0:00

I am going to tell you a story that

0:02

a powerful state doesn't want you to know about

0:04

tens of thousands who have

0:06

disappeared. Once they get into the hands

0:09

of the military, they will be tortured

0:11

brutally. It's a story so

0:13

dangerous to tell that for some it's

0:15

meant ending up on a kill list.

0:17

She was seen as a dangerous political actor

0:19

and a threat to Pakistan security, but she

0:21

was a local hero. The

0:24

Kill List, a six-part

0:26

investigative podcast, available now.

0:28

Get early access to

0:30

episodes at cbc.ca/listen, or

0:32

by subscribing to the CBC

0:34

True Crime Premium channel on Apple

0:37

Podcasts. This

0:40

is a CBC Podcast. The

0:43

following episode contains difficult subject matter.

0:46

Listener discretion is advised. If

0:48

you want to learn more about how to prevent child

0:50

sexual abuse, go to

0:53

cbc.ca/hunting warhead help.

1:02

In the year that I spent reporting for this series,

1:04

I've interviewed an anonymous pedophile in an

1:07

airport hotel. I've interviewed

1:09

victims. And I've spent

1:11

hours and hours speaking to warhead

1:13

himself. Hi. Hello.

1:16

Hi, how are you? Good. Good.

1:19

Sorry. I'm sorry. This is the

1:22

interview I've been most nervous about. It's

1:24

nice to put a face to the woods. Yeah,

1:27

nice to meet you. I don't know where you want to sit. Wherever you

1:29

guys are comfortable. Well, we're trying to

1:32

figure out where we don't have heat

1:34

in Northern Ontario. So this is kind

1:36

of... It's midsummer.

1:39

There's a heat wave in North Bay, Ontario. Come

1:42

on in, pull some chairs into the

1:44

shade. I'm here

1:46

meeting Benjamin Faulkner's Family. Rob

2:00

Bob Vance dad doing

2:03

some fat fence grandmother.

2:07

Their. Life So part One thought it was

2:09

arrested. And then there was

2:12

the V D article Hawkins story your later

2:14

which led to a piece in the local

2:16

newspaper. How can try

2:18

to talk to Caffeine Rob after that they

2:21

were furious with him from bringing their family.

2:23

Tragedy happened to open and home to North

2:25

Bay. They went back and

2:27

forth for a while about speaking with me. And

2:30

the end, Though they decided it was necessary.

2:34

Is a story that's out there that gives

2:37

us one of you have been one day

2:39

of his behavior. Yes you. Know

2:42

aren't close to the then we

2:44

know. So tell me

2:46

about what was he like as a little kid. Movies are

2:49

like his little boy. Always have

2:51

the alleys friendly. never

2:54

ever fought with anybody.

2:57

Well like. A

3:00

wheelbarrow and take him to the garden.

3:02

As I pulled the vegetables are picked

3:04

the vegetables. He'd sit there and eat

3:06

some stirred enough. Eve

3:10

is a gentle personnel loving person.

3:12

Like. Very

3:15

patient, kind, To

3:19

me but his of as high school years.

3:23

Isn't high school. he a lot of

3:25

friends. He wasn't a big party or

3:27

per se. Gaming.

3:31

Halo. Yeah he was the school geek.

3:34

He was the guy that did all

3:36

the computer stuff in the school and

3:38

then there's swimming right? as soon as

3:40

a lifeguard his some instructor. So

3:44

tell me where his involvement of the pool. He's.

3:46

One of those teachers that the kids let.

3:48

Asked for. We used to

3:50

set so at our pool there's a little observation

3:53

that. A. Top rated to sit there

3:55

and want to. See the and when we

3:57

last but I thought as to what. And Keats. And

4:00

what would you like? Patience.

4:02

He was very patient with the kids. They'd

4:04

love him. They'd ask for him as

4:07

their instructor, which was not a

4:10

problem. Everybody'd ask

4:12

for him. I think he's taught almost every kid

4:14

in town. Yeah. Yeah,

4:16

he was just good at it. He was good

4:18

with kids. He liked kids. Came

4:28

back with what you know now. Are

4:31

there signs there that you pick

4:33

up on? Nope.

4:37

Nope. He learned to hide

4:39

that part of his life at a very early age because he

4:41

had to. As he

4:44

was older, the only thing I noticed, he just

4:46

didn't have any girlfriends, which meant I

4:48

know some guys that don't. But

4:51

he had, like he had, he was seeing

4:53

Emily, right? Emily, yeah. Like he was that

4:55

went on for a while. No, he was

4:57

his best friend. And so what did

4:59

you make of that relationship? You

5:02

don't really ask questions of your son's relationships

5:06

because you're not going to tell your mom. We

5:08

tease and vote relationships and you'd say, yeah,

5:11

no, it'll never, never be like that. I

5:15

kind of thought that he was gay. If

5:17

only that were the case, that would have been wonderful. Ben

5:25

told me that after he went to see

5:27

the therapist here who didn't offer him any

5:29

help, that

5:32

he was in a pretty dark place for a while

5:35

and that he was crying and you were aware of

5:37

this and you were asking him what

5:40

was going on. Can you tell me

5:42

about that period? You didn't know. So

5:44

what was it like for you? He

5:48

just, he was crying and hugging

5:50

me in his basement. I

5:52

know. Ben

5:56

is not emotional. So

5:58

for him to cry is huge. And

6:01

he was just crying and hugging me and

6:03

saying you screwed up and it's okay.

