Beauty Queens Arrested in a Sting Operation for Attempting to Sell 18-Year-Old Girl as Sex Slave

A former Miss Russia 2017 finalist and a finalist for Top Russia International 2018 were arrested in what has been described as “dramatic fashion” during a sting operation. They were attempting to sell an 18-year-old student into sexual slavery in the middle east. The girl, who has not been named, was lured under the pretense of work as a nanny by 22-year-old Ksenia Starikova, the 2017 finalist, who herself has a 14-month-old daughter. Though Starikova was said to be the mastermind behind attempting to sell the student, Tatiana Petrova, the 19-year-old finalist for Top Russia International 2018, was also complicit. The women were caught and arrested at the airport after Starikova received her payment for the student, which came to 1.5 million rubles or $26,275.

The Student. The 18-year-old student targeted by the two beauty queens intended to be an interpreter after she graduated. Originally from Serpukhov, which is located approximately 60 miles south of Moscow, she is fluent in both English and German. The two beauty queens made contact with the buyer over social media.

Job Offer. When they contacted the student over social media, it was under the guise of offering a job as a nanny. The name of the country she would have been working in is unnamed, but the women convinced her the job was real. The leader of this particular crime, Starikova, has a daughter herself which likely gave credibility to the claims she made to the student about the nanny position.

The Truth. Both women were fully aware of what was going to happen to the student. Tatiana Petrova, Starikova’s accomplice, is only one year older than the student they were attempting to sell into sexual slavery. Starikova is 22-years-old and Petrova is 19-years-old. Luckily, the buyer they were working with was actually the police working in a staged operation to stop these types of crimes.

The Airport. The airport was the scene where the sting operation came to a dramatic head. The women were arrested once Starikova received payment for the student. Both the student and Petrova were prepared to go on the plane, though their final destination was not disclosed, they were initially flying out to Turkey. The police arrested the women and their arrest was caught on video.

The Video. The video shows the two beauty queens and models trying to hide their faces as they are being taken into custody. Though it is not mentioned if she began to cooperate with police immediately, Petrova did agree to explain the plan to the authorities. Starikova, on the other hand, decided to keep quiet, but was also identified as the ruthless mastermind behind the entire plot.

Charges. Both Starikova and Petrova are facing up to six years in prison if they are convicted. They are both being charged with human trafficking. Currently, Petrova is assisting the police by explaining what their trafficking plan was. She is currently placed under house arrest according to law enforcement.

Starikova. There is a lot of concern about the operations of Starikova. She apparently runs a modeling agency and also works as a gymnastics coach, using her sports degree in rhythmic gymnastics. She was once married to a man in the military but is now divorced. Her 14-month-old daughter is currently being cared for by Starikova’s parents. Starikova is being held at a detention center while all the details are being collected.

The Buyer. The two women found a buyer for the student they promised a nanny position to on social media. They apparently haggled with the man for several weeks before they could agree on the deal. The plans for where to fly out from and to were made. Petrova was supposed to escort the student on the plane.

The Plot. The plan was to take the student to the Domodedovo airport in Moscow. She would board the plane with Petrova and they would fly to Turkey. There are no details on whether this was the final intended location. Once Starikova received her payment of 1.5 million roubles (£19,000/ $26,275) the authorities moved in and arrested both women.

Consistent Deception. The number of women who are deceived in the same way that this student was is alarming. Authorities have been expressing concern over this for years and these types of sting operations have been helping to reduce the frequency of these crimes but have not eliminated it. Sex slavery typically involves several steps, making certain that it is nearly impossible for the enslaved women to get free.

Complicit. Though their motivations outside of money were unclear, it was obviously a shock to a lot of people that women so close in age to the victim were willing to sell her. Comments range from the expected shock and horror to the men who want the women given light sentences for being beautiful. It is unlikely that the latter will be the case, though the maximum number of years they are looking at if convicted is very low.

Comments. In the comment section of the article on the Daily Mail website, a commenter named bedforshirelad from Bedford in the UK said: “Trafficking women from the eastern bloc is no new thing. Being going on for many, many years... problem is these women so desperate for money they do not check if job offers are genuine and take face value instead... some succumb to their fates. Russians have no value to their own citizen's life. They'd sell you their organs if it means a good life... wake up Russia.”

Worldwide Concerns. Another comment on the same page, from StarPower, said “THE most common con affecting young women in the former East Block. Must be very lucrative too as even beauty queens want in on the action.” Stevie_SFV from LA, CA posted “The nanny-scam and human trafficking is world-wide and exploding with crypto-currency. Choose another occupation.”

Scary. Commenter Scot Free from Canada posted: The National Crime Agency (NCA) has blamed EU / EEA Open Borders and Freedom of movement without Security checks for a rise in human trafficking and modern slavery in Britain. Will Kerr, an NCA director, said the ability of EU citizens to move freely around the continent was "definitely a factor" in the number of slavery gangs operating in every large town and city. He said: "Where you can move more freely there will be gangs who will look to get involved in that process". Kerr sadly confirmed that the issue was now a nationwide epidemic, saying: "The full scale and extent of it, we don’t know. But what we have found is that in every medium to a large town and every city in the UK, we have found evidence of vulnerable people being exploited. We can't put a figure on it, but we can say there are tens of thousands of victims across the UK."

The Internet. Commenter unruhe from the UK posted: “What the article does not say is that this is quite common in the middle east in the Gulf region and Saudi Arabia in particular. Slavery sexual and otherwise still exists there. Money seems to make it OK to want a price tag on humans too. Remember the Libyan slavery of African refugees revealed by CN N in November 2017? Trust no-one. This world is f'd up and don't think just because she is a woman she will have moral scruples.”