A man in Sumy filed police complaints against the local media outlet Cukr and its journalist Anna Shpurik, claiming that the journalist was preparing a misleading news story about him, chied editor Vladyslava Kudelnik told Olha Panfilova, the Institute of Mass Information representative in Sumy oblast.
The news story in question was released on 11 June, titled, “’He asked me if I was a virgin and what kind of underwear I was wearing.’ A man accused of sexually harassing minors still sells cotton candy in Sumy.” The story says that its subject has been the suspect in a child sexual abuse case since 2022.
Kudelnik said that the man had filed two statements with the police, one of which preceded the release of the article.
She added that the man had talked openly and kindly to the journalist as she was taking comments for the story, willingly sharing information and not asking to read the text before publication.
Sumy Oblast Police spokesman Volodymyr Krupetskyi reported that the police had registered the statement and was vetting it.
The chief editor said that along with comments on the media outlet’s social media pages, the man has sent a series of private messages to Shpurik, containing threats (including religion-based ones) and accusations. Vladyslava Kudelnik considers such behavior to be an attempt to exert pressure on the journalist.
Cukr is yet to comment on the situation publicly; the team does not plan to do so until they decide to contact the police.
Kudelnik says that it took the team some time to work up the courage to cover this topic. It was important for the journalists that the news story does not slander the person still under trial.
“As we were working, we consulted with lawyers who helped us articulate things correctly. We also provided Oleksandr space in the article and a chance to speak, covering his position as fully as possible. What we did omit in the text were the insults and degrading remarks he made about the girls who had come forward with accusations,” said Vladyslav Kudelnik.
The team considers the news story to be of public interest because topic of child molestation is extremely sensitive. The subject of the article continues to work in proximity to children despite being under trial in a case related to four underage girls.
The journalists sought to raise awareness of violence against children and of the nuances in communication between adults and minors, the chief editor added.