Group rallies for parents accused of child abuse

SALEM, Ore. – A group rallied on the steps of Marion County Courthouse Monday to reunite a family separated by accusations of child abuse.

Oleksandr Kozlov, 40 and his wife Lyudmila Kozlova, 39, were arrested after three of the couple’s seven children claimed they were abused since they emigrated from the Ukraine in 2003.

According to court documents Kozlova said she assaulted the girls after they cut their hair because that went against her interpretation of the Bible.

Supporters claimed the couple’s children are just rebelling against their religious upbringing.

“They didn’t want to be, to grow up and be a believer from what their parents were teaching them,” said Igor Vatulko, a family friend. “The parents were teaching them obedience and the word of God.”

Also, supporters claimed the children were punished with nothing more than spankings.

All of the couple’s seven children, ranging from teenagers to a infant, are in protective custody.