* subscribe at http://techPolice.com Russians Want Laws on Child Porn MOSCOW (AP) _ Despite a successful Russian-U.S. operation to shut down a Web site that sold child pornography, police on Tuesday decried legal chaos that leaves them virtually powerless against Russian child pornographers who peddle their products worldwide. Operation Blue Orchid, a joint effort by the U.S. Customs Service and the Moscow city police, has led to criminal inquiries in 24 nations against people who ordered child pornography videotapes from the Russian Web site. The police operation was named after the Web site, which was shut down in December. Many of the tapes were bought by people in the United States; others went to Germany, Britain, France, Denmark, China, Kuwait, Mexico and scores of other countries. But Russian investigators said Tuesday the operation nabbed only a few of the legions of child pornography producers who run international distribution networks from Russia with near-immunity. ``According to estimates by foreign experts _ and though it pains us to hear this, it is true _ Russia is turning into a kind of Malaysia or Thailand, where the main flow of child pornography now is coming from Russia,'' said investigator Eduard Lapatik. Under Russian law, possession of pornography is not a crime. Production and trafficking are illegal, but the law makes no distinction between child pornography and pornography involving adults _ treating both as lesser crimes punishable by a maximum of two years in prison, the same punishment for petty theft or shoplifting. Deep poverty drives scores of children in the Russian hinterlands to flee their homes and their often-abusive parents, and travel to Moscow. Once there, the children become easy victims. ``Some are paid for these activities, others just get food,'' investigator Alexander Bynenko told a news conference Tuesday. Even when the children fall into the hands of police, there is little the cash-strapped authorities can do. Since the start of the year, some 5,000 teen-agers have been detained in Moscow for various offenses. Of them, only 98 could be placed in orphanages; the rest were sent home, and probably ran away again, Lapatik said. During Operation Blue Orchid, police seized some 600 videotapes, 200 digital video disks and many boxes of photographs. Bynenko displayed stacks of graphic photographs involving hundreds of children, but said authorities were unable to track the fate of each child. Four people have been arrested in the United States and 15 search warrants have been issued as part of Operation Blue Orchid. At least four people have been arrested in Russia and two suspects have committed suicide _ nor out of fear of long prison terms, but of the treatment sex offenders get from other inmates in Russian jails, investigators said. Adding to the difficulty of fighting child pornography in Russia, the country's age of consent is 14 _ but even offenders convicted of having sex with younger children face a maximum of four years. The light punishment has stoked sex tourism to Russia, police said. One such alleged U.S. tourist, Glenn Martikean of Portage, Ind., was arrested Jan. 31. American officials were led to Martikean after a search of a Russian Web site operator's apartment. Video footage filmed by a concealed police camera in a Moscow hotel room and shown at the news conference, appeared to show Martikean weeping and saying he wanted to see ``the kid'' with whom he allegedly tried to have sex before Russian police intervened. The boy was 14, and Russian police were unable to press charges. Martikean was arrested by U.S. customs agents after he flew home and was indicted Friday by a grand jury in Indiana on charges of importing child pornography and interstate and foreign travel to engage in sexual activity with minors, customs said. ============================================================ Take the guesswork out of genealogy. Go to Ancestry.com today and sign up for your free 14-day trial. Use the site risk free and enjoy the No. 1 Source for Family History Online. http://click.topica.com/aaabFbb1dhr0b1uN1Ic/MyFamily ============================================================ --via http://techPolice.com archive: http://theMezz.com/cybercrime/archive unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] url: http://theMezz.com/alerts ____________________________________________________________ T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01
