What does Glenn Martikean, a 44-year old Indiana man have in common with Vsevolod Solntsev-Elbe, a Russian who lives in a tiny town 500 miles east of Moscow? The answer is not a punch-line to a joke but the result of a much more serious matter. Both men were involved with an international child pornography ring called Blue Orchid. After a joined investigation effort by U.S. Customs officials and Moscow City Police both have been brought to justice along with three other Americans and four other Russians. Martikean had contacted Elbe in 2001 and stated that he was coming to Moscow; his intent was to have sex with little boys. Elbe was already under investigation for trafficking child pornography and when investigators searched his email accounts they found Martikean’s letters wishing to travel to Moscow.
Blue Orchid, known for its vast distribution of child pornography all over the world, is one of the many internet child pornography traffickers stationed in Russia. In recent years Russia has become one of the world’s largest circulators of videos and photos depicting children having sex with other children and adults. It’s top contender, the United States.
Large cities in Russia, such as St. Petersburg and Moscow, are breeding grounds for the production of this type of material. Russia’s economic situation has left the country without enough social programs to help support its poor. The result is thousands of homeless children who are vulnerable to the promises of wealth and fame given by child pornography producers. In 2007 alone 8,805 children were victims of this type of violent sexual abuse in Russia.
Russia is beginning to combat this problem with new legislation that increases sentences for pedophiles and distributors of child pornography. As of yet the maximum prison term for those who produce, deal, and distribute this material is eight years in prison. New legislation would increase this penalty to 15 years. A separate bill would ban convicted persons from applying for early release. Russia is also interested in implementing a sex offender registration policy similar to the one we have in the U.S.
