Andrew, or Andrei, Mogilyansky, 38, was charged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with organizing a child prostitution ring in the Russian capital that involved orphaned girls from Russia's second city of St. Petersburg.
Mogilyansky has both Russian and U.S. citizenship and resides in Richboro, Pennsylvania.
"According to the November 20 indictment, Mogilyansky conspired with a Russian man, Andrei Tarasov, and three others to create an online prostitution ring in Russia from 2002 to 2004, involving young orphan girls," prosecutors said.
"He took those girls to his apartment in St. Petersburg, where he molested them. He molested them as a way of introducing them to his child prostitution business. After he molested these girls, he sent them to Moscow to work as prostitutes for him," the acting U.S. attorney, Laurie Magid, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
"All of the victims in this case were young girls who were orphans. The defendant took what little they had - their innocence and their dignity. As the indictment alleges, not only did he molest them for his own pleasure, but he treated these children as a commodity - useful, marketable, and ultimately disposable," said Magid.
Prosecutors maintain that with help from Tarasov and others, Mogilyansky had three girls, all aged 14 and younger, brought from a St. Petersburg orphanage to an apartment he owned nearby. They claim that it was here that he had sex, or attempted to have sex, with them.
Magid also said that while Mogilyansky's crimes were committed in Russia, he would be prosecuted in the United States.
Mogilyansky has also been charged with one count of traveling for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct and three counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.
"Mogilyansky is now facing criminal charges and a potentially lengthy sentence in an American prison for the horrible acts that he committed on Russian soil," said Magid.
If convicted of all charges, Mogilyansky faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on each count and a $1,000,000 fine.
Tarasov and the other people involved in the prostitution ring were arrested, tried, and convicted in
Russia in 2004. Tarasov is currently serving a 10-year sentence.
