Notorious Russian spammer 'admits child abuse'

Used basement of his St Petersburg office as 'dungeon', say cops

A notorious Russian spammer faces a long prison sentence after he admitted to sexually abusing underage girls.

Leonid "Leo" Kuvayev, 39, named by security firms as the distributor of spam messages promoting unlicensed pharmaceutical websites, has reportedly confessed to molesting youngsters as young as 13 in the seedy basement office of a business he ran in St Petersburg. Kuvayev allegedly targeted vulnerable youngsters from children's homes, some of whom had mental or learning disabilities.

Police, who had already placed Kuvayev under surveillance for his spamming business, allegedly discovered a sex dungeon when they raided his business premises.

"Police officers conducted a search of the office, which the criminal used for a real estate business. They uncovered a room with a shower, sauna, jacuzzi and a huge bed. They seized a whip, handcuffs, and sex toys," a police statement said, according to RIA Novosti via Moscow News.

Kuvayev, who holds dual US and Russian citizenship, has been charged with over 60 separate sex crimes against 11 girls aged between 13 and 18. Each of the offences is punishable by a maximum of 20 years behind bars. Kuvayev has been held on remand by Russian authorities since December 2009. He fled the US after he was found liable in absentia to violations of the CAN-SPAM Act back in 2005 and fined $37m along with six other co-defendants in a case brought by the State of Massachusetts over the distribution of spam messages promoting everything from pirated software to counterfeit pharmaceuticals and porn.

Spamhaus's profile of Kuvayev can be found here. ®