LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – In Lake County, Florida, a 51-year-old former teacher, Dmitri Kostyunin, received a life sentence without parole for sexually abusing an exchange student. Kostyunin was found guilty in April on multiple charges, including sexual battery on a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and providing cannabis to a minor.
The case originated in October 2023 when Italian authorities alerted the FBI about an incident at Kostyunin’s Mount Dora residence.
The victim, an Italian exchange student living with Kostyunin, had reported the sexual abuse to their family in Italy.
Mount Dora Police Department detectives interviewed the student, who recounted Kostyunin giving them cannabis-infused chocolates and alcohol before committing the sexual battery.
Kostyunin admitted to providing the substances but claimed to have blacked out and only realized his actions the next day.
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State Attorney Bill Gladson commended the collaborative efforts of the Mount Dora Police Department, the FBI, and Italian authorities in bringing Kostyunin to justice.
“The defendant’s actions violated the trust placed in him and severely impacted the well-being of a child within our community,” stated Bill Gladson, Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney. “I am grateful that he now will spend the rest of his life behind bars, unable to harm another child.”
The successful prosecution was led by Assistant State Attorneys Kati Cosden and Chelsey Omega.
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