Man called largest child porn purveyor gets 27-year sentence

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A man previously described by U.S. authorities as the world’s most prolific purveyor of child pornography has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison. Eric Eoin Marques was arrested in Ireland in 2013. The 36-year-old created and operated computer servers on the dark web that enabled users to anonymously access millions of illicit images and videos, many depicting the rape and torture of infants and toddlers. A revised plea agreement recommended a prison sentence between 21 and 27 years, but the judge wasn’t bound by those terms. Marques pleaded guilty last year to operating a web hosting service called “Freedom Hosting” on the darknet between 2008 and 2013.