A former North Bay man who has already been sentenced to life in prison relating to sexual abuse in a child pornography case in Virginia back in 2017, is facing another 35 years of prison time in connection to his role with a website dedicated to the abuse of children.
Benjamin Faulkner, 28, was sentenced in a Tennessee Court earlier this week along with three other American men in relation to an anonymous website called the Giftbox Exchange.
“The sentences imposed on these despicable individuals should ensure that they never have another opportunity to abuse another child,” said U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee in the Tennessean.
“With all that we have, we will continue to hunt down the evil and abominable like-minded individuals who delight in abusing children and will bring them to justice."
The Giftbox Exchange site was shut down back in November 2016. At the time, it had more than 72,000 registered users and 56,000 posts. The site was categorized by different types of child pornography and included a subsection for "Babies and Toddlers."
Faulkner, who had worked in North Bay as a lifeguard for more than six years, along with American Patrick Falte, 27, who was also involved and charged in this case, pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court in Richmond, Virginia in 2017 to the aggravated sexual abuse of a minor.
See related: North Bay man faces life in prison in the U.S.
Faulkner had experience working as an internet security professional. Through an international investigation, Faulkner and his partner were intercepted online by police while the two were running a dark website called “Child’s Play.”
Faulkner worked as an administrator for the site under the nickname “Warhead.”
According to court documents in 2017, Faulkner made two trips to Virginia in 2015 and 2016 to sexually abuse a child.
