Eric Eoin Marquez, the most prolific provider of child abuse images, was sentenced to 27 years in prison in the United States, the Associated Press reports. From 2008 to 2013, Marquez, now 36, created web hosting on the darknet. The Darknet is part of the Internet, but is hosted on an encrypted network and is only accessible through tools that provide anonymity. The servers that Márquez managed allowed users to anonymously access millions of images and videos, including scenes of rape and torture of children and babies. Law enforcement agencies saw many of these images for the first time. An Irish and US citizen, Márquez was living in Ireland at the time of his arrest.
Before the verdict was announced, Márquez apologized to the victims and asked for leniency from the judges: “I ruined my reputation and that of my family. Please give me a second chance. " The judge agreed to recommend that the Federal Bureau of Prisons take into account the eight years that Márquez has spent in custody in Ireland and the United States since his arrest in 2013. The convict will also have to pay compensation in the amount of $ 87,000 to the victims of abuse, whose images he has disseminated.