NEWARK, N.J. – A Ukrainian man who founded and operated an international child sexual abuse website has been sentenced in New Jersey to 30 years in prison.
The sentencing in federal court Tuesday was part of a plea agreement between prosecutors and Maksym Shynkarenko (max-SEEM' shank-ah-RANK'-oh). Authorities have called him the most significant distributor of child porn ever prosecuted in the U.S.
He was charged in June 2012 with operating a network of websites and faced a 32-count indictment. He pleaded guilty to operating a child-exploitation enterprise in connection with the website, which he ran from 2005 to 2008.
Prosecutors say the ongoing investigation into Shynkarenko's website has led to convictions in 47 states of more than 600 U.S.-based customers, including 30 men convicted in New Jersey.
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