Man fined 45 dollars for selling porn in Orthodox gift shop

A particularly daring entrepreneur in the town of Borisoglebsk (about 380 miles south of Moscow) is in trouble with local police, after being reported for selling pornographic magazines and videos from an Orthodox gift shop near a church.

According to Kirill Mekhelkin, a senior aide to the local district attorney, the businessman runs a small kiosk near an Orthodox church, and often complains that the venue brings him little profit. To make more money, he recently decided to start offering pornographic items for sale, in addition to the crosses and icons he's always made available. As it turns out, only specially licensed stores can sell pornography in Russia.

The church's priest was simply ignored when he tried to convince the man to stop selling the erotic goods. It wasn't until police raided the kiosk and fined the owner 3,000 rubles (about $45) that he finally pulled the pornography from the shelves. According to Moe-online.ru, officials raided several other businesses in the area, as well, discovering another five offenders.