Man with socialisation difficulties or a cold-blooded criminal?

The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the extradition of Eric Eoin Marques to the US this week ended a five- and-a-half year battle by the Dubliner to be allowed to face justice at home.

Man with socialisation difficulties or a cold-blooded criminal?

The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the extradition of Eric Eoin Marques to the US this week ended a five- and-a-half year battle by the Dubliner to be allowed to face justice at home. But while those five and a half years have opened up many nooks and crannies in the country’s extradition laws and procedures to scrutiny, the protracted process has shed little light on the man at the centre of the saga.

Marques, now aged 33, is facing charges in the US of involvement in a massive international network of buyers, sellers and distributors of child pornography. The allegation is that he provided the online technology — the web hosting space — for websites offering the most vile child abuse imagery, enabling them to operate under the radar in the unregulated darknet and making him, as the court heard, “the largest facilitator of child porn on the planet”.

His mastery of web technology — self taught — is not in doubt, but conflicting versions of his character and motivations remain. He might be a young man with socialisation difficulties and a late diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome who has spent half his life at a remove from the real world, gradually getting sucked into a criminal enterprise via the one thing he excelled at. Or he may be a greedy, cold-blooded criminal, cruelly indifferent to the appalling suffering and sick perversions his skills and expertise supported.

Eric Eoin Marques
Eric Eoin Marques

This newspaper examined some of his online footprint in 2017, and found traces of a man who regularly exchanged news and views with other technology anoraks in online chatrooms and forums but who seemed oblivious to or apathetic about the nature of the activity he was facilitating.

“It was just something to do for fun. I did not expect to make any money from it,” he enthused in one exchange, recounting how he set up his web-hosting business.

“I learned a lot by offering free hosting before I started doing paid. Now it’s running for 3 years and making more money then [sic] I could have ever imagined possible. A complete success.”

But he was so caught up in his own success that he casually dismissed warnings from other users that he was straying into dangerous territory. During one online exchange in 2012, he griped about the fact that his

German internet service provider, Hetzner, had disconnected one of his servers over what he called a “fake child porn complaint”.

He moaned that he got less than an hour’s notice that he was to be cut off and when he contacted the company, the person dealing with the matter had gone home and would not be available until the following day.

The site in question contains no child porn. It is a site with Japanese cartoons, and has been on the server since 2006,” he added as a by the way. But others in the chatroom quickly saw a red flag.

“You do realise that in many countries even imagery (real or not) depicting underage sex can be cause for legal recourse?” wrote one. “Your page has countless things written on it that could get you in trouble here in the USA,” the correspondent continued. “You need to talk to a lawyer or something to make sure what you’re doing is legal.”

Marques replied with a virtual shrug. “It’s not actually my site. It’s a free hosting customer,” he replied. “Before the complaint today, I did not even know this site existed. There are 30k+ accounts on that one server alone. I do not live in the US and the server is in Germany.”

Other forum members stressed the seriousness of the issue. One even referenced the relevant section of German law under which Hetzner had to act or else face “hell on earth with German law enforcement”.

Marques just went on complaining that he’d been put out but his online pen pals continued to try to focus his attention. One noted that Marques had advertised his company as US-based.

“If certain federal agencies here in the US were to be tipped off about this, you’d have some knocks on your door and be in some serious trouble,” he wrote. “I would strongly suggest finding a way to audit these 30,000 free accounts you have hosted before you end up finding yourself in jail over kiddie porn.”

Marques remained unconcerned. “I think the feds have better things to do then [sic] go after cartoons,” he replied, and signed off with a smiley face emoji.

The following year, in August 2013, Marques was arrested by gardaí in Dublin on foot of an FBI extradition warrant. It turned out the feds, busy as they were, considered nabbing him a very good use of their time.

When he first appeared in court here under an application to approve his extradition, special agent Brooke Donahue of the FBI did not mince his words, telling the judge that Marques was wanted on charges in the US because he was “the largest facilitator of child porn on the planet”.

His evidence was that Marques provided the technology for advertising and distribution by a global network made up of more than a hundred horrific websites containing millions of pornographic images. The material uncovered by the FBI included websites depicting extreme violence against children, including rape and torture. Some of the victims were babies. Marques was facing up to 30 years in prison on each of four charges. In aggravating circumstances, those same charges can warrant life imprisonment.

The case was adjourned to hear submissions from the Irish authorities — extradition is never granted lightly — but Marques was refused bail and he has been in custody ever since. Marques was born to an Irish mother and Portuguese father who later split up. Marques was living in his father’s apartment in Mountjoy Square in Dublin when he was arrested, and it was there that the computer containing the majority of the evidence against him was found.

Detectives found evidence that he had earned €1.15m between 2007 and 2013, taking in €250,000 in the year before his arrest. He had routed money through Romania, had a US bank account and mailbox facility, and had researched US passport templates and security features but had also sought information on visa requirements for Russia — which has no extradition agreement with the US. It looked like he had been preparing to run.

After a few months in custody, Marques’ lawyers delivered a surprise — their client was willing to plead guilty if he could be tried in Ireland where charges similar to those preferred by the FBI carry a maximum 14-year prison sentence. But the Director of Public Prosecutions refused to prosecute and the next five years were taken up by a succession of applications, judicial reviews, and appeals in three layers of courts, as Marques’ lawyers sought to get explanations both from the DPP and the minister for justice.

Over the course of numerous hearings, a few details would emerge about Marques’ life. He had been referred to a psychiatrist as a young teenager but no specific diagnosis resulted. It was only when assessed in prison that his Asperger’s syndrome was discovered. He spent his time largely indoors on a Playstation or the web, emerging mainly to eat his meals in McDonalds and for regular appointments with escorts.

He claimed to have a girlfriend in Romania but her existence was not proven and it was not clear what he had done with the money he made. Ultimately, his legal team got little by way of explanation about the other under-the-radar world affecting his case — the secret workings of the DPP’s office.

But what they did get on Wednesday was a final decision from the Supreme Court that the extradition request and approval were in order and Marques was to be handed over to the US authorities. Five and a half years on, his battle with the law is only beginning.

more courts articles

Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother
Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van
Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman

More in this section

Irish homelessness Government criticised for missing social and affordable housing targets
National Risk Assessment for Ireland Tánaiste urges Israel ‘to show humanity’ and allow more aid into Gaza
Lego set based on RNLI lifeboat could soon become a reality Lego set based on RNLI lifeboat could soon become a reality
War_map
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited