Siberian Mouse
Russia
Persons involved
 | Sergei Kropochkin
founder, criminal, convicted |
 | Maria Babko
victim, model |
 | Veronica Babko
victim, model |
 | Irina Nikolaizen
victim, model |
 | Oksana Nikolaizen
victim, model |
Masha Babko and Ira Nikolaizen posing in studio Siberian MouseSergey Kropochkin tried to find girls from disadvantaged families, promised to make models out of the little ones, but in reality he photographed them and filmed explicit videos. He published the footage on the Internet in special catalogs, the most explicit videos went abroad for money: to Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland. The site was simply called: "Siberian Mice", and this name later stuck to everyone who visited the studio. Over 15 years, the pedophile had many victims.
Officially, investigators counted 211 criminal cases, but the "mice" themselves assume that there were many more, and cite the figure of 500. However, his studio is also known in Russia - the names of the "heroines" of his "films" are still mentioned on pervert forums, and some users seriously regret that Kropochkin was imprisoned.
"Mouse Squad": 18 and younger
He found schoolgirls through acquaintances, introducing himself as a photographer for a modeling agency. And then people spread this information among themselves. The children themselves brought their girlfriends. Kropochkin paid children and teenagers with money, he paid differently - the price depended on how cute the child was and what he was willing to do. The ages of the "models" were different - from first-graders to adults. Yes, the "director" did not disdain adult girls either. But that's a different story, these models literally fought for a place in front of the lens. If one of the girls from the "mouse squad" began to be in high demand or liked by Kropochkin, she could easily be beaten. Did the adult models know that very children came to Kropochkin and also exposed themselves in front of the camera? They knew! And no one was embarrassed by this.
According to the investigation, Kropochkin filmed child pornography and periodically raped schoolgirls from 2001 to 2003, and also from 2010 to the end of 2011. The investigation was unable to find evidence that he did the same thing during the 7-year period. In some scenes, Kropochkin himself filmed - the girls, the prosecutor believes, due to their age did not fully understand what was happening to them, and obediently followed the commands of "Uncle Seryozha". Two girls who filmed in his studio back in 2001 were only 10 years old.
Sergei Kropochkin during court hearingsPavel Sadovnikov, an employee of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, who led the joint operation with Interpol to arrest Kropochkin in November 2011, recalled: he was arrested at 6 o'clock in the evening, when the photographer was leaving the studio in the Oktyabrsky district. The operatives knew that he had a laptop with him, where he stored the footage. "He didn't shoot anything at home, he equipped a rented apartment as a studio, and in the summer he also did this in a rented garage," Pavel Sadovnikov said. The criminal sometimes changed apartments - for conspiracy.
During the search of the detainee's apartment, computers, disks, flash drives with a large number of photographs and videos were seized. All of the seized items were attached to the criminal case. The suspect rented apartments in different areas of the city, never stayed anywhere for long, and constantly changed his place of residence. There he equipped professional studios for porn filming.
On Tuesday, November 15, 2011, investigators opened a criminal case. On Thursday, November 17, the suspect was arrested. A criminal case was opened on two episodes of filming 12- and 14-year-old girls - under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 135 of the Criminal Code (indecent acts against minors).
Irina Nikolaizen. 2020.It turned out that there were no clothes. Now Irina cannot say whether she understood at that moment that she was doing something immoral and unnatural.
- I remember that he gave me money, I bought food mostly, - says Irina. - I brought food home.
Ira's family can hardly be called prosperous - her mother drank, and when she found out what Ira did after school, she did not support her daughter - on the contrary, she began to humiliate her.
- I remember the moment when it became known that he had been caught. It was very scary, like an earthquake. Everything was collapsing, - recalls Irina. - All of us who were filming with him were called from school, questioned. Of course, both the teachers and the students knew everything. There was one girl from the class who also went to him, and she bullied me more than anyone else. She called me names starting with "b"... Well, you understand. The teachers rarely reacted. As if that was how it should be. Psychologists? What are you talking about? The juvenile inspector himself told my friends not to go near me because I was filming in porn. Naturally, after that I had almost no friends left.
At the same time, the already not very strong family began to fall apart - dad died, mom drank even more. Kropochkin was imprisoned, and Irina herself became pregnant at 17. Her mother kicked her out of the house in response.
Masha Babko. 2020.This is the interview she gave to a correspondent of the Moskovsky Komsomolets magazine on March 19, 2019.
- How wide a resonance did your story receive?
