Man who downloaded child porn from Tor-hidden Playpen sentenced to 6 months

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On Tuesday, a federal judge in Tacoma, Washington, sentenced David Tippens to six months in prison for one remaining count of possession of child pornography that he obtained via the now-defunct, notorious Tor-hidden child porn website, Playpen.

In a sentencing memorandum filed last month, prosecutors asked the judge to impose a much longer sentence.

"The Government asked for 48 months in prison but the Court was impressed with Mr. Tippens' long and distinguished service in the Army, including combat duty in Iraq; his cooperation with the police at the time of his arrest and perfect compliance with pre-trial supervision; and the fact that he had a pornography addiction related to PTSD that would be addressed through continuing counseling," Tippens' federal public defender, Colin Fieman, e-mailed Ars.

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