6:05

We'll fix this what happened He

6:09

couldn't tell me he wasn't ready to tell me at that time

6:13

I'm sure when he was little he

6:15

would have asked questions And

6:17

I probably would have reacted very badly back

6:19

then When

6:21

he was starting to figure this out, he probably would have asked

6:23

me and I would probably told him that

6:27

person JL throw

6:29

away the keys destroy them. He said

6:31

that you asked him like what is it? What's going on? And

6:33

I think he said I can't

6:35

tell you cuz you'll hate me Yeah,

6:39

yeah so I mean

6:41

there you go I Without

6:45

knowing yet I indicated to him

6:48

How I would react to

6:50

how he would tell me stuff and I know

6:52

I would have reacted badly When

6:57

most of us especially parents think of

6:59

pedophiles We imagine someone who wants

7:01

to harm our kid But

7:03

sitting here with the Faulkner family, I realized

7:06

there's another parental nightmare. I had never

7:08

even considered before What

7:11

if your kid turns out to be

7:13

the pedophile? How

7:15

did how did you find okay Ben's phone

7:18

call But

7:20

he'd been arrested And

7:22

what did he come out and tell you right

7:24

away what the charges were? Yeah

7:27

Yeah, well, we had to try and get a lawyer Figure

7:30

this legal system out not

7:33

something you're versed in until you have to be Can

7:36

you remember how you're feeling or what was

7:38

going through your head when Ben was on

7:40

the line telling you this? Panic

7:43

disbelief they have it wrong. It can't

7:46

be It

7:49

was panic it was a week here in

7:52

utter panic Time

7:54

to figure out how we're gonna save

7:57

our child I

8:06

want to say something. I

8:08

think what I want out of

8:10

this, and why we talk to you, there's

8:13

so many people that don't

8:16

have to follow Ben's path. There's

8:19

so many people that think this way. There

8:22

has to be hope for them. There has to be another

8:24

path. These websites

8:26

might not exist if

8:28

these people didn't have

8:30

to feel like this is what they

8:32

have to resort to. If there

8:35

was options for them, maybe

8:38

less children are abused and there has

8:40

to be something. There has to be

8:43

something. Now or future, but

8:46

that's what I want, is

8:50

things change for these people.

8:53

Are you guys angry at him? How

8:57

can you be angry with him? As

9:00

a parent, they do wrong

9:02

you punish. He's punished.

9:05

I can't punish him anymore. There's

9:08

no anger. He

9:10

screwed up and he's paying with his life. I'd

9:15

like to see him again. I'd like to hug him

9:19

again. Are

9:27

you going to attend Ben's next

9:29

court date? Faulkner

9:35

had already been sentenced to life for

9:37

sexually assaulting the four-year-old girl in Virginia.

9:40

His second and final sentencing was for his role

9:42

on the dark web, running a

9:44

child's play. It was about a

9:46

month away. And how

9:48

are you feeling about that? It's

9:51

going to be hell. It's

9:53

hard. It's a hard process. I

9:56

need to be there for Ben. I'm

10:04

Damon Fairless and this is Hunting Moray.

10:21

Okay, so where are we, what are we doing? We're

10:23

in Nashville, Tennessee. We're outside of the

10:25

hotel where Hulk and Stank. We're

10:28

going to meet up with him and we're going

10:30

to discuss tomorrow is Ben Faulkner's sentencing trial and

10:33

we're all going to go and attend that and see

10:35

what the outcome is. Even

10:40

though Faulkner will already be spending the rest of

10:42

his life in jail, it was still important to

10:45

attend this sentencing hearing, to hear the

10:47

full extent of the charges against him and

10:49

to get an even deeper look into what

10:51

international law enforcement knew about his activities and

10:54

how they knew it. Hi,

11:00

how are you? Come here, come

11:03

here. I haven't seen

11:05

Hulk in in about six months since I first

11:07

visited him in Oslo, but we've

11:09

been in touch, sharing what each of us

11:11

have learned about Ben Faulkner. Have

11:15

you already inhaled their court files for what

11:17

they have been doing? No,

11:19

I've been talking to Ben and he's told

11:21

me that he's prepared like an eight-page pamphlet

11:24

on the rights of pedophiles

11:26

or something. I don't know, he was very cagey about

11:29

telling me about it because he wanted it to be

11:31

a surprise. He's in there

11:33

for the rest of his life, so I guess he

11:35

has to do something to give his life meaning. So

11:39

I think he's going to make some grand statement

11:41

of some sort, sort of the interesting? It

11:43

will definitely be extremely interesting tomorrow to see

11:46

him for the first time. And

11:49

do you know if the Australians are coming?

11:53

Paul Griffiths, the investigator from Australia's task

11:55

force Argos, was at Faulkner's last hearing.

11:57

We're hoping he'll be a dis- one

12:00

as well. What we're sure

12:02

of is that Jen, Faulkner's relative,

12:04

will be there to deliver

12:06

another victim impact statement. I think she'd

12:08

be happy to meet you. I would really like to meet her.

12:10

Yeah. Hi.

12:17

How are you doing? Hello. Nice to see you. Hey, how's

12:19

it going? Hey, Connor. What's going on? Let's go. Hi. Nice

12:21

to meet you. I feel like we should... The

12:24

following day, the morning of Faulkner's

12:26

hearing, how can Jen meet in person for

12:28

the first time? It felt

12:30

so good to finally be able to meet you.

12:32

Yeah. In person. I'm surreal.

12:39

Before that article, we

12:42

basically just had the agents kind of pop

12:44

into our lives, have all

12:48

these invasive interrogations and examinations

12:50

and tests and things, and

12:53

then they took off. And that

12:56

was it. I had no idea

12:58

what he

13:01

had done. I didn't even know about the website.

13:05

And just getting the whole story put together

13:07

and learning about the work that

13:09

Paul and John did, I just...

13:13

Yeah. I'm

13:19

struggling with the words. It

13:22

was like a big slap of reality. And

13:25

then that's when I was able to really start

13:27

processing. That started my healing

13:29

process. I'd already been in therapy,

13:31

but then reading

13:34

it and being able to talk about it,

13:36

things are out in the open. And

13:38

once they're not in the shadows, they

13:40

can't be as horrible anymore.

