Russian Fetish Site Owner Testifies in "Cannibal Cop" Case

Says it's a place to discuss forbidden fantasies

Jurors in the New York 'cannibal cop' trial—exposed for a week to graphic images and vivid testimony of sexual brutality against women—got a brief dose of comic relief in the form of a colorful Russian Web entrepreneur.

Lawyers for New York Police Officer Gilberto Valle began their defense on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan with testimony from the creator of DarkFetishNet.com, who repeatedly compared his violent, sexual, fantasy role-play website to Facebook.

"It's a social media network very similar to Facebook," Sergay Merenkov, 34, said in describing how the site works.