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Monday, April 17, 2023

Sexually abused boy kills self after radio station reveals his identity

Master Filiks committed suicide in March at the family’s Szczecin home after being publicly identified as the victim of a jailed paedophile.

• April 17, 2023
Radio Szczecin
Radio Szczecin

Mikolaj Filiks, a 15-year-old sex abuse victim, reportedly killed himself after his identity was made public by state-owned Radio Szczecin in the Polish city of Szczecin.

The radio station has come under fire for releasing the identity of the teenager identified as the son of a local opposition politician. 

Many believe that the radio station was involved in a political hit job that revealed the identity of the 15-year-old sex abuse victim.

Master Filiks committed suicide in March at the family’s Szczecin home after being publicly identified as the victim of a jailed paedophile. 

The deceased’s mother, Magdalena, represents Civic Platform, the main opposition party to the ruling party, in parliament.

Krzysztof Falinski, a liberal LGBTQ rights advocate from Szczecin who had abused the youngster, was found guilty in 2021 and has since been imprisoned.

But his victims have never been named in the media.

However, in December, the editor-in-chief of Radio Szczecin, Tomasz Duklanowski, revealed the identity of Mr Falinski’s victims on the station’s website, stating that the son of a “well-known legislator” was among those he abused.

The only Szczecin-based lawmaker whose family matched every description in Mr Duklanowski’s report was Ms Filiks.

According to the family’s lawyer, the young boy started getting phone calls and texts from friends inquiring if he had been sexually molested soon after Radio Szczecin reported the information. 

This included messages from his mother’s political opponents as well.

“It was not just his classmates who learned about his abuse. The whole of Poland found out,” the lawyer said. “You don’t need to be an expert in child psychology to understand that this was very upsetting.”

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