Child porn king and ‘Playpen’ Creator, Steven Chase, jailed 30 Years
Child porn king and ‘Playpen’ Creator, Steven Chase, sentenced to 30 Years in prison this week in a North Carolina court
Chase, 58, of Naples, Florida, Florida convicted for operating the ‘world’s largest child pornography website’
The perverts haven he created had 150,000 users around the world.
Dark Web ‘Hidden Service’ Case Spawned Hundreds of Child Porn Investigations
So far resulted in 350 arrests in the U.S., another 548 arrests internationally
Prosecution of 25 child porn producers
Chase was found guilty in Sept of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, possession, advertisement and transportation of child porn
Co-defendants, Michael Fluckiger, 46, and David Browning, 47, were each jailed 20 years earlier this year
Steven W. Chase, was accused by the FBI of being the creator and lead administrator of a humongous child pornography website, with more than 150,000 users around the world. The 58-year-old child sex purveyor has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Steven Chase, of Naples, Florida, created a website called Playpen in August 2014, the FBI said in a press release, on the Tor network, an open network on the Internet where users can communicate anonymously through “hidden service” websites, where criminal activity is not uncommon.
He allegedly ran the Playpen website, where members uploaded and viewed tens of thousands of postings of young victims, indexed by age, sex, and the type of sexual activity involved.
Playpen co-defendant, Michael Fluckiger from Indiana was convicted of knowingly engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, sexual exploitation of children as well as other child pornography related charges. He was jailed for 20 years
Law enforcement became immediately aware of the site but were unable to respond until Chase mistakenly revealed his website’s unique IP address.
Their investigation eventually led them to this Florida home. Following his arrest in February 2015, a search of the home in Naples turned up thousands of images depicting the sexual abuse of children, Gizmodo reported.
Following his arrest, FBI seized control of the site and allowed it to run for an additional two weeks with the hope of entrapping those visiting Playpen.
The ongoing investigation has so far resulted in the arrest of 350 suspects in the United States and another 548 arrests internationally. The efforts have also prompted the prosecution of 25 child pornography producers, according to the news release.
47-year-old David Browning of Indiana was also jailed 20 years for his part in operating “PlayPen”
Chase in September was found guilty of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, and for the possession, advertisement and transportation of child pornography. He was handed a 30-year prison term this week in North Carolina.
His sentencing follows those of his two co-defendants, 46-year-old Michael Fluckiger and 47-year-old David Browning, who were given 20-year terms earlier this year.
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