Boy, 12, raped and killed by paedophile who then had sex with his corpse

A 12-year-old boy was raped and strangled to death after being lured to an abandoned building by a paedophile who then had sex with his corpse.

Rodion Volkov was heading home from football training in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro when he is thought to have been approached by a man in the street. The stranger gained the schoolboy’s trust by taking him to a nearby grocery store and buying him sweets.

CCTV footage shows the pair appearing relaxed as they queue inside before leaving together. As they walked, the man persuaded Rodion to accompany him to the empty building, located in a nearby park.

Investigators say that once inside the older man raped the promising young footballer before choking him and having sex with his dead body.

Rodion was reported missing by worried relatives when he failed to return home or answer any calls. Officers quickly tracked his movements using his phone’s signal and began searching the park.

Police spokeswoman Ludmyla Kopylenko told local media that once officers entered the decrepit building they ‘saw a man lying on a mattress covered with a pile of clothes’ who ‘rushed to his feet, pulling up his pants and behaving nervously’.

She added: ‘The officers removed the clothes and found the boy’s naked body.’

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The 59-year-old man arrested has not been named, but police said he was homeless and living in the building.

According to reports he made a full confession, telling officers ‘he raped the boy before throttling him and having sexual intercourse with the body’.

He remains in custody pending rape and murder charges and faces life behind bars if convicted.

Investigations continue.

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