In Transcarpathia, a former teacher received 10 years in prison for attempting to sell a baby to foreigners
A 46-year-old former boarding school teacher in Transcarpathia was convicted of trying to sell an 11-month-old boy to foreigners under the guise of adoption. The man, who planned to earn $25,000 from the child, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. This was reported by the Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The child’s mother is a resident of Zhytomyr, who was in “difficult life circumstances.” According to the investigation, a former teacher convinced her to sell the baby for 5 thousand dollars. The boy was supposed to be “adopted” in Spain. The man was going to get about $25,000 under this scheme.
“He met with the potential victim twice and during the conversation took pictures of the boy to show him to potential customers,” – law enforcement officers noted.
The man prepared the necessary documents to take the child abroad, explained to the mother how to act at the checkpoint, and accompanied her with the baby.
In June 2023, a resident of Transcarpathia was caught while trying to cross the state border at the “Mali Selmentsi” checkpoint. He has been in custody since then. Now the man has been found guilty of a crime under Part 2 of Article 15 and Part 3 of Article 149 of the Criminal Code – child trafficking. The former teacher was sentenced to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property. At the same time, he had previously been convicted of another crime – embezzlement of more than 6.3 million hryvnias of state aid received by the family of a deceased serviceman.
Earlier, a 39-year-old woman was caught in Lutsk trying to sell her own six-year-old son for $25,000.
During martial law and for three months after its termination or cancellation, foreigners are prohibited from adopting children in Ukraine. Exceptions apply, in particular, to foreign relatives of children or cases where the family has previously taken in a child’s brother or sister.
