![]() Attorney Frank Murray of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kyle Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are prosecuting these cases. These cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in Tampa, with substantial assistance provided by Homeland Security Investigations offices in Fort Lauderdale, Athens, and the Hague, as well as the IRS Criminal Investigation in Tampa.Īssistant U.S. The defendants have also been notified that the United States intends to forfeit a total of $9.4 million, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses, in addition to real property located in Florida. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. See chart below for case statuses.Ĭonspiracy to commit money laundering international promotion money laundering concealment money launderingĬonspiracy to advertise child pornography conspiracy to distribute child pornographyĪ federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. To date, four members of the Newstar Enterprise have been charged in connection with the Newstar Websites. To process, receive and distribute this money, Newstar Enterprise members fraudulently opened merchant and bank accounts in the United States and laundered proceeds using a bogus jewelry company. The sale of purported “child modeling” content on the Newstar Websites generated more than $9.4 million during the course of the conspiracy. Images in the websites’ galleries were freely available to the public to preview, but greater access and more content required purchasing a subscription. The Newstar Enterprise maintained a membership list for subscribers and customers of the Newstar Websites, who originated from 101 nations across the world. Law enforcement officers have disabled the servers hosting the Newstar Websites. Most of the child-victims-recruited from Ukraine, Moldova and other nations in Eastern Europe-were particularly vulnerable due to their age, family dynamics and poverty. For example, images and videos sold on the Newstar Websites depicted children as young as 6 years old in sexual and provocative poses, wearing police and cheerleader costumes, thong underwear, transparent underwear, revealing swimsuits, pantyhose, and miniskirts. Some of those images and videos, though non-nude, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Using the recruited child-victims, the Newstar Enterprise produced more than 4.6 million sexualized images and videos to distribute and sell on the Newstar Websites. ![]() To populate the Newstar Websites with content, Newstar Enterprise members sourced, enticed, solicited and recruited males and females under the age of 18, some of whom were prepubescent, to use as “child models” for the Newstar Websites. Kenneth Power’s wife, Tatiana “Tanya” Power, 41, of Weston, is currently pending trial on money laundering charges in connection with the Newstar Enterprise.Īccording to court documents, founded around 2005, the Newstar Enterprise built, maintained, hosted and operated the Newstar Websites on servers in the United States and abroad. Other members of the Newstar Enterprise resided in Europe. Patrice Eileen Wilowski-Mevorah, 53, of Tampa, and Mary Lou Bjorkman, 58, of Lutz, recently pleaded guilty to laundering money for the Newstar Enterprise. Tampa, FL – A series of charges and convictions were announced today in connection with an international enterprise based in Florida that operated subscription-based sexually exploitive “child modeling” websites.Īccording to court documents, Kenneth Power (deceased at 58, of Weston), was a principal member of the Newstar Enterprise – an internet-based business aimed at for-profit sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling” through a collection of websites called the Newstar Websites. ![]()
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