On July 7, 2021, Arlan Wesley Harrell, 27, of Hawthorne, California, pled guilty to engaging a child exploitation enterprise; obtaining custody of a minor for purposes of producing child pornography; production of child pornography; and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to life in prison on February 18th, 2022.
Harrell created child sexual abuse material (CSAM) with 20 victims, whose ages ranged from infancy to nine years of age. He had distributed and advertised CSAM on an online bulletin board dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children under the age of five.
Harrell was an active member of that website, along with co-defendants. The site was hosted on Tor, a computer network on the dark web that is specifically designed to facilitate anonymous communication over the internet. Co-defendants have also pled guilty. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs "California Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Creating Child Sexual Abuse Material of A Number of Young Children and Engaging in a Child Exploitation Enterprise" https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-sentenced-life-prison-creating-child-sexual-abuse-material-number-young (Feb. 18, 2022).