13:43

You can start recovering from

13:45

it. So I'm

13:48

so grateful to you that you're sitting

13:50

here today and all of the work

13:52

you've done, it just... I

13:56

was feeling very isolated. And

13:59

this... has completely

14:02

transformed the tone of the entire thing

14:04

for me. I mean, you're the

14:06

real hero in

14:08

the way that you are seeking help and the way

14:10

that you're working to keep

14:13

your children safe. Validation helps,

14:15

though. It's nice to

14:17

have people firmly grounded in

14:20

reality helping out. I'm

14:24

looking forward to seeing you there and to

14:26

hear you give a statement in the

14:28

court. Is this statement

14:30

different from the last one? Oh,

14:33

yeah. Yeah, this one's at him. I wrote this

14:35

to him. When are you hoping the soul did

14:37

it, then? I don't care. I

14:40

really don't... Pardon my French.

14:42

I don't give a shit. That's

14:44

not what I'm here for. It's not

14:46

for anybody but me. This is

14:48

for my healing and my process.

14:52

And, you know, the consequences

14:54

are up to him. He

14:56

made these choices. He did this.

15:00

I don't give a shit. What

15:08

would it take to be able to forgive him

15:11

in any sort of way? I

15:13

think that's a journey. It doesn't just click on

15:15

like a switch. But, yeah, I don't have any

15:18

expectations, especially after the first one, when they asked

15:20

him if he could say anything, because that's when

15:22

I did. I did want to hear him. I'm

15:24

sorry. I did want to hear him more. And

15:26

he just went, nope, I'm good. That

15:30

was kind of a turning point for me where I was like, oh,

15:33

yeah, I cannot expect a

15:35

psychopath to feel remorse. I'm

15:38

just getting conscious of the time you get 45 minutes. I

15:41

just want to ask you before you go, like, how are

15:43

you feeling now? You're going to get... Oh,

15:45

nervous. Yeah, very nervous. I'm

15:48

like twitchy and sweaty and... I'm

15:51

so sorry. I'm just... I'm

15:53

not my usual self today, so... To

15:56

help study your nerves. Jen

16:00

brought a drawing her daughter had made for her Yeah,

16:05

it's a good reminder for

16:07

why I'm here We

16:11

don't know if we would ever tell her or

16:14

if she'll ever find out But

16:17

if she does I want her to know that mama thought

16:22

and mama stood up and looked at him and Said

16:26

something I spoke up. I was brave enough to look

16:28

him in the eye and tell him he Jen

16:41

and I had been sitting in heavy wooden chairs

16:43

in the hallway outside the courtroom for over an

16:45

hour Ben Faulkner's

16:47

hearing was scheduled for 11 o'clock But

16:50

it was close to noon now Patrick

16:52

faulty's hearing was up first and

16:54

it was running a lot longer than expected. I Wasn't

16:58

allowed to bring recording gear inside the courthouse.

17:01

So I kept busy taking notes Jen

17:03

and I talked about Faulkner about growing

17:06

up about our families But

17:09

as the week got longer she grew more and more

17:11

quiet Once

17:14

in a while a pair of Marshalls would escort

17:16

an inmate down the long hallway and cuffs and

17:19

shackles An hour and a

17:21

half went by Further

17:23

down the hall just out of earshot

17:26

Faulkner's parents Kathy and Rob were waiting

17:29

They were no longer speaking with Jen Jen

17:32

didn't want to speak with them either Court

17:39

eventually let out the hallway was flooded

17:41

with lawyers and bailiffs. I

17:43

caught a glimpse of Patrick faulty being led away He's

17:46

an extraordinarily average looking man.

17:49

I'd never be able to pick him out in a crowd Jen

17:56

was on her feet anxious to get into the

17:58

courtroom Hocken came and

18:00

found me. He told me that Falte had been

18:02

sentenced to thirty-five years. Hocken

18:05

and I followed Jen into the courtroom. It

18:07

was large and brightly lit. There

18:09

was an abundance of wood paneling. On

18:12

the far wall over the judge's bench hung

18:14

the seal of the District Court of the

18:16

United States, complete with stars and stripes and

18:18

a particularly grim bald eagle. Jen

18:24

sat in the front row of the gallery. I

18:26

sat directly behind her. Kathy

18:29

and Rob Faulkner sat across the aisle from me.

18:32

Sitting next to the Faulkner's were Patrick Falte's parents.

18:36

Rob Faulkner had told me that the four of

18:38

them had become close friends. They

18:41

understood one another's grief. Falte's

18:45

parents looked incredibly sad and

18:48

tired. Under

18:56

Paul Griffith's nor John Rouse, the investigators with

18:58

Task Force Argos were at the hearing. I

19:01

had spent so much time learning about their investigative

19:03

work that I was a little disappointed. I

19:06

had really wanted to meet them. A

19:08

couple officers walked up the aisle and it

19:10

took me a second to realize that Ben

19:12

Faulkner was walking between them. His

19:15

hands were at his back and big

19:17

block letters was written, Davies County Inmate.

19:21

Ben Faulkner is thin. Gone

19:23

really. He had a

19:26

scruffy beard, waxen skin, and

19:28

long stringy hair. He

19:30

sat down with his lawyer and then took a look

19:32

at the gallery. He and I

19:34

made eye contact for a second. He

19:38

nodded at me and reflexively I

19:41

nodded back. He

19:43

didn't acknowledge Jen at all. The

19:49

door on the far side of the courtroom opened. We

19:52

were on our feet and the judge

19:55

came in. A short, energetic man, Justice

19:57

Waverly Crenshaw. He announced

19:59

the case. United States of

20:01

America versus Benjamin Alexander Faulkner. He

20:04

reminded the court that Faulkner had already pled

20:07

guilty to the charges against him, engaging

20:10

in a child exploitation enterprise.