— Do you think I became famous only in Novosibirsk? You are wrong, — began the interviewee. — Judging by the number of negative reviews addressed to me, it seems to me that the whole country knows my story. Everything that happened to me should not have received wide publicity, because the criminal case was classified. Nevertheless, my photos and videos appeared on the Internet. So my name thundered throughout Russia.
Why Babko decided to make her story even more public, she explained simply: “I am tired. I am receiving unambiguous offers, I receive obscene comments in the public domain on the Internet. I am tired of hiding and being afraid of my name. I want everyone to know the truth about me, and maybe then people will stop bullying me.”
— Do you remember the events of that time well?
— Of course.
— But you were only 10 years old?
— Such things do not fade from memory.
— How did it all start?
— I was friends with a girl who was 12 years old. One day she suggested that I take a photo for some magazine. True, she stipulated that I should hide everything that was happening from my parents. She asked me not to worry about anything. We went to meet photographer Sergei Kropochkin. The first photo shoot was in clothes. Nothing special. But even then I thought that it was wrong and would most likely end badly.
- Where did it all happen?
- In a rented apartment.
- What did Kropochkin seem like to you?
- He was polite, kind. How can I explain? Just an ordinary, friendly man.
- Did he pay money?
- Yes. He gave me 500 or 1000 rubles for that shoot.
- You didn’t drop out of school?
- No. I continued to go to school, hang out with my friends. My life was practically no different from the life of ordinary children. Except for those moments when I ran to the photographer for a couple of hours.
- And did you run to him often?
— After the first shoot, Kropochkin started calling me on my cell phone almost every day. Of all the girls he filmed, I was the one he contacted most often. We met. Once. Twice. Three times. Little by little, he got closer to me. Over time, he started filming undressing. Soon, he began filming naked.
— Why was he so interested in you?
— According to him, I received the most orders. Why? You should ask those perverts who paid money for the films. Kropochkin explained that I was the most beautiful, and therefore in demand.
— Who were those customers?
— Kropochkin said that people from different countries became customers. They sent him a finished film script, he translated from English or German. He filmed it himself. The fee was transferred to him in some tricky way. As I understand it, the money went to encrypted accounts. Everything was secret.
— How did your parents not notice that you were missing somewhere?
— I grew up in a large family: I have three brothers and a sister. My parents couldn’t pay close attention to everyone. And then, Kropochkin was secretive. For example, I never came home late, I tried to come before dark. The photographer took the girls for only a couple of hours and only during the day. My parents couldn’t suspect anything. I told my mother that I was going for a walk with my friends, and I went to the photographer.
— Kropochkin thought everything out carefully.
— He was a professional in this business, he acted according to a proven scheme.
— How much money did you get for candid shoots?
— For the shoot that became widely popular on the Internet and turned my life into hell, I received 10 thousand rubles. In general, the photographer’s rates were not very high. He was probably deceiving us. But then it seemed to me that he paid a lot. Now I understand that he paid paltry fees, but he himself earned decently from his business.
— What did you spend money on when you were 10?
— On everything I saw. I bought children's magazines, toys, nothing useful.
"I understood that I was doing something bad. But I still went"
— Can you still find videos of you on the Internet?
— You have to try really hard to find them. Strangers constantly ask me to send videos, photos. But I want to note that I only starred in erotic episodes. After Kropochkin's arrest, all the girls were taken for a medical examination, where they were checked for virginity. I was a virgin.
— Apparently, Kropochkin at least that he could get a long sentence for such things?
- It turns out that he understood, if he did not cross the line. But adult girls also starred in his films. Perhaps, in their case, more serious things happened.
- How quickly did you understand that you were doing something forbidden?
- I immediately understood that it was bad, you can’t do such things.
- But you continued to go to the photographer?
- For some time, I broke off our communication, stopped going to him. I’ll tell you more - I began to be afraid of him, ignored his calls. But then he persuaded me, and I came to him again.
- How did he persuade me?
- Kropochkin was a good psychologist, he knew how to approach children. He managed to persuade all the girls. He always worked slowly, calmly, there was no violence or coercion nearby. After filming, he walked us home. Now I don’t understand how this could happen in my life.
- How many years did you go to him?
— Two years, until he was arrested. When I turned 12, it all ended.
— Did he have a family?
— He had a wife and an adult daughter who lived in France. He told us about himself. He was no longer living with his wife at that time.
— How many girls in total passed through his studio?
— As far as I know, there were about 500 victims. He had been doing this for over 10 years.
