Moderator of a Child Abuse Platform Sentenced

A court in the Netherlands imprisoned a man it convicted of distributing child abuse material through the dark web.

According to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, in addition to possessing and distributing child pornography, the 47-year-old defendant distributed animal pornography and acted as one of the moderators of "The Annex," a dark web child pornography platform.
Investigations against the defendant were launched in 2021 after Dutch authorities received information from the FBI. The FBI had reportedly infiltrated the dark web child pornography platform and established that one of the site's users had a Dutch IP address.
The investigators allegedly hacked into the defendant's computer and collected information on his activities on the dark web. The investigators established that he had been active on the child abuse platform for over three years and six months. They also discovered that the defendant was a member of the team that managed the operations of the platform.
The investigators executed a search warrant at his home, seized his electronic devices, and found a massive collection of child and animal pornography. To avoid being caught, the defendant stored the child abuse material in encrypted containers on a virtual machine.
The Rotterdam court found the defendant guilty of participating in a criminal organization and possessing and distributing child and animal pornography in late September 2023.
The Public Prosecution Service asked the court to impose a 6-year prison sentence. The court, however, sentenced him to 5 years in prison on October 4.