20:31

Typically what happens in a sentencing

20:33

hearing is that the prosecution gives

20:35

evidence, including expert witnesses and victim

20:37

impact statements, then the defense

20:39

has a chance to speak. Both

20:42

sides argue their case for an appropriate sentence,

20:45

the defendant gets a chance to speak directly to the

20:47

court if they want, and then the

20:49

judge gives the sentence, and that

20:51

was pretty much the order of things at Ben

20:53

Faulkner's hearing. But

20:55

I'm going to skip around a bit.

20:57

Faulkner's lawyer calls Rob Faulkner, Ben's dad,

21:00

to the witness stand. He's sworn in,

21:02

and then the lawyer

21:04

asks Rob if he still loves his

21:06

son. Rob

21:08

says, yes. The

21:12

lawyer asks how often Faulkner speaks with

21:14

his family. Rob says twice

21:17

a week for 15 minutes each time. Rob

21:20

tells the court that he and Kathy have visited

21:22

their son three times in two years. The

21:26

lawyer asks about Faulkner's childhood. Rob

21:29

talks about fishing and playing outdoors and

21:31

talking science and space. The

21:34

lawyer asks about Faulkner's relationship with his

21:37

younger sisters, both of whom have

21:39

written him letters of support. Rob

21:42

tells the court that Faulkner is loving and

21:44

supportive, and that it's hard for him to

21:46

wrap his head around what his son has done, that

21:49

it was a big shock. That

21:52

it's like another person did it, he says, Another

21:55

person who didn't exist. After.

22:06

That the lawyer cause of Faulkner's mother

22:08

Kathy. You've

22:11

heard some pretty horrific things that your son's

22:13

admitted to doing today. The lawyer says. Despite

22:16

hearing all those things, How

22:18

do you feel by your son? Cause.

22:21

He says I love him. He's

22:24

special. He's kind and

22:26

gentle. Kathy

22:29

is surprisingly collected. In fact, she

22:32

says all this with a slight

22:34

smile. a sad smile, but she's

22:36

remembering something beautiful that happened to

22:38

her a very long time ago.

22:42

A lawyer asks what kind of things Cassie

22:44

did with Faulkner as a child. She

22:48

talks about canoe trips, spending time

22:50

in nature with him to quite

22:52

solitude of one on one conversations

22:54

with the paddles dipping into like

22:56

water. I

22:58

look over. Faulkner is wiping away tears.

23:02

Is or anything in particular you want the judge

23:04

to hear from you. As a

23:06

lawyer. Cathy. says.

23:09

I just want you to know who

23:12

we know. He's kind. I

23:14

don't think he can be happy, but I just want

23:16

the best for him. Partners

23:18

trying harder now. Cassie

23:21

continues. I beg for

23:23

mercy. A safe I don't want to

23:26

close. Quantum Safe. Cat

23:31

is asking the judge to petition

23:33

the Federal Bureau of Prisons so

23:35

that Faulkner surfaces censored an institution

23:37

where his protected from the general

23:39

population. There. Are no facilities

23:42

like this near the Canadian border which

23:44

means caffeine Robert only rarely be able

23:46

to visit their son. Peter

23:56

to. The roof speak. It's their sons turn.

24:00

The lawyer motions for him to stand at the podium

24:02

in front of the bench. Faulkner's

24:04

got his statement in his hands. This is the big

24:06

speech he's told me about. Faulkner

24:11

begins. For the first time in

24:14

my life, I'm speaking before the people I love

24:16

about the wrongs I've committed. He

24:18

sounds nervous. He's reading so

24:20

fast the court reporter asks him to slow

24:22

down. Starting

24:26

with pedophilic disorder, he continues, a little

24:29

slower now, is a

24:31

life of perpetual anxiety, crippling fear,

24:33

and debilitating depression. Faulkner's

24:37

statement turns out to be fairly

24:39

anticlimactic. And it's

24:41

also almost entirely about him. About

24:44

his suffering. He

24:48

goes on about how he had no option but to

24:51

hide his desires from the world. He

24:55

brings up the one psychologist he had consulted

24:57

and blames that for leading him to the

24:59

dark web, even though Faulkner told

25:01

me he was active on the dark web well

25:03

before he ever saw the psychologist. Faulkner

25:09

goes on. I know that

25:11

people were hurt and I'm sincerely sorry. I'm

25:14

sorry for who I've hurt and I'm sorry for the

25:16

lives I've altered. The

25:19

last thing Faulkner says before thanking the court

25:21

and sitting back down is this. I'm

25:24

sorry for how things turned out and if I

25:27

could go back, things would be

25:29

different. But

25:37

you'll remember from my interviews with Faulkner that at one

25:39

point I had asked him do

25:42

you think it was worth it man? I

25:46

wanted to know whether he regretted what

25:48

he had done. Whether he would do it all

25:50

again if he was given the chance. What

25:53

he had said. Yeah, I would do it. I

26:00

would do it again. So

26:04

it's pretty difficult to see his apology is

26:06

sincere and his desire to

26:09

go back and do things differently I'm

26:11

pretty sure he was just saying what he thought the court

26:13

wanted to hear The

26:43

prosecution calls Jen up to the stand to give

26:46

her statement. She approaches

26:48

the bench, sits to the left of Judge

26:50

Crenshaw and adjusts the mic. And

26:54

then she squares her shoulders and

26:56

looks directly at Faulkner. Your

26:58

honor, she says, I'm here today

27:00

to address the court. Benjamin

27:03

Faulkner concerning these acts of

27:05

his horrific actions on

27:07

me, my family and many others.

27:14

Ben, for

27:17

the last three years I've thought a lot about what I would

27:19

say to you when this final sentencing came. The

27:23

fact of the matter today is you

27:26

haven't made simply a couple of bad

27:28

decisions or acted on merely just a

27:30

few urges. You

27:33

manipulated and violated me. And

27:37

you abused my two-year-old daughter after we gave

27:39

you our utmost trust within our most sacred

27:42

of places, our home. It

27:45

nauseates me to think of how much you would have abused

27:47

her, given your talent for deception,

27:50

her verbal immaturity and your future exposure

27:52

to her family gatherings had you not

27:54

been caught. The

27:58

absolute disgust I can feel when

28:00

I think of you or anything that reminds me

28:02

of you is beyond measure. Thanks

28:06

to you, hundreds are now living

28:08

with images of their children on the web horrifically.

