Government release

# Florida Man Convicted of Engaging in Child Exploitation Enterprise

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, September 16, 2016. The 16 September 2016 jury conviction of Steven W. Chase, 57, of Naples, Florida — the creator and primary administrator of the Playpen Tor hidden service — on one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, one count of advertising child pornography, three counts of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography; Chase was arrested following a court-authorised search of his home on 19 February 2015..

**Source type:** Government release

**Published:** September 16, 2016

**Research grade:** P1

**Used in entries:** 3

## Bibliographic record

**Publisher:** U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs

**Published:** September 16, 2016

**Source type:** Government release

**Research grade:** Source grade P1

**Language:** English

**Official record:** Official publication

**Address:** [https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/florida-man-convicted-engaging-child-exploitation-enterprise](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/florida-man-convicted-engaging-child-exploitation-enterprise)

**What it supports:** The 16 September 2016 jury conviction of Steven W. Chase, 57, of Naples, Florida — the creator and primary administrator of the Playpen Tor hidden service — on one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, one count of advertising child pornography, three counts of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography; Chase was arrested following a court-authorised search of his home on 19 February 2015.

**Dataset id:** src\_usdoj\_chase\_convicted\_2016

## Research notes

- Retrieved via the justice.gov press-releases JSON API; release date 2016-09-16, prosecuted in the Western District of North Carolina.

How this source is used

Cited 3 times across 1 record type.

The role on each citation records what the source was relied on for. A primary source establishes the fact, a supporting source corroborates it, technical evidence describes the infrastructure, and a later outcome records what happened afterwards.

Sources were reviewed to a research cutoff of August 23, 2026. Addresses recorded after that date are not reflected here.

## Cited by

### Legal actions against people

3 citations

Cited for a recorded legal action against a named person.

-
[Steven W. Chase](https://takedownindex.org/people/steven-w-chase)

Convicted, Operation Pacifier / Playpen

Later outcome
-
[David Lynn Browning](https://takedownindex.org/people/david-lynn-browning)

Pleaded guilty, Operation Pacifier / Playpen

Later outcome
-
[Michael Fluckiger](https://takedownindex.org/people/michael-fluckiger)

Pleaded guilty, Operation Pacifier / Playpen

Later outcome

[All sources](https://takedownindex.org/sources)