A highly sophisticated, global child exploitation enterprise dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children has been dealt a major blow. David Lynn Browning, 47, of Wooton, Kentucky, was sentenced to 240 months in prison for engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, along with a lifetime term of supervised release.
Browning pleaded guilty on Dec. 18, 2015, and has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on July 29, 2015. U.S. District Judge Richard L. Voorhees of the Western District of North Carolina imposed the sentence.
According to admissions made in connection with the plea, Browning acted as the global moderator of a highly-sophisticated global enterprise dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children, organized via a members-only website that operated on the Tor anonymity network, through which he and more than 150,000 other members authored and viewed tens of thousands of postings relating to sexual abuse of children as young as infants and toddlers.
Browning was heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the website – including managing membership, developing and enforcing strict rules and deleting website content that did not depict or discuss child pornography. Browning also admitted to spending hundreds of hours logged in to the website – authoring more than 1,000 postings, and designing the website logo.
On Sept. 16, 2016, a federal jury convicted co-defendant and lead administrator of the site, Steven W. Chase, 57, of Naples, Florida, of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise and related charges. A sentencing date for Chase has not yet been set. On Jan. 12, 2017, co-defendant and co-administrator of the site, Michael Fluckiger, 46, of Portland, Indiana, was sentenced to 240 months in prison for engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, along with lifetime supervised release.
As a result of the ongoing investigation, at least 51 alleged hands-on abusers have been prosecuted and 55 American children who were subjected to sexual abuse have been successfully identified or rescued.
The FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Section, Major Case Coordination Unit and Digital Analysis and Research Center investigated the case with assistance from the FBI’s Charlotte, Louisville, Tampa and Boston, Field Offices. Trial Attorney Reginald E. Jones of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cortney Randall of the Western District of North Carolina prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
Related Federal Cases
- David Lynn Browning, International Child Exploitation Enterprise, K… · North Carolina
- Jeffersonville Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Child Sex Exploitation · New York
- Richard Spencer Flynn, Child Pornography Production, North Carolina · Florida
- Michael Fluckiger, Global Child Exploitation Enterprise, Indiana 2024 · Pennsylvania
- William Gene Koch, Child Pornography, North Carolina 2023 · North Carolina
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Sex Crimes|Child Exploitation
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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