No legal aid for FBI child porn suspect

A man the FBI has called “the largest facilitator of child porn in the world” has been refused legal aid prior to his application for a judicial review of the DPP’s decision not to prosecute him in Ireland.

Eric Eoin Marques, who is alleged to be the owner and administrator of an anonymous hosting site known as Freedom Hosting, is wanted by US authorities to face charges relating to conspiring to distribute and advertise child pornography, and advertising and distributing child pornography.

The 28-year-old, with an address at Mountjoy Square, Dublin, has been in custody since his arrest in August last year, after he was refused bail over concerns he represented a flight risk and that he may abscond or interfere with evidence in the case.