Benjamin Levin Keeps Interesting Company: The Azov Films Story

Professor Benjamin Levin, OISE

Background

Azov Films was based in Toronto, Canada, and specialized in selling naturist visual material mostly featuring boys participating in nudist gym and camp sports. The films were apparently produced in Eastern Europe. The legality of the material differed from country to country, but was widely believed to be well established in the USA and Canada.

However, the company's website (www.azovfilms.com) closed on or about May 1, 2011, as a result of an international police operation dubbed Project Spade or Operation Spade according to US and Canadian authorities. These authorities have obtained business records from Azov Films including customer e-mail and postal mail addresses and transaction receipts with customer credit card information.

Starting in 2012, some customers of Azov Films have been arrested and charged with receipt and possession of child pornography: some of the nude visual material has been construed as illegal by Law Enforcement Officers ("LEO's"), including agents of the United States Postal Inspection Service. US Postal Inspector Jeff Adkins, in an Affidavit dated 10/25/2012, states that 160 movies out of the approximately 600 available on the Company website have been "categorized as containing child pornography." [1] However, no list of those 160 titles has been made available to the public.

A list of all the English titles of the Azov Films known to date appears on the French Boywiki. [2]

For further information visit the USA page, Azov Films Prosecutions.

Canadian Defendants

Brian Way, 42, OWNER of azovfilms.com [3]

(The following may be an incomplete list. All of these individuals should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Azov Films is not yet explicitly cited in the official documentation of some of these cases, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that the alleged pornographic material was their product.)

• Edward Rutherford (long-time sponsor of junior sports) of North Bay, Ontario
  • PLEADED GUILTY on June 5, 2012 [4]

• Bruce Edward Karlenzig (employed by an "educational organization") of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • PLEADED GUILTY, Sentenced to one year [5]

• Brian David Jobb (Retired Teacher and Principal) of Lilydale, Nova Scotia
  • PLEADED GUILTY to Non-AZOV PORN - Sentenced to 60 days [6]

• Paul Harvey Perham, 43, of Clarke's Beach, Newfoundland - [7]
  • CASE DISMISSED! (Charges Dropped) [8] - Defense Attorney Bob Buckingham [9]

• Bernard White , 68, of St. John's, Newfoundland - [10]
  • PLEADS NOT GUILTY, Trial set for July 24 - 25, 2014 [11] - Defense Attorney Rosellen Sullivan [12]

• Terence Hennessy of Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario - Sentenced to 3 months [13]

• Brandon Donnelly of Aurora, Ontario - (AZOV employee) - PLEADS GUILTY [14]
  • Crown wants 7-year sentence [15]
    • Sentenced to 21-months home confinement [16] [17]

• Anthony Ryckman of London, Ontario - PLEADS GUILTY, Sentenced to 23 months [18]

• Edward Jewell of London, Ontario - "Charges Stayed" [19]

• David Rock of London, Ontario - [20]

• William Allard of London, Ontario - [21]

• James Robert Coulter, 43, of Toronto, Ontario [22]

• Michel Mondor, 65, of Toronto, ON [23]

• Professor Benjamin Levin, 61, of Toronto, ON [24] [25]
  • Defense Attorney Clayton Ruby [26]

• Professor Andrew Liu, 66, of Edmonton, Alberta [27]

• Jonathon Robert Gerbrandt, 34, of Calgary, Alberta [28]

• Kevin Michael Owad, 39, of Calgary, Alberta [29]

• Paul Anton Sop, 42, a software entrepreneur, of Kitchener, ON [30]
  • Defense Attorney Boris Bytensky [31]

    PLEADS GUILTY, Sentenced to 60 days on weekends, the court excluded some evidence [32] [33]

• John Mark Bradley, 37, of Toronto, ON [34]
  • Sentence: 4 months jail, 2 years probation

• Louis Brunelle, 54, of Toronto, ON [35]
  • Sentence: 15 months jail, 1 year probation

• Derek Andrew Fellows, 42, of Toronto, ON [36]
  • Sentence: 272 days jail, 2 years probation

• Ian Keith Murray, 69, of Toronto, ON [37]
  • Sentence: 161 days jail, 3 years probation

• Eric Charron, 36, of Ottawa, ON [38]
  • Sentence: 90 days jail on weekends

• George Heinz Kraus, 69, ex-teacher, of White Rock, BC - Sentenced to 90 days [39]

• Pierre Laplante, 50, high school worker, of Trois-Rivières, Québec - Sentenced to 17 months partly on tangential non-AZOV charges [40][41]

Updates

• State-rape - mortification of non-harming deviants - Kristofor argues Azov defendants have been "state-raped" - 27 Sept 2012 [42]

• Azov Films Legal Advice --- BoyChat posts [43] [44] [45] --- An anonymous BoyChat poster discusses the advice he received from three attorneys. This is for informational purposes only and should NOT replace a personal consultation with your own attorney!

• Exploring Truths Behind Recent Azov Films Arrests --- BoyChat post dated December 7, 2012 [46]

• Spading Up Hate: Joanna Beaven-Desjardins’ Big Lie --- by Bernie Najarian 13 Dec 2013 - A look at Operation Spade [47]

• Pedophobe of the Year: Paul Krawczyk, Toronto Police --- by Bernie Najarian 1 Jan 2014 [48]

• Press Hostility to Azov Accuracy --- Another winning article by Bernie Najarian dated 14 Feb 2014 [49]

• Mick Moran of Interpol and Pro-active Pedo Policing --- by Bernie Najarian dated 24 Feb 2014 [50]

Source:

BoyWiki: Azov Films Prosecutions - Canada