Four charges are being brought against Natalia's stepfather. This was stated by the spokesperson for the Varna District Prosecutor's Office Radoslav Lazarov, quoted by Nova TV. Asen Simeonov is charged with kidnapping in the conditions of a dangerous recidivism, for unlawful deprivation of liberty of a minor, for unlawful violation of the inviolability of the mother's home and for causing bodily harm to the child's mother Todorka Petrova.
"The charges have been coordinated with the supervising prosecutor. The most serious of them is for kidnapping in the conditions of a dangerous recidivism of a person under 18 years of age. This accusation, if proven in court, provides for a sentence of imprisonment from 10 to 20 years or life imprisonment, as well as confiscation of part or all of the accused's property," explained Lazarov.
The detainee has 12 effective convictions and is acting under the conditions of dangerous recidivism, since his last sentence for theft was served in October 2021, the state prosecution indicated. That is, the five-year term has not expired, which would exclude the possibility of being charged with dangerous recidivism. "He has been convicted 12 times - mainly for theft, but also for violent crimes, including robberies and causing bodily harm," Lazarov specified.
And he emphasized that the accused is currently being held in custody for up to 72 hours - which is the legal term. "His measure will most likely be reviewed tomorrow and the prosecutor's office will request detention", he said.
In my words, the child's condition is yet to be assessed, but will not be commented on to the media.
We recall that 11-year-old Natalia, who had been wanted for 24 days, was found last night. This was announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev on his Facebook profile. Her stepfather Asen Simeonov, who kidnapped her on June 30, was detained.
The girl and her mother's former partner were found in front of the grocery store in the Shumen village of Ovcharovo after 24-hour secret posts. The child was scared, but said that she was happy. Police officers from Shumen and Varna participated in the operation.
Asen Simeonov is already at the Varna Regional Police Department. "I did not kidnap Natalia.", he said upon his arrival at the regional office.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the man was located and detained minutes after midnight, in an attempt to break into a commercial facility. "Around 00.10 we noticed a person passing by on the street. We immediately took action to detain him. The man was surprised, he did not expect to see a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs right there and without any problems, without any obstacles he was detained. He followed our instructions, did not take any other actions. We asked where Natalia was and he said that she was close to us, but he would not come unless he told her,", said the director of the ODMVR-Shumen, Senior Commissioner Georgi Gendov.
Simeonov managed to hide for nearly a month thanks to the fact that he knew the area extremely well. He said that he moved mainly along the railway line between Varna and Sofia, and during the day he hid in sunflower fields, cornfields and dense vegetation.