Allegedly Made Available More Than One Million Images of
Child Pornography
Greenbelt, Maryland – Irish authorities extradited Eric Eoin
Marques, age 33, to the United States to face federal charges that he allegedly
conspired to advertise and distribute child pornography on the dark web. Marques, a dual national citizen of the
United States and Ireland, arrived in the United States on March 23, 2019, and
had his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J.
Sullivan in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.
An amended criminal complaint was filed on August 8, 2013, and unsealed
today at Marques’ initial appearance. At
that hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sullivan ordered that Marques be detained
pending a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday, March 27, 2019, at 11:30
a.m. in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.
The extradition and federal charges were announced by United
States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Assistant Attorney
General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and
Assistant Director Robert Johnson of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative
Division..
“Criminals cannot hide on the dark web or in foreign
countries,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur.
“We will find them and bring them to justice. We are grateful to Irish authorities for
their assistance to bring Eric Marques to the United States to face these
charges.”
“Child exploitation sites on the dark web present a grave
danger to children and unprecedented challenges to the world’s law enforcement
agencies,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “The complaint unsealed today demonstrates
the Department’s commitment to pursuing those accused of serious child
pornography offenses wherever they may hide on the web and in the world, and to
seeking justice for the countless children that are victimized by those who
facilitate this horrendous conduct.”
“Today’s extradition of Eric Marques demonstrates that no
matter where you are in the world, the FBI and its international law
enforcement partners will be diligent in their efforts to hold you accountable
for your criminal activity,” said FBI Assistant Director Johnson. “The FBI will
never stop working to ensure justice is served for the vulnerable child victims
who are unable stand up for themselves.”
According to the amended criminal complaint, between July
24, 2008 and July 29, 2013, Marques conspired to advertise and to distribute
child pornography, and aided and abetted the advertising and distribution of
child pornography, by allegedly operating a free, anonymous web hosting service
(AHS) 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
AHS allegedly hosted websites 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 amended criminal complaint, as of July 12,
2013, one site hosted on the AHS reported that there were almost 1.4 million
files that were uploaded and accessible by individuals who visit the hidden
service. During 2012 and 2013, FBI agents and employees using computers in
Maryland downloaded more than one million files from that website. As part of the investigation, those files
were reviewed and nearly all of the files depict children who are engaging in
sexually explicit conduct with adults or other children, posed nude and/or in
such a manner as to expose their genitals, in various states of undress, or
depict child erotica. A substantial
majority of the images downloaded by the FBI depict prepubescent minor children
who are fully or partially nude or engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The complaint alleges that during the time of the
conspiracy, the IP address associated with the AHS was assigned to a computer
server associated with and exclusively used by Marques.
If convicted, Marques faces a mandatory minimum sentence of
15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 in prison for conspiracy to advertise
child pornography and for aiding and abetting the advertising of child
pornography; and a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of
20 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute child pornography and for
aiding and abetting the distribution of child pornography.
A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal complaint
is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal
proceedings.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a
nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to
combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices
and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project
Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate,
apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to
identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood,
please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For
more information about Internet safety education, please visit
www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of
the page.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur and Assistant Attorney
General Brian A. Benczkowski commended the FBI Violent Crimes Against Children
Section and Legal Attaché London, Irish law enforcement authorities, An Garda
Síochána and EUROPOL. The Department of
Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in
bringing Marques to the United States and procuring foreign evidence during the
investigation.
Mr. Hur and Mr. Benczkowski thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Kristi N. O’Malley and Thomas M. Sullivan, and Deputy Chief Keith A. Becker and
Trial Attorney Ralph Paradiso of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, who are prosecuting the federal case.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment