A 26-year-old North Bay man has been sentenced to life in prison for sexual abuse in a child pornography case in Virginia.
Benjamin Faulkner, who had worked in North Bay as a lifeguard for more than six years, along with American Patrick Falte, 27, pled guilty in U.S. federal court in Richmond, Virginia last week to the aggravated sexual abuse of a minor.
Faulkner had experience working as a professional 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.”
See:: The Dark Web's Largest Pedophile Site Was Secretly Run By The Police For A Year
Faulkner worked as an administrator for the site under the nickname “Warhead.”
According to the Richmond-Times Dispatch, Faulkner made two trips to Virginia in 2015 and 2016 to sexually abuse the child, according to court documents.
See: Three men charged in alleged sexual assault of child
The abuse was filmed during at least two of the trips and uploaded to their website.
On Faulkner's Couchsurfing page he writes his philosophy is "I'd rather live life with no regrets, so whenever an opportunity presents itself, I won't hesitate to jump and make the most of it."
He also says his current mission is to "Explore the world, broaden my horizons."
His Linkedin account states, "Meticulous Information Security Assessment Specialist who undertakes complex assignments, meets tight deadlines and has a passion for penetration testing. Possesses strong programming skills as well as experience building, configuring, integrating, maintaining and supporting mission critical applications in enterprise sized environments. Very technically inclined with a passion for IT security; loves evaluating IT systems/application security utilizing many different techniques and technologies. Operates with a strong sense of urgency and thrives in a fast-paced setting. Currently working towards obtaining Offensive Security's Penetration testing with Kali Linux."
Faulker writes that he worked as a lifeguard at the YMCA between – – and attended Canadore College taking Advanced Diploma, Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications from –
Under the heading "Causes Benjamin cares about: he listed:
- Education
- Human Rights
- Science and Technology
Faulkner and Falte each faced a minimum term of 30 years when sentenced in early September by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr., whose sentence was longer than that even sought by the government.
