Skip to main content
Back to the takedown index

Operation Pacifier / Playpen

February 2015, Child sexual abuse material
Led by Federal Bureau of Investigation

Extended pass entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026

What was taken down?

Server seized and covertly operated by the FBI for approximately two weeks under a search warrant before permanent shutdown.

See what happened

What happened to the people?

1 convicted named in the public record.
Group accounted for: Likely complete

See people and accountability

Did it stay down?

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

See what happened afterward

FBI seized the Playpen Tor hidden-service server and, under court authorization, continued operating it for a limited period as an investigative technique (a Network Investigative Technique) to identify users, before shutting it down.

Date
February 20 to March 4, 2015
Target
Playpen, csam platform
Activity
Child sexual abuse material
Operational lead
FBI
Jurisdiction
Not established
Outcome
Server seized and covertly operated by the FBI for approximately two weeks under a search warrant before permanent shutdown.
Status
Completed
Legal mechanism
Federal search warrant (E.D. Va.) authorizing an NIT; subsequent criminal prosecutions nationwide.
Group accounted for
Likely complete

Infrastructure

1 server taken over.

1
server taken over
Identifier Recorded as Status Notes
Not published 1 server Taken over, United States Tor hidden-service server seized and covertly operated by FBI under warrant before shutdown.[1]

Domains and onion addresses are shown defanged. Where the record gives a count but no identifier, the count is shown in place of one. This list carries only what appears in the cited sources.

1
convicted

Named in the public record: 1 convicted.

Figures count individuals named in charging documents and official statements, each person once per outcome. People alleged to be involved but not publicly identified are not counted.

Person Role Current public status
Creator and lead administrator of Playpen Convicted
Charging authority
Not established in the public record
Main charges
Engaging in a child-exploitation enterprise
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
Not established in the public record
Arrest location
Not established in the public record
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Convicted
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Steven W. Chase

Steven W. Chase

Creator and lead administrator of Playpen. Current public status: Convicted.

Charging authority
Not established in the public record
Main charges
Engaging in a child-exploitation enterprise
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
Not established in the public record
Arrest location
Not established in the public record
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Convicted
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Steven W. Chase

Rows expand to show charging authority, case identifiers, custody status, and sources.

Group accounted for: Likely complete

Creator/lead administrator and co-administrators were identified and prosecuted; downstream user prosecutions are a separate, much larger population.

FBI later described Playpen as having more than 150,000 users.

See the organizations and roles behind this action

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

Numbered markers throughout this entry link to the source that supports the claim beside them.

Official sources

  1. [1]
    Operation Pacifier / Playpen case history

    FBI / US DOJ, March 4, 2015, Source grade S2

    Establishes the Playpen server seizure, the FBI's covert operation of the site under an NIT warrant, and the resulting prosecutions.

    No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher.

Coverage note.
  • Added from deep-research aggregation pass. Not independently re-verified source-by-source to the same standard as the original 38-incident core; source_quality capped at S2/P2 pending a dedicated verification pass.
  • The FBI's continued covert operation of a seized CSAM site as an investigative technique was legally and ethically controversial and generated substantial subsequent litigation over the scope of the NIT warrant.