The scandalous case that sank the Aussie Cossack revealed
A senior priest of the Russian church in Australia can be revealed as a paedophile after a court suppression order concealed his name from the public as he faced trial.
Meanwhile, a devout Kremlin propagandist has chalked up 920 days hiding in Sydney's Russian consulate after flagrantly breaching the same suppression order, having played a bizarre part in the priest's downfall.
Alexis Rosentool is a senior figure in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, a branch of the church that went into exile during the rise of the Soviet Union in 1920. Last week he was found guilty of four charges related to his abuse of three males, the Herald can reveal.
Two male victims were indecently assaulted in the 1980s, and Rosentool had an 'unlawful sexual relationship' with a child victim two decades later.
Details of the crime are sparse because Rosentool's name has been suppressed by the courts for years. The order suppressing his name only lifted as the priest was taken into custody to await sentencing.
An unusual twist to the saga involves a Sydney-born, pro-Russian YouTuber who calls himself the 'Aussie Cossack', whose collaboration with police contributed to Rosentool's arrest.
However, Simeon Boikov's involvement has also resulted in him spending time in jail before he eventually fled to the Russian consulate in Woollahra to avoid rearrest weeks after being released.
Boikov, 35, rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic by organising and speaking at anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine rallies in Sydney.
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