28:12

Unlike locking up a perpetrator, which keeps them

28:14

from continuing to do harm, these

28:17

images will continue to exist and cause

28:19

victims and their families anguish forever. Discovering

28:23

that you spent hours meticulously

28:26

constructing yourself, a

28:28

hidden world on the dark web where you could

28:30

legitimize and act out on your fantasies, even

28:33

while in my house, was nightmarish.

28:36

This goes beyond the pale of what

28:38

other people with your sickness have done.

28:40

It's your selfish and toxic belief

28:43

that these acts are not harmful

28:45

that makes you, in my opinion,

28:47

exceedingly more dangerous than the typical

28:49

pedophile. I

28:53

feel fortunate that I have the opportunity to

28:55

be here today to confront you on behalf

28:57

of many people that have been affected by

28:59

your septic behavior. The

29:02

shock, trauma, and pain you

29:04

have inflicted on so many people will

29:06

no longer be muted or minimized. Everyone

29:09

left behind in your path of destruction will take

29:12

comfort in the fact that you will never again

29:14

walk free or be able to hurt another child.

29:19

I seek solace in the fact that you are

29:21

exactly where you belong. You've

29:24

had my mercy and my forgiveness in the form

29:26

of my not pressing charges against you for

29:28

what you did to my baby. And

29:30

you know what? You also

29:32

have my gratitude. Thank you,

29:35

Ben, for opening all of our eyes to

29:37

how very real and close evil can reside.

29:40

While I'm not sure you care enough to start the place, it's

29:43

up to you, Ben, to balance your own karma.

29:46

Start to heal what you alone have broken.

29:49

In my opinion, you can

29:51

do that by acknowledging that you are not a

29:53

victim here today. You are an

29:57

individual who manipulates, rapes,

29:59

and and victimizes innocent

30:01

children. Own

30:04

up to what you actually did and who you actually

30:06

are. You owe that

30:08

to yourself and to a lot of people whose

30:10

lives you've destroyed and rearranged along the way for

30:12

your own benefit. We all definitely

30:14

sleep better knowing you can't hurt anyone anymore.

30:16

And you know what? You

30:19

should as well. Bye, Ben. You

30:23

could have heard a pin drop. Judge

30:25

Crenshaw gives Jen his undivided attention. Faulkner

30:29

looks at her, but Jen's statement doesn't seem to have

30:32

any impact on him. Earlier

30:38

on in the hearing, while the prosecution was presenting its

30:40

evidence, it

30:43

brought up an extra-deterred statement. It was a very important statement.

30:47

Earlier on in the hearing, while the prosecution

30:49

was presenting its evidence, it

30:51

brought up an expert witness, a guy named

30:53

James Fotrell. Fotrell is

30:55

an investigator with the Child Exploitation and

30:58

Abscenity section of the U.S. Department of

31:00

Justice. More specifically, he works

31:02

for the High Tech Investigative Unit. He

31:05

gathers digital evidence used to prosecute people

31:07

like Faulkner. He's

31:09

one of the American investigators who had

31:11

been monitoring Faulkner and Falty's dark web

31:14

activities. His job in court

31:16

that day was to lay out the facts, that

31:18

Patrick Faulkner and Ben Faulkner were co-administrators

31:20

of the child abuse site, the Gift

31:23

Box Exchange, and

31:25

that Ben Faulkner, under the username

31:27

Warhead, built and ran child's play. Then

31:31

Fotrell reveals that law enforcement had

31:33

also gained access to private encrypted

31:35

messages between Faulkner and Falty. Fotrell

31:38

reads the first one aloud. It

31:41

starts with Faulkner saying, Keeping

31:43

secrets makes me feel like a badass. When

31:46

somebody asks me how my vacation was, I

31:49

can simply answer. It was okay. But in

31:51

reality, hanging out with another pedo is

31:53

the most liberating experience of my life. Faulkner

31:57

goes on. sites

32:00

having most of the market, LOL. The

32:03

messages are filled with crude,

32:06

sometimes graphic braggadocio. The

32:08

type of stuff that Faulkner and Faulty, for a

32:10

variety of reasons, were uncomfortable

32:13

posting publicly, even on the

32:15

dark websites they ran. Again,

32:17

I'll spare you too many of the details. But

32:20

in these chats, Faulkner admits to

32:22

sexually abusing a toddler. He

32:25

encourages Faulty to move to Canada, where the

32:27

prison sentences are much lower. And

32:30

in another chat, Faulkner's talking to Faulty about

32:32

what will happen, were he to tell his

32:34

family he's a pedophile. "'I

32:37

think my mother would cry for days,' Faulkner

32:39

writes. "'My dad would not talk to me.

32:42

My sisters would also likely not talk to me. If

32:45

I told them I was a pedo, they might

32:47

be okay with it, but I won't because my sisters

32:49

need to have kids someday and I don't need

32:51

to have extra eyes on me when that happens.'" The

32:57

messages are disturbing, but for the

32:59

most part they reveal the sight of Ben Faulkner I

33:02

had already gotten to know. However,

33:07

they also hinted at something that

33:10

was a genuine shock. Something

33:12

neither Hawken or I had any idea

33:14

about. After

33:21

Fotrell had laid out the fact that Ben

33:23

Faulkner had been Warhead and had built Child's

33:25

Play and that he and Faulty had run

33:28

the gift box exchange, the

33:30

prosecutor mentioned another site, called

33:33

Private Pedo Club. The

33:35

banner of the form, according to the prosecutor,

33:37

reads, just for producers.

