Los Angeles man sentenced to 150 years in prison for sexually abusing minors in Russia

LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles man was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison for sexually abusing three minor girls during trips to Russia over a two-year period, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Yusef Yunosovich Abramov, 58, was convicted by a jury in November 2015 of five felony counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. According to evidence introduced during the trial, the dual Russian-U.S. citizen flew from Los Angeles to Russia in June 2009 and, shortly after arriving, raped a 12-year-old girl. Abramov threatened to sever the victim’s head and play soccer with it if she told anyone about the abuse. The trial evidence showed that in November 2009, Abramov again traveled to Russia and engaged in further sexual abuse of minor girls.

Additionally, evidence presented during the trial demonstrated that in March 2010, believing that local schoolgirls had contacted the police, Abramov and two accomplices cornered three minor girls. Abramov threatened all three while wielding a knife and each man raped one of the girls. The evidence showed that, after threatening the girls’ lives, Abramov continued to rape at least two of them during that trip and on subsequent trips to Russia.

HSI received substantial assistance with this case from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the Moscow City Police. The prosecution was handled by Maureen C. Cain and Ravi Sinha, trial attorneys for the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance.

This case was a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.

Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.