Influential paedophile monk to die in prison after bizarre case divides church

A powerful paedophile monk will die in prison after survivors spoke out against their “spiritual father”, who used his influence to abuse children and keep them quiet for decades in Sydney’s Russian churches.

But the case ended as strangely as it began. A Kremlin propagandist who helped trigger the prosecution forced the court to relocate in secret after whipping up a protest from his hideaway in the Russian consulate.

Alexis Rosentool, 74, has reigned as abbot of a monastery tucked away in the Snowy Mountains town of Bombala since the 1990s.

He had ascended, over the decades, through the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) in Sydney and abroad, earning the senior title archimandrite. He was considered a gifted artist who painted religious icons through the diocese’s churches and homes across the city.

But Rosentool was an active paedophile who, over 20 years, abused children within the church community.

On Friday, he faced sentencing over crimes against three boys, now adult men.

Judge Nicole Noman on Friday said Rosentool exploited his authority and the power imbalance of his position to get children alone before he breached their trust.

“He was a spiritual father to each victim, which was a role of importance and religious significance,” Noman said.

“The offender presented with greater influence and control over each victim than perhaps their parents, given his spiritual role with each and his connection with God and his importance within the religious community.”

The three men abused by Rosentool as boys each had provided evidence against him at trial in front of a jury that found him guilty of five charges. The paedophile had maintained his innocence and shown no remorse throughout the case.

The men told the court they had revered Rosentool, as had their families, and they had kept his abuse a secret for decades.

Each struggled to look at Rosentool as he sat in the dock in Sydney’s Downing Centre Courts, as had been requested by the paedophile’s lawyers during cross-examination.

Noman said that by the end of their evidence, the men faced down their abuser.

“It is a real and palpable harm that has endured over decades, and despite the personal and professional success each found in their adult lives, that a victim could excel in aspects of their life does not minimise the harm inflicted,” Noman said.

Rosentool was sentenced to 19 years in prison, 13 without parole. His life expectancy, the court heard, was about seven years due to declining health. Rosentool sat in shocked silence, dialled in from Goulburn Supermax prison.

“The offender is accustomed to the assistance provided by another member of the clergy,” Noman said.

“This devotion and practical assistance will not be available, and the offender may be required to rely upon the voluntary assistance provided by a cellmate.”

The survivors had turned Rosentool in to the police, decades after they were abused, after pro-Russian propagandist Aussie Cossack, real name Simeon Boikov, lobbied for an investigation in 2019.

On Friday, he filmed himself celebrating in the Russian consulate with a bottle of champagne.

Rosentool was expected to be sentenced in the John Madison Tower in Sydney’s Downing Centre but, the day before the court convened, Boikov had called his tens of thousands of supporters to protest outside.

A small handful showed up bearing signs including “ROT IN HELL ALEXIS ROSENTOOL” and “WHY ARE PEDOPHILES A PROTECTED SPECIES”.

Fears of a much larger gathering prompted the court to secretly move the sentence to the NSW Supreme Court, on the other side of Hyde Park, citing security concerns.

Boikov organised his protest from the Russian consulate, where he has remained for almost 1000 days in hiding from two arrest warrants.

He is wanted by authorities, in part, to finish out six months in prison for naming Rosentool after the court suppressed his name during the prosecution.

Noman said the suppression order had been necessary to stop “unfettered” release of information that could have jeopardised the trial.

Friday’s protest was, according to Boikov, designed to send a message to Rosentool’s supporters within the church and its community.

“His continuing influence within the church and over parishioners was evident from how a number of witnesses called in the defence case spoke of him with considerable reverence,” Noman said on Friday.

“It was also evident that it was and remains a relatively close community.”

A website was erected in the paedophile’s support shortly after he was suspended from his post in 2019, in the early days of the investigation.

“We are pained by the injustice of our hierarchy’s prolongation of this suspension, which allows false rumours and slander to spread, and the community to suffer from deprivation of his priestly ministry,” Rosentool’s supporters wrote on the now-removed website.

Archpriest Boris Ignatievsky of the Cabramatta church, where Rosentool once served, had warned his flock “sheep do not judge their shepherd” in the days after the paedophile was convicted.

The ROCOR’s Archbishop George, following reporting by the Herald, suspended the archpriest for one week over the comments.

“Due to the detrimental effect this has had on our community, especially those who have been directly affected, victims and their families, you are now suspended from all priestly duties for 1 week,” a suspension notice states.

“I wish to reiterate, in no uncertain terms, that our diocese condemns and does not tolerate any abuse, especially the abuse of minors.”

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