Sites that compile images of naked children and charge members to access them -– otherwise known as "child erotica" sites -– are a booming business. Type "boys cash" or "lolitas cash" into a search engine and you'll tap into a long list of child erotica sites looking for webmasters to carry their banner ads and drive traffic to their homepages.

For every membership obtained through such an ad, the child erotica site typically pays webmasters 60 percent of the membership fee, which starts at $40 a month. More information about how the terms work is available here.

Wired News e-mailed dozens of child erotica sites in an attempt to interview site owners, but only one replied. Rick Wallin operates several sites featuring photographs and movies of naked boys, including OnBoys.com. He selectively answered questions e-mailed from Wired News, yet his unedited comments provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how child erotica sites operate.

Wired News: How old are the models on your site?

Rick Wallin: 11-17 years old.

WN: Where do you find the models?

RW: I do not find them. Photographers do the work. They find homeless and parentless boys on the streets in Russian and Ukrainian cities, buy clothes for them, buy food and pay money. They boys are actually very happy, because this is a very easy job for them for good money. They have no other way to earn money on the streets, but steal. The government doesn't care for them.

WN: How many customers do you have?

RW: Not really as many as you may think ... there are hundreds of sites like mine nowadays and the competition is very strong.

WN: How would you define the site's content?

RW: I would define it as what it is -– boys' nudity. There are no sexual or lewd poses as defined in U.S. laws and it is not child porn.

WN: What's the demographic of your average customer?

RW: Don't really know, I guess they are educated and with a high income. Usually they subscribe to many sites, not just one.

WN: What kind of feedback do you get from customers?

RW: They like what they see ... you can read some feedbacks: "Your site has the most beautiful and artistic photos I've seen when it come to the human figure. There was only a small amount that I wouldn't approve of, but for the most part, I'd give it a very strong 9.9 out of 10. I must say that you have opened my eyes, somewhat, for the simple beauty and purity that we've seemed to have lost due to society's morals and our own fears."

WN: Do you ever get accused of selling child porn?

RW: Absolutely not. Actually there were some negative feedbacks -– some people charged it too softcore. We warn people before they join that our site is not hardcore anyway and they will not find hard-core material on our site.

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