— Did you find all the girls?
— I think they did.
— Did you continue to communicate with the other girls?
— No, I don’t communicate with anyone.
— Did you meet the victims at the trial?
— I knew some of the girls, but we weren’t close then either. And after Kropochkin’s arrest, we broke off relations altogether.
“They didn’t give the girls a psychologist, they decided we’d cope with our emotions ourselves”
— How did they catch Kropochkin?
— That day we were walking with the girls, went to a children's club where animators held discos, — Babko recalls. — There a friend came up to me and said that Kropochkin had been detained. One of the girls who went to him had a dad who worked in the police. Her parents once found 1,000 rubles on their daughter. It was money from her first shoot. She told her parents everything. That's how Kropochkin was busted.
— How did they find you?
— It was easy. When he was detained, they found a computer and flash drives with photos and videos. During interrogation, he gave our names. I still don't know the details, but the police found all the girls. We all lived in the same city.
— How did the parents react?
— They didn't find out right away. They sent a summons to the police to our house. My mother and I went to the station. They told her everything there. When my parents found out about everything, they felt very bad. My father was silent, my mother cried. They did not understand how this could happen to their daughter and where they were looking. Then the proceedings began: my mother and I were taken for questioning, we went to the places where Kropochkin invited us, where films were shot.
— Did you have a confrontation with him?
— No, I did not.
— Did psychologists work with you?
— No. I only spoke with a female investigator. It seemed to me that she replaced the psychologist. But the girls were not provided with a separate specialist for this case. Maybe they decided that we would cope with emotions and feelings anyway?
— Were you present at the trial?
— I only attended a few sessions where they talked about me. The trial was held behind closed doors, there were no extra people there. When the verdict was announced, we were not invited.
— Did Kropochkin say anything to you at the trial?
— He apologized to our parents and the girls.
— Do you think he sincerely repented?
— I think he did.
— He was sentenced to 14 years. Do you think that's a long term for such a crime?
— I don't know. To me, that's a long term. They could have given him more, but apparently they didn't find any grounds for it. Last year, I received a letter from him. He wrote about his life in prison, apologized. He was interested in my life, and wanted me to send a letter back. Kropochkin is thinking about filing an appeal for parole. He asked all the girls to confirm in writing that there was no violence during the filming, and that no one was forced to do it. He needed to prove that we didn't consider ourselves victims.
— Did you answer him?
— No.
— What happened next?
— Hell began. I turned thirteen, and Kropochkin had already been sent to prison by that time. And at that moment, someone leaked a video and photos of me onto the Internet. All these materials were being distributed at breakneck speed. Soon the whole school knew what I was doing at the age of 10.
— How did your classmates recognize you? You've already grown up.
— I have a recognizable face. It was easy to recognize. My appearance has hardly changed. Moreover, my classmates had been communicating with me since childhood — they recognized me right away. At first, they started whispering behind my back, pointing their fingers. Then — more. Humiliation and insults began. Don't you know how bullying happens? It's the same everywhere. I cried, skipped classes, didn't come to school... At some point, I couldn't stand it anymore and asked my parents to transfer me to another educational institution.
— Did you have friends at school before this moment?
— I had a lot of friends. After this story, they were gone. It was embarrassing not only to be friends with me , but even to stand next to me. And then everyone turned away from me when they found out about the past. It's a herd instinct. A normal phenomenon among teenagers.
— Didn't anyone you knew stand up for you?
— No.
— Did they tell your parents about it?
— Of course. They knew that I was bullied. My father took my documents from the schools where I studied. As a result, I changed five schools. I didn't fit in at any of them.
— Were you bullied at every school?
— At first, no one knew about me at every new school. But the story quickly spread by word of mouth via the Internet. As soon as my classmates found out, they started sending videos to each other, telling tall tales about me. And the bullying resumed with renewed vigor. It happened like this. I came to school one day, caught sidelong glances, laughter behind my back - and immediately realized that everyone already knew. I quickly packed my things and left school.
— How long did the bullying last?
— It's still going on. You've seen what they write to me online...
— Did you finish 11 grades in the end?
— After changing five schools, I decided to go to college: I naively believed that it would be calmer there. But soon the information reached there too. Everyone there reacted completely inadequately, including the teachers. I remember that on the day when someone posted the video in the virtual group of the college, I was called to the principal's office.
