Moscow, Dec 04: Russia has become a major source of child pornography because the country has no laws governing its production or dissemination, a top police official said today. Russia "has been transformed into a world source for child pornography," warned Dmitri Chepchugov, Moscow police chief in charge of computer-related crime. He accused foreign criminal groups of using Russian internet sites to broadcast child pornography around the world, taking advantage of the fact that Russia has no specific laws on child porn.

Chepchugov said that since March his department had discovered more than 3,000 Russian internet sites with pornographic photos or films involving children, but less than one percent of the content was produced in Russia.
Each site brings in between 15,000 and 30,000 dollars every month, he said.

"While around the world prison sentences to punish these crimes are extremely stringent, in Russia people who produce child pornography can be sentenced to a maximum two years in prison," Chepchugov said, referring to a general law on pornography.
"This damages the country's reputation, but our deputies are doing nothing," he said.
In June, Parliament's lower house, the state Duma, took initial steps to adopt a law that defined child pornography as a serious crime punishable by between three and 10 years in prison.

Bureau Report