CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Florida man identified by federal prosecutors as the creator and lead administrator of what's thought to be the world's largest child-pornography website has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The FBI said in a news release Friday that 58-year-old Steven W. Chase of Naples, Florida, was sentenced this week in a federal courtroom in North Carolina. Two codefendants who also were identified as administrators of the website each received 20-year prison terms earlier this year.
According to the FBI, Chase created a website called Playpen in August 2014 on an open internet network where users can communicate anonymously through "hidden service" websites. Chase ran Playpen, which the FBI said had more than 150,000 users around the world.
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