Back in 2014, authorities were given a tip via a foreign law enforcement agency. This tip ultimately led them to a Tor Hidden Service website titled “Playpen” that was providing videos and pictures of child pornography.
After investigations began, authorities gained access to the Playpen server. However, instead of closing the site off and calling it quits, they continued to host it for an additional two weeks. Of course, this spurred the general public into a massive debate on the morals of the situation.
On one hand, the scandal did end in the arrest of over 900 Playpen users. On the other hand . . . the FBI allowed hundreds of pedophiles to download child pornography for an extended period of time. This fact might be why David Tippens, a widely discussed Seattle-based solider caught in the scandal, only received a 6 month sentence.
In the beginning of the legal process, Tippens held three charges: one count of possession of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of transportation of child pornography. After the evidence was suppressed, two of those charges were dropped. This left Tippens with a single charge of possession.
Despite the anger in response to Tippens light sentencing – and even with the government requesting a 4 year sentence – society was still left with the colossal injustice.
When asked why Tippens was given only a 6 month sentence, his defense counsel responded with:
“The Government asked for 48 months in prison but the Court was impressed with Mr. Tippens’ long and distinguished service in the Army, including combat duty in Iraq; his cooperation with the police at the time of his arrest and perfect compliance with pre-trial supervision; and the fact that he had a pornography addiction related to PTSD that would be addressed through continuing counseling.”
Clearly, this sparked just as much anger as the sentence itself did. In the future, authorities might want to consider finding a different way to bust illegal operations.
