Playpen Member Enters Guilty Plea in New York Court
Kevin Safford, age 33, of Amsterdam, New York, pled guilty today to possessing child pornography and to accessing a child pornography web site available only through an anonymous Internet network.
Department of Justice Announcement
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Janelle M. Miller, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
As part of his plea, Safford admitted that in 2015, he accessed Playpen, an online forum through which registered users advertised, viewed, and distributed child pornography. Images and videos shared through the site were highly categorized according to victim age and gender, and type of sexual activity depicted.
Before the FBI seized the Playpen web site and shut it down, it was available only through an anonymous Internet network, which allowed users to access websites including Playpen without revealing their actual internet protocol address, geographic location, or other identifying information. Safford admitted that he logged into Playpen in order to access its child pornography content. He also admitted to possessing child pornography on an external hard drive.
Safford faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino on October 23, 2018. He also faces a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life, a fine of up to $250,000, and mandatory registration as a sex offender. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
This case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.