Miss Russia pleads guilty in porn scandal

Miss Russia 2009, 18-year-old Sophia Rudyeva, recently accused of posing nude for adult magazines, has publicly responded to the accusations. In a statement she admitted participating in an erotic photo session at the age of 15, but said she had been too young to stand up to her unscrupulous manager.

In her lengthy statement published Friday by the popular Russian daily Moskovsky Komsomolets, Miss Russia said she wants people to know the whole truth about the pornographic photo session that appeared in the media soon after she was crowned Russia’s top beauty.

“This was my first ever photo session, I was 15. Like many other girls, I dreamed of becoming a model and when a modeling agency offered me a job posing for a lingerie advertisement, I agreed. When I saw what I had to put on for the session, I was horrified and wanted to cancel it,” the statement said.

Sophia went on to tell how the agency’s manager bullied her into the shooting by saying she would have to pay a fine if she refused.

“And then she said they were not going to let me out anyway. This is not porn, she said, you’ll forget about it tomorrow.”

Rudyeva said she doesn’t know how many more girls were deceived like her. She said her parents had known nothing about the session and warned parents of aspiring models to watch over their daughters.

“If I had had my nude pictures taken now, as an adult, the criticism that I’ve received would be justified. But for the silly teenager that I was, this photo shooting seemed like the great start of a great career. I was shown Pirelli calendars and told that all models posed naked, besides, I was given champagne. I hope my unfortunate case will be a good warning to all parents and they will look after their children better.”

In her statement, Sophia also apologized to everyone who was offended by her nude photos, and thanked everyone who supported her during the scandal, including the Miss Russia Contest organizers. She said she was determined to help young models avoid repeating her mistakes.

“I want to establish a foundation to support underage models. I know that many beautiful Russian girls face the same problems as I did, and I want to help them. Children should never suffer. You know, nobody could help me when all this happened.”

Finally, Miss Russia 2009 addressed all websites that posted her nude pictures, saying that they should be ashamed for showing erotic photos of a minor, and remove them.