33:41

Fotrell explains that a producer is someone who has

33:43

access to a minor. The

33:46

administrator of that site was someone

33:48

named Nesco, N-E-S-K-O. "'And

33:52

who is Nesco?' asked

33:54

the prosecutor. Fotrell

33:57

replies, Benjamin Faulkner"

34:04

And then the prosecutor brings up a fourth

34:06

website. Patrol. Explains that

34:08

it's another child abuse site, this

34:10

one with a focus on children's

34:13

feet. The. Administrator

34:15

of the site was Curious

34:17

Panetta, a gay Benjamin Faulkner.

34:22

Ben Foster wasn't just warhead and

34:24

he wasn't just running child's play.

34:28

When Father was arrested, he was running

34:30

at least for child abuse sites under

34:32

various user names. He was busy bragging

34:35

about having cornered and I quote here,

34:37

most of the market. This

34:43

was when the full extent of the story

34:45

began to dawn on me. For

34:47

a brief period of time, Benjamin Franklin

34:49

was one of the most active dealers

34:52

and child abuse material on the dark

34:54

web. The police work

34:56

that led to his arrest and Task

34:58

Force Argos undercover work dealt a crippling

35:00

blow to what was likely one of

35:02

the largest networks of child abuse sites

35:04

in the world. And

35:06

yet at a time of foreigners arrest.

35:09

None of us got much attention in the media. Without

35:15

how can a Niners investigation world might

35:17

not have ever known about Warhead. And

35:20

even so, we were the only journalists in

35:22

the courtroom that day. Blessing.

35:28

Or mention about the hearing is that

35:30

at one point early on when the

35:33

prosecutor was going over Ben Faulkner's activities

35:35

on the dark web. I

35:37

looked over to watches reaction. His

35:40

hand was covering his face. And

35:42

shoulders were shaking and I assumed he

35:44

was crying. But.

35:46

He wasn't. Few. Struggling.

35:50

Just. Laughing quietly to

35:52

himself. His

35:55

lawyer leaned over and whispered in his

35:57

ears and soccer stop laughing immediately. But.

36:00

It took awhile but a grin on his

36:02

face to fade away. I'm

36:21

David Fisher. I've been a journalist for

36:23

decades. For the story I've chased the

36:26

longest is about my brother John when

36:28

he was eleven years old and I

36:30

was for John. bite away from our

36:32

house through the woods to a store

36:34

nearby. He's

36:38

going to buy me my favorite candy,

36:40

but he never came back. So now

36:42

I'm telling the story of what happened

36:45

to John and what happened to our

36:47

family and our town after he disappeared.

36:49

This is alligator can be. The

36:51

Me Cp Audio and Transmitter Media.

36:55

Subscribe and listen wherever you

36:57

get your podcasts. In.

37:01

The End: Judge Crenshaw handed Faulkner the

37:03

same sense as Patrick. Salty. Four.

37:05

Hundred and Twenty Months. Thirty.

37:07

Five years. To. Be

37:09

served concurrently with their respective licenses.

37:14

You didn't? You have any trouble making

37:16

eye contact with both at this time?

37:18

Ah, I looked at him. Long

37:21

and hard at least. Four

37:24

or five times that I could think of.

37:26

Weird looking right back at me and. It

37:29

didn't affect me the way I thought it was. I

37:33

just couldn't even turn my body

37:35

towards him last time. So to

37:37

much him down this time was.

37:40

It. A

37:43

third. You really

37:46

want to talk about as ultimate

37:48

his statement. It

37:51

was really difficult for me not to

37:53

shake my head. He was saying what

37:55

he needed to say to make himself

37:58

look. Could.

38:01

It possibly could. After everything

38:03

that was said, it's so

38:05

contrived and. I

38:08

just I know he didn't try to

38:10

get help. You can't go to one

38:12

doctor and just go up from a

38:14

hands on their i tried to pin

38:16

you, didn't try, you didn't try to

38:18

communicate this to be were you did

38:20

not try to get help. So I

38:22

think that's where I get offended because

38:24

I really don't. Believe

38:27

that you've got word from

38:29

issuing Journey. School

38:32

System: Where does this fit in? There are

38:34

you have to sometimes. I

38:38

feel good I do. I

38:40

feel so ready to move

38:42

forward with our lives and

38:44

in a positive light as

38:46

set everything that I mean

38:48

to say. Pm.

38:51

Shredded. Home

38:53

see my kiddos, Miss

38:56

them. Because

38:59

the ah. Yes

39:01

and just not say the

39:04

name Ben for a long

39:06

time. I

39:16

was with pencil. This

39:20

is combined public communications with a

39:23

prepaid call from an inmate at

39:25

the Davies County Detention Center. Kentucky.

39:30

Of it. Or Juniper

39:32

levers on it was such.

39:36

A different your statement was received.

39:40

Ah well, as I've heard

39:42

it was receive welfare. That's

39:44

why some people are already.

39:46

oh my God knows, I'm

39:48

not know. and how did

39:50

you see others posting. About

39:55

you oh I would ever. Choose

39:58

To believe Ups wants to believe. regardless

40:00

of what the truth actually is. So,

40:03

I'll let her be angry. Hawkenberry

40:06

was more interested in making sure I understood

40:09

the full extent of his Dark Web activities.

40:12

I wanted to know whether you learned anything you

40:14

didn't already know. Well,

40:16

I didn't know about the other

40:18

sites. Yeah, I

40:20

didn't know about the feet one

40:22

and the producers one. Oh

40:24

yeah, that makes sense. I don't think Hawken knew

40:26

about at least one

40:29

of those either. I think both those sites were

40:31

new to me. Hawkener

40:35

told me that he would regularly work 16

40:38

to 18 hour days managing all these sites.

