court was supported by the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Anton Kovalskyi, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported. If found guilty, the man faces up to eight years in prison.

Previously we wrote:

• Volyn coach who for years raped young trainees sentenced to 7.5 years
• Stepfather molested a 13-year-old stepdaughter in Mykolaiv region
• Sexual abuse of three stepdaughters in Mykolaiv region: man sentenced to 5.5 years
• Hunted children via messengers: man suspected of sexual exploitation of girls
• In Poltava, a married couple were detained for child molestation and producing child pornography