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<\/p>\nA DAD who allegedly killed his 'paedophile' friend after he accused him of raping his eight-year-old daughter has had his legal fees crowdfunded.<\/p>\n
Villagers rallied around to raise money to help Vyachelav M hire a lawyer after he was charged over the murder of his pal Oleg Sviridov, 32 in Russia.<\/p>\n
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Horrified Vyachelav, 34, claimed to have found video evidence his former friend was a paedophile and had sexually assaulted his daughter and other children.<\/p>\n
Locals also started a petition to demand the rocket engine factory worker, should be acquitted and spared jail after admitting to the killing.<\/p>\n
Vyacheslav M is now under house arrest, but legal experts say he is still likely to face jail even though his own daughter, nine, was an alleged victim.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pair were drinking when Vyacheslav checked the video his friend had been secretly watching on his smartphone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have collected the money, thank you all,\u201d said Vyachelsav's father, after the fund-raiser to pay for a top lawyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not friends or relatives who helped, but strangers from the village.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition reads: \u201cSviridov fell asleep, and Vyacheslav took his mobile phone and decided to see what his friend was looking at."<\/p>\n
Every father would have done this. This will be an example to everyone.<\/p>\n
He explained that Vyachelsav saw footage of his daughter being abused. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery father would have done this. This will be an example to everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, we demand understanding from the executive branch, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n
He should be fully acquitted, demands the petition signed by 1,100 locals in Samara region.<\/p>\n
Yet investigators now believe that Vyacheslav\u2019s original story that he killed Sviridov a week after the \u201csex attacker\u201d had gone on the run is not true.<\/p>\n
They have concluded he stabbed the \u201cpaedophile\u201d to death moments after seeing the footage involving his daughter, then hid the body in the forest.<\/p>\n
Vyacheslav went to police to report the sex abuse but told them Sviridov had run away.<\/p>\n
A massive manhunt began and a week later Vyacheslav claimed he had only just found the \u201cpaedophile\u201d and killed him during a fight in the forest near\u00a0Vintai village in Russia.<\/p>\n
In fact, he died a week earlier, detectives believe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Legal expert Dmitry Palatov said a term of imprisonment was likely despite demands from locals, reported Izvestia.<\/p>\n
But villagers are reported to be \u201cunited\u201d in wanting him acquitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe saved our kids from potential paedophile abuse,\u201d said one.<\/p>\n
Villager in Pribrezhnoye, where Vyachelsav lives, Tatiana Zubova, said: \u201cI know him personally, he is a good father and husband.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawyer Vera Podkolzina said proving Sviridov\u2019s guilt from video evidence was critical to a lenient sentence for Vyacheslav.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is difficult to say what punishment the father of the girl may face, but he has very powerful mitigating circumstances,\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MP Oksana Pushkina called for harsher legal sanctions to deter child sex abuse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need tough legislative measures against paedophiles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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