MINNEAPOLIS – A Rochester man pleaded guilty today to producing sexually explicit images and videos of a minor, announced Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk.
According to court documents, between November 8, 2020, and January 8, 2021, Arkady Pavlovich Pichurin, 26, sexually exploited a minor who was between the ages of nine and 10 years old at the time. Pichurin, who contacted the minor using a variety of instant messaging and texting services, including Snapchat, lied about his age and identity to carry out his sexual exploitation of the minor. Pichurin admitted to using similar tactics to sexually exploit and produce pornographic images and videos of more than twenty minors.
Pichurin is scheduled to be sentenced on January 4, 2022.
“This is a particularly egregious case involving an adult using popular social media apps to prey on and exploit dozens of children,” said Acting United States Attorney W. Anders Folk. “I commend the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office and the investigators with the Rochester Police Department and the FBI for aggressively pursuing this sexual predator and holding him accountable for the harm he caused. We continue to urge parents, teachers, caregivers, and young people alike to be vigilant in reporting these types of crimes to law enforcement.”
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
If you know of any child who may have been a victim of exploitation, please call the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or visit NCMEC’s web site at www.missingkids.com.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Rochester Police Department, with substantial assistance from the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander D. Chiquoine is prosecuting the case.