40:46

You know, after... I

40:48

was quite surprised to hear that he had been even

40:51

more active, as you say, on the darkness than

40:53

we knew. So I went

40:55

back and read some of the emails that

40:57

he had been writing me before. And

40:59

there, in one of these emails, he actually

41:02

said we may or may not

41:04

know of these websites and services.

41:06

I mean, he's already there bragging

41:08

about websites and services. I mean,

41:10

he's already there bragging about everything

41:12

that he's done. But

41:15

I just disregarded it

41:17

because I didn't think much

41:19

of it, to be honest. Yeah,

41:24

and so do you have a sense of how

41:26

involved he was on these different platforms? He writes

41:28

about it himself in a letter that he wrote

41:30

to me after the sentencing. I mean,

41:33

the way he writes in this last letter,

41:35

it's different from the former letters, I feel.

41:37

It's more like his mask has finally fallen

41:39

or something, you know. Finally

41:42

he can tell me what he really wants to tell me. You

41:44

want to read that? Yeah, yeah. So

41:46

this is what he wrote to me in the

41:49

last letter. He says, let me be a little

41:51

full of myself for a second. Personalities

42:00

and admins of sites I'd broken

42:02

into all at once and

42:05

then he writes Booyah. I Hope

42:08

we all can agree that that's at

42:10

least somewhat impressive. He says I

42:12

think it's anyway. It took a lot of work So

42:23

he mentions three by size and that's three

42:26

four five six seven seven

42:30

sites and services and websites and

42:32

and then four servers and Then

42:35

he had five the user names. So I mean he

42:37

was all over the place really so

42:40

beside one

42:42

or two major Child

42:45

abuse websites on the darknet he seemed to be

42:47

controlling all of them I

42:52

mean he was really at the time One

42:58

of the the things too that I think it's

43:00

worth talking about is after the court date and

43:03

start telling me that he Had

43:05

a group of people who were recruiting people

43:07

off the clear net onto the dark web.

43:10

That's crazy Faulkner

43:12

had told me that he had several people

43:14

working for him who would monitor the clear

43:17

net for people uploading and downloading child abuse

43:19

material Faulkner's people would

43:21

contact those users and urged them

43:23

to move over to the dark web Yeah,

43:26

it's like he's recruiting people like he's going online

43:28

and finding people and saying, you know Hey, it's

43:30

not safe for you to be there come to

43:32

our place. It's much safer Yeah, I've built this

43:34

safe place where you can do whatever you want

43:36

really So

43:40

Ben Faulkner was involved with a group

43:42

that was doing some of the worst stuff

43:45

on the dark web, right? Yeah, I

43:48

mean he was their tech guy mostly and and They

43:51

were this group who

43:53

were producing the worst Child

43:55

abuse material that you can

43:57

ever encounter. They basically tortured

44:00

children and then killed them. The

44:08

group Hawkins talking about was run by

44:10

an Australian man named Peter Scully. Faulkner

44:14

claims to have worked as Scully's tech expert.

44:18

The group abducted and sometimes purchased

44:20

children to torture them and

44:23

to record the torture. One

44:25

of the children was killed as a direct result of

44:28

this abuse. Peter

44:32

Scully and the rest of the group were arrested

44:35

in the Philippines in February 2015. They're

44:38

serving life sentences there. In

44:40

2016 though, Benjamin Faulkner posted

44:42

one of the worst of

44:44

these videos on Childsplay. Not

44:53

only was he involved in

44:55

many many more sites on the dark

44:57

than we knew, he

45:00

had also been involved in helping

45:03

the absolute worst people on the

45:05

planet in producing theirs. The

45:14

conversation I had with Faulkner after his sentencing

45:16

trial, after finding out the full extent of

45:18

his role on the dark web, that was

45:21

the last time I spoke with him. For

45:23

the record, I still feel justified. Just

45:28

so we're all clear on that. I still feel justified.

45:31

Yeah, I know you do. We're all on the same page here.

45:33

Yeah, I figured that. I think that

45:35

potentially that'll wait over time. We'll

45:40

see. I'm open to suggestion. Well,

45:42

I don't think you are yet. Like, I think

45:44

you're holding ground and I think you will for

45:46

a while. Maybe forever. Yeah.

45:52

Thank you. several

46:00

more weeks, sometimes three or four times

46:02

a day. I could see

46:04

it was him from the caller ID, but

46:07

I couldn't bring myself to pick it up. I

46:09

just couldn't. It

46:18

isn't simply because Faulkner is a pedophile.

46:20

In the course of this series, I've

46:22

spoken with pedophiles who understand that acting

46:24

on their desires is wrong, who

46:27

live in a state of perpetual self-loathing, who,

46:30

I have every reason to believe, will

46:32

probably never abuse a child. As

46:35

tempting as it can be to think of

46:37

pedophiles as monsters, it's not

46:39

accurate. They're people with an

46:41

affliction we don't yet fully understand, nor do

46:43

we really know how to help them. More

46:47

than that, maybe we don't really care to help them.

46:50

And so I wonder if maybe we have a bit

46:52

of reckoning to do if we truly do want to

46:54

protect children. That

46:56

said, it's also true that there

46:58

are people who do monstrous things.

47:02

People who exploit and harm others simply

47:04

to satisfy their own selfish desires, who

47:07

don't care what kind of fallout they leave in

47:09

their path. I

47:11

think that's an accurate description of Benjamin Faulkner. Not

47:15

pedophile. Not master of

47:17

the dark web. But

47:19

a selfish and remorseless sociopath.

47:29

Where do you guys think you'll go from here, working together?