Two teachers from my course and the deputy director were present during the conversation. They turned the computer monitor in my direction, showed me the photos that had appeared on the Internet. They interrogated me, demanded to know where this came from. I couldn't hold back my tears. I didn't explain anything. I just said: "Call the prosecutor's office and find out if you need to." The next day I picked up the documents from the college...
— Did the teachers talk to your parents?
— They didn't call my parents, they didn't call the police. They just rubbed my nose in these photos and demanded an explanation.
— Did your parents react to their behavior?
— My father and I came to pick up the documents. I didn't describe the whole situation to him. I just told him that I couldn't study there anymore because of the teachers. I think he understood everything. My father always protected me. And that time he probably wished them something goodbye. I wasn't present during their conversation.
— Did your brothers and sisters justify you?
— Of course. And they protected me. Of course, I didn't have to fight with anyone, but they helped me fight off attacks online.
— How did you cope with all this?
— It was hard. I was terribly worried that I had no friends, I received a lot of threats, and in the end my psyche broke down. It was hard to lose friends over and over again. It was hard for me to understand why people hated me, because I hadn't done anything bad to anyone. And in the end I found one way out - to leave this life. I made three attempts. I was miraculously saved.
- Maybe I should have left Novosibirsk?
- Dad suggested it. I refused. I didn't want to hide. I understood: no matter where I moved, sooner or later my fame would spread. And the persecution would start with renewed vigor in any other city. And why should I run around like a criminal all my life? This is not life. Even in Moscow they recognize me. I recently arrived in the capital. While walking around the city, young people often approached me on the street: "Is your name Masha? Can I take a photo with you?.." I refused. I left silently. My story is mostly known to young people, especially guys my age and a little older.
- Have you thought about changing your last name?
- Now I will change my passport, maybe I will change my last name too.
— How did the video with you get online if the criminal case was heard behind closed doors?
— Nobody knows. There are two versions: either the video was leaked by the police, or the customers themselves posted it. I am more inclined to believe that the customers did it. They didn’t just buy such films for themselves. Then, they probably resold them. When Kropochkin was put in jail, many of them lost their earnings and started making money on old materials. And so it went.
— Have you tried deleting the videos from the Internet?
— It is very difficult to delete from the Internet. In fact, such things should be banned, it is prohibited by law. It is really difficult to find those videos now, but people managed to copy them for themselves and still send them to each other. They say there is some kind of pervert forum where they vigorously discuss me…
— Other girls also took part in Kropochkin’s films — why did people focus on you?
— I have no idea why I became the subject of discussion. Maybe because my photos were the most popular on the Internet? People thought it was funny and hilarious. People started creating memes, decided to laugh at me.
— Did they send you memes too?
— Hundreds of pictures with my image were sent every day. In the comments on social networks, they still write: “How is Uncle Seryozha doing?” — and throw in a meme.
— You don’t answer?
— What can I answer? Proving and explaining anything is useless. These people won’t understand anything anyway. They enjoy digging into someone else’s dirty past. None of them tried to have a dialogue with me.
— And you didn’t try to explain anything to your former friends?
— So no one asked. I didn't justify myself. What's the point? I just cried and left. I was going through everything inside. When I grew up, there were people who knew my real story. They just came up to me and asked. I told them. That's how I made friends. There aren't many of them, but I value them.
- Do you have a boyfriend?
- Yes. He knows too. And he loves the real me. For the first time in 20 years, I trusted someone.
- What are you doing now?
- Until recently, I worked. I quit. I tried many jobs. It didn't work out. I dream of continuing my studies. Because of bullying, I wasn't able to get a normal education. Because of constant bullying, I psychologically couldn't be in the company of my peers. I'm still afraid of large crowds of people. That's why I'm afraid to go to college. If the bullying happens again, I won't be able to cope with myself.
- What happened to the other girls?
— Everyone is alive and well.
— Were they also bullied?
— They faced similar problems, but it was less harsh for them. In any case, they were allowed to live and study in peace. Some of them now have husbands and children.
— Did they tell their story to anyone?
— I don't think so. They tried to forget about it. But they won't let me forget the past.
— When you have children, will you tell them about what happened to you?
— I've thought about it for a long time. I don't want children. I don't think I'll give birth. If something like that happens to my children, I won't be able to help them.
Watch also:
Interview with former models of Siberian mouse
Yest tema. Okhotniki za pedofilami
Siberian Mouse (victim, model)
Masha was filmed in the studio Siberian Mouse from 2009 to 2011.
Older sister of Veronika Babko.
Photos (3)
Video (1)
