Russian woman convicted of disseminating child porn released

MOSCOW (AP) — A provincial Russian court has overturned the verdict for a cleaning lady who was convicted of disseminating child pornography in a social media post decrying abuse.

Yevgenia Chudnovets, who worked in a kindergarten in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, was sentenced to six months in prison last November for posting a three-second video of child abuse in a summer camp. She called for the perpetrators to be punished. Individuals captured in the footage were eventually convicted and sent to prison.

In a rare ruling, the district court in the Kurgan region early Monday overturned the November verdict and ruled to release the woman who has spent three months in prison.

Chudnovets' conviction comes amid a wave of criminal cases against Russians for various social media posts that began last year.