Florida Bookkeeper Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Prison for Operating Sexually Exploitive “Child Modeling” Websites

WASHINGTON POST

A Florida woman was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years and seven months in federal prison for her involvement in a subscription-based sexually exploitative “child modeling” websites, officials stated.

The court also ordered the defendant to forfeit more than $2.2 million, as well as real property located in Weston, Florida, according to federal officials.

According to court documents, Tatiana Power, aka Tanya Power, 41, of Weston, helped run the financial affairs of the Newstar Enterprise – an internet-based business.

  The website sexual exploited vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling,” officials stated.

 Power served as Vice President and part-owner of Power Trading Inc., a Florida corporation used to control, operate and conceal the true nature of the Newstar Enterprise.

From as early as 2009 through November 2019, Power served as Power Trading’s (and thus the Newstar Enterprise’s) bookkeeper.

Power oversaw Power Trading’s QuickBooks, filed its annual corporate registration documents, managed its bank accounts, paid salaries, helped wire money to foreign co-conspirators, and advised co-conspirators on how to evade law enforcement and conceal the true nature of monetary transactions.

She routinely assisted in transferring money and making payments for the Newstar Enterprise.

From January 2009 until November 2019, Power and her now-deceased husband, Kenneth Power, made more than $2.2 million from the Newstar Websites.

The Newstar Enterprise used recruited child victims to produce more than 4.6 million sexualized images and videos to sell on the Newstar Websites, officials stated.

Some of those images and videos, though non-nude, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

For example, images and videos sold on the Newstar Websites depicted children as young as six years old in sexual and provocative poses, wearing police and cheerleader costumes, thong underwear, transparent underwear, revealing swimsuits, pantyhose, and miniskirts.

Most of the child victims – recruited from Ukraine, Moldova, and other nations in Eastern Europe – were particularly vulnerable due to their age and socio-economic status. Law enforcement officers have disabled the servers hosting the Newstar Websites.

According 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.

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.

The Newstar Enterprise maintained a membership list for subscribers and customers of the Newstar Websites, who originated from 101 nations across the world.

Images in the websites’ galleries were freely available to the public to preview, but greater access and more content required purchasing a subscription.

The sale of purported “child modeling” content on the Newstar Websites generated more than $9.4 million during the conspiracy.

To process, receive and distribute this money, Newstar Enterprise leaders fraudulently opened merchant and bank accounts in the United States and laundered proceeds using a bogus jewelry company. 

To date, six members of the Newstar Enterprise have been charged in connection with the Newstar Websites. The chart below shows the status of each case. 

The defendants have also been notified that the United States intends to forfeit a total of $9.4 million, which is alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses, in addition to real property located in Florida, according to authorities.