3-Year-Old Boy Dead After Stepfather Brutally Kicks Child In Stomach

A man in Russia has been sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison in connection with the death of his 3-year-old stepson.

The accused, identified as Sergey Lavrenov, returned home following a drinking session with friends and attacked Nikita Soshkina. He kicked the child in the abdomen several times before dragging him to the bedroom and laying him on the bed. The incident took place in the village of Presnovka in July.

When the child's mother, 23-year-old mother Nadezhda Soshkina, entered the room to check on him, she found him lying unconscious on the bed. The woman, however, called the paramedics several hours later and falsely claimed that the boy suffered injuries after falling off the swing. The child was declared dead at the scene by the paramedics.

"At around 6 a.m. they discovered the child was dead. Then the mother wiped the corpse with a wet rag and changed his dirty clothes. She cleaned her house and only after that called an ambulance. She said to paramedics the boy fell out of the swing," the boy's grandmother, Svetlana Lymar, said.

An autopsy revealed there was a tear in the boy's small intestine and he died from internal bleeding. Following this, the mother changed her statement and the stepfather was taken into custody.

"In the evening on July 28 the boy's parents were having alcoholic drinks with their friends. After returning home, the step-father kicked the child in the stomach for crying. The victim received severe injuries to his internal organs and died. The boy's mother, who knew about his trauma, did not call emergency services and did not try to help him," Omsk Regional Investigative Committee wrote in the final report.

Last month, the accused was charged with deliberately causing grievous bodily harm that resulted in death. He appeared in court earlier this week and was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison.

Though the child's mother was not charged in connection with the incident, she could lose custody of her other three children, who were all aged under 5.