47:32

What do you think you'll work on together in the future? Well

47:37

right now there's a project I need

47:39

to get Einar out of where

47:41

he is right now, out of his hole somewhere, and

47:44

start pestering him again. Because

47:46

there's a project also by Channel Dubious

47:50

that I really want to get

47:52

done. on

48:00

an investigative piece since the two of them

48:02

broke the story of Operation Artemis. I've

48:07

been reluctant to head

48:10

back into this sort

48:12

of topic for a while now. I

48:17

mean the whole topic

48:19

has become difficult for me. I

48:24

struggle with the feeling that we don't do

48:27

enough and then I take that

48:29

worry personally and that haunts

48:31

me at night. I think

48:33

I've had three major depressions now

48:36

over the last five years. I

48:39

get really tired of

48:41

not being able to

48:43

relax ever but

48:46

it's even more difficult to handle when when

48:48

the subject is as

48:51

important as child abuse. It doesn't get

48:53

much more important than that. Immersing

49:01

yourself in the bleakest places on the

49:03

dark web can take a severe toll,

49:06

which makes the work that Task Force

49:08

Argos does year after year that much

49:10

more commendable. John Rouse

49:13

has just been named Queenslander of

49:15

the Year. Detective Inspector Rouse is

49:17

with the Queensland Police. He started

49:19

a thing called Task Force Argos,

49:21

which tracks down and puts out

49:23

a business the most

49:25

hideous child sex offenders. This is

49:27

an interview from the Australian National

49:30

Broadcaster ABC. It aired in November

49:32

2018. Detective Inspector

49:34

John Rouse, what did you think you'd be

49:36

doing when you joined the police force? I

49:38

guess my ultimate goal was just try to

49:41

help people. How many

49:43

children have you rescued? In one year we did

49:45

300. I think on

49:47

a daily basis now our victim identification

49:49

team is referring a case internationally almost

49:51

every single day. The world

49:53

now has gone on a long way from internet with a

49:56

modem. There's the dark web. I understand there are a

49:58

lot of people who are in the dark web. streaming

50:00

capacities for people to find

50:03

their way and watch this happening live.

50:05

Yeah well as we speak

50:07

mothers in the Philippines for example on demand

50:09

and for payment do

50:12

whatever you want to their child on a web camera

50:14

that's been happening for 10 years and we're

50:16

very actively internationally focusing on that now

50:18

and the Philippines police and NGOs

50:21

to stop that. But

50:24

they're doing it because there's a market for

50:26

that in rich countries including

50:28

Australia. Totally. Realistically

50:36

stopping the market may be

50:39

nearly impossible. Even

50:42

making a dent in it seems like an

50:44

immense task. The

50:49

year Halkin published his investigation into

50:51

child's play 2017. American tech companies

50:53

reported more than 20 million images

50:56

of child abuse to the National Center

50:58

for Missing and Exploited Children. The

51:01

next year 2018 the number

51:04

of reports had more than doubled. The

51:08

fact is as soon as one child abuse site

51:10

is shut down another

51:13

one opens. At

51:18

first Warhead was a name Ben

51:20

Faulkner used to stay anonymous. Then

51:24

Warhead was taken over by Task Force

51:26

Argos. Warhead became a way

51:28

of thinking and acting. An

51:30

identity the police used to hunt for

51:32

other online abusers. I've

51:35

come to think of Warhead as something

51:37

even more abstract. As a mask

51:40

anyone can slip on if they want

51:42

to inhabit the dark web and prey

51:44

on children. Ben

51:50

Faulkner's in jail and he'll spend the rest of his

51:52

life there. But

51:54

Warhead? Warhead's

51:56

still out there. Thriving

51:59

in the dark. Do

52:06

you have three minutes to tell me about the Philippines? Oh

52:09

yeah, yeah, sure. Like Passforce

52:11

Argos, Hocken continues to investigate and

52:13

report on the way child abuse

52:15

continues to spread and evolve online.

52:17

I was contacted by

52:21

a Belgian journalist and he had been working

52:23

undercover befriending all

52:25

of these people in the Philippines who were

52:28

streaming live abuse of children

52:31

to customers in Europe. And

52:34

he got hold of a large

52:37

amount of data, of user names,

52:39

Skype user names, chat logs, things

52:42

like that. And we were able to identify

52:46

many Norwegians and many Scandinavians who had

52:48

been doing this, who had

52:51

been paying and received live shows of

52:54

children being abused. Did

52:57

you confront any of these guys by Norwegians? Yeah.

53:02

I went there. First I went to the Philippines, talked

53:05

to the children. They are at shelters right

53:07

now. I showed them pictures of

53:09

Norwegian guys, if you recognize any one of them.

53:12

And they did. And

53:14

after that I went up to the north

53:16

of Norway and met this principal at a small

53:19

school. In a small community and

53:21

told him, I know what you've been doing. I

53:23

know that you've been paying money to watch children

53:26

being abused. And

53:29

now the Norwegian police, they have started a

53:32

big investigation and

53:35

some people have been arrested. Hunting

54:07

Warhead is written and produced by Chris Oak

54:09

and me, Damon Fairless. The

54:12

series is co-produced by Hocken-Hoidle and

54:14

associate producer, Michaela Rana. Sound

54:17

design by Cecil Fernandez. Emily

54:20

Kanell is our digital producer, original

54:22

music by Olivia Pascarelli, artwork

54:25

by Ben Shannon and Sarah Clayton. The

54:28

audio of John Rouse was from an

54:30

interview he did with Hugh Remington on

54:32

the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National Network.

54:36

Special thanks to Inar Athostangvik,

54:38

Natalehremo Hansen, Viette

54:41

Amundsenkorten, Yanei Thrunsen,

54:43

Magna Antonsen, Christopher Iverson,

54:46

and Nina Stensrud-Martin. Also

54:49

Judit C. Ge, Evan Agard,

54:52

Phil Lung, Eunice Kim, Fabiola

54:55

Coletti, and Kate Zeman

54:57

at the CBC Reference Library. The

55:00

senior producer of CBC Podcasts is

55:02

Tanya Springer and our executive

55:05

producer is Aaraf Narani. Leslie

55:07

Merklinger is the senior director of audio

55:09

innovation. Hunting

55:11

Warhead is a co-production of CBC

55:13

Podcasts and the Norwegian newspaper, VG.