Drąsius Kedys

The case of Drąsius Kedys is a high-profile criminal case in Lithuania centering on allegations of sexual molestation of a then four-year-old Lithuanian girl and a double homicide. In November 2008, Drąsius Kedys accused Laimutė Stankūnaitė of allowing Jonas Furmanavičius and Andrius Ūsas to sexually molest their underage daughter. Frustrated by lack of progress in the investigation, Kedys took the case public. He published a video with his daughter's testimony, sent out DVDs to politicians, and appeared in the media. Still no case was brought before trial. In October 2009, Jonas Furmanavičius, a district judge and accused pedophile, and Violeta Naruševičienė, aunt of his daughter and accused procurer, were found dead and Kedys became the main murder suspect. While Kedys went into hiding, some of the Lithuanian public sided with him, portraying Kedys as a desperate father trying to protect his daughter against pedophiles. In April 2010 his body was found near Kaunas Reservoir. His death was ruled an accident – choking on vomit after heavy drinking. The main suspect in the pedophilia case, Andrius Ūsas, was found drowned in a lake after a motorcycle accident in June 2010. In a posthumous trial Ūsas was found innocent. A separate court ruling restored the girl's custody to Stankūnaitė. Some Lithuanians disagreed with the ruling and began a vigil at the house of Kedys' relatives in Garliava, where the girl lived at the time. Officials were able to take custody of the girl with the help of riot police in May 2012. The Way of Courage, a political party founded by Kedys' sister and supporters, participated in the 2012 Lithuanian parliamentary election and received almost 8% of the votes.