An Eagan man who tricked teenage boys into sending him nude photos and videos was sentenced to 38 years in prison Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul.
Anton Alexander Martynenko, 33, pleaded guilty to the production, distribution and advertising of child pornography in January before U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle. In addition to 38 years in prison, Kyle sentenced him to 15 years of supervised release.
“This defendant exploited and extorted over 150 young people in a disturbingly manipulative scheme,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said. “We hope the victims in this case take some solace in the sentence imposed today.”
Kyle shortened Martynenko’s prison sentence from 40 years because he provided authorities with information that aided their investigation into the Jacob Wetterling kidnapping, which Martynenko learned while sharing a jail cell with Wetterling’s murderer Danny Heinrich, according to court documents.
Martynenko posed as a woman on social media to solicit nude photos and videos from his victims, according to prosecutors.
After claiming to work for a modeling agency or saying that he was new in town and looking for friends, Martynenko would suggest that he and his victim exchange nude photos. He would then send pictures of a nude female to solicit a response.
When one of Martynenko’s victims grew suspicious and ended contact with him, the older man continued to press him for additional photos and threatened to share the images he already received online. A year later, the victim discovered that his pictures had been distributed online.