BRADFORD OIL WORKER PETER BARUCH JAILED IN KAZAKHSTAN FOR CHILD ABUSE OFFENCES IN URALSK
In a disturbing case that has garnered international attention, Peter Baruch, a man originally from Bradford, has been sentenced to eight years in prison in Kazakhstan after being found guilty of serious child abuse offences involving the production and distribution of indecent images of minors.The case unfolded in the city of Uralsk, located in north-western Kazakhstan, where authorities uncovered a disturbing collection of photographs on Baruch's computer.
Baruch, aged 38, is married and is a father to two young children under the age of five.
The court proceedings revealed that he paid between £40 and £60 to a 12-year-old girl to pose naked and in underwear within the confines of his hotel room during a visit to Uralsk.
The police investigation uncovered more than 600 photographs of the girl, along with images of other teenage girls, stored on his device.
These images included explicit content involving minors, which led to his arrest earlier this year.
Baruch, who has been working as an engineering consultant for the Zhaikmunai oil company since 2009, was also accused of corrupting at least one underage child in Uralsk.
The court heard that he had engaged in inappropriate conduct with minors, raising serious concerns about his activities in the region.
His background includes education at Rhodesway Upper School in Bradford, where he studied from 1989 to 1994, and he was born and raised in the Clayton area of Bradford.
During the trial, Kazakh media reported that Baruch offered a partial guilty plea, claiming that the images of the girls were taken for his own personal use.
He reportedly met the girls online, and his defense argued that he believed the girls were over 15 years old at the time of the photographs.
His lawyer, Khamid Khodzhanazarov, stated that Baruch was convinced the girl involved was born on October 22, 1998, but in reality, she was born in 2001, making her under the age of 15, which is a critical factor under Kazakh law.
Details of the arrest indicate that police raided Baruch’s hotel room after the girl’s mother became suspicious upon discovering money and reading text messages on her daughter’s phone.
During the raid, Baruch attempted to destroy his computer upon noticing the police presence.
The authorities confirmed that the minors depicted in the images ranged in age from 12 to 17 and were students attending schools in Uralsk and Atyrau.
In mitigation, Baruch’s family, including his parents, appealed for clemency.
Reports from Kazakh media indicated that his parents had sent a letter to the Prosecutor’s Office of Uralsk, requesting a pardon for their son, citing his family circumstances and his responsibilities as a father of two young children.
His father, Dr.
John Baruch, an expert in astronomy and technology at Bradford University, declined to comment when approached by the Telegraph & Argus.
Meanwhile, the UK government has acknowledged the case.
A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that a British national, identified as Peter Baruch, was detained in Kazakhstan on February 7, 2014.
The officials stated that consular support was being provided and that they were in contact with Kazakh authorities to assist in the matter, highlighting the seriousness of the case and the ongoing diplomatic efforts to address it.
