"Child pornography is created by documenting the sexual abuse of children," said US Attorney Robert K Hur of the District of Maryland. "This is an egregious case where one individual facilitated the abuse of more than a million new child victims and attempted to keep the abuse hidden on the dark web. "We must do everything we can to bring individuals like Marques to justice in order to keep our children safe." A dual citizen of Ireland and the US has pleaded guilty in court in Maryland to conspiracy to advertise child pornography.
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| Eric Eoin Marques (33) |
He will be sentenced on 11 May.
Marques was extradited to the US by Irish authorities on 23 March 2019.
According to court documents, between 24 July 2008 and 29 July 2013, Marques operated a free anonymous hosting service located on the "dark web," an area of the Internet that is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable.
The service hosted websites that allowed users to view and share images documenting the sexual abuse of children.
'The largest facilitator of child porn on the plane
The investigation revealed that the hosting service contained over 8.5 million images of child exploitation material and over 1.97 million of these images and/or videos involved victims that were not known by law enforcement.
US authorities say they conducted the investigation with significant assistance from the Legal Attaché London Office, An Garda Síochána and EUROPOL.
ADDITIONAL TEXT:
Eric Eoin Marques, who
is a dual US and Irish citizen, and a Dublin resident, operated an anonymous
web hosting service between July 2008 and July 2013. The service was used to
share millions of images of child sexual abuse. He was extradited to the US by
Irish authorities in March of last year.
In a
statement, the US Department of Justice said Marques was indicted on four
counts, alleging that he conspired to, did advertise and distribute the
material. In a plea agreement, he admitted that he conspired to advertise the
material.
The plea was
made in a Maryland court.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A.
Benczkowski said Marques’ web service “hosted dozens of insidious criminal
communities dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children and spread
millions of images of that abuse”.
His guilty
plea is proof of the deparement’s fierce commitment to rooting out those who
hide behind anonymous networks to commit serious child exploitation offenses.”
The hosting
service was located on the so-called dark web, part of the internet which can
only be accessed by special browsers, which allows users and website operators
to remain anonymous or untraceable. The dark web has grown into a marketplace
for illicit and illegal goods, as well as a repository for abusive material
such as that advertised on Marques’ service.
“The hosting
service hosted website that allowed users to view and share images documenting
the sexual abuse of children, including the abuse of prepubescent minors,
violent sexual abuse and bestiality,” according to the department of justice in
the US. The investigation revealed that the service contained over 8.5 million
images of child exploitation material, almost 2 million of which were not
already known by law enforcement.
Almost all the material depcited
children engaged in sexually explicit conduct with adults or other children, or
posed nude or undressed. A “substantial majority” of images depict prepubescent
minors.
The
investigation into Marques involved several sections of the FBI, including the
violent crime section, the child exploitatoin operational unit and the violent
crimes against children interational task force. “Significant assistance” was
provided from An Garda
Síochána, Europol
and the legal attaché in London, the US Department of Justice said.
ENDS:
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