Webe Web
Webe Web Corporation was a web hosting company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA), which owned and operated several child modeling websites, including childsupermodels.com, Babble Club, and individual sites for each model they represented (e.g., Tori-Model.com, Dorie-Model.com, Cloey-Model.com, etc.). As part of their child modeling operations, they worked with young teen and prepubescent girls between the ages of 7 and 16.
Childsupermodels.com served as a promotional platform for models, showcasing links to websites containing photographs of individual "child supermodels" in various poses and outfits. Visitors could view a limited number of images for free on each website's homepage. For access to more photos, users could purchase a 30-day membership for around $30 per month. Subscriptions to these individual websites were promoted on Webe Web's free advertising website, Babble Club. Alongside encouraging members to purchase subscriptions to the models' individual websites, Babble Club also hosted discussion boards and groups dedicated to each website. Babble Club members made posts on the discussion boards, including comments on specific images they liked, preferred clothing and poses, and poetry written to the photographed model. Some members expressed fondness and admiration for the photographed model.
Webe Web was raided in 2005 by the FBI and prosecuted under the allegation that they produced child pornography, although Webe Web never published a single video or picture of a naked underage girl, and the Government itself admitted to "uncooperative witnesses" (see their video testimony[1]). Out of over half a million photographs of non-nude child modeling, the prosecutor only picked up a few dozen of them for the trial. Even after the Court was informed that the parents were all aware of the photoshoots and present when they took place, it was also learned that Webe Web made over a million dollars in profit. Not surprisingly, six former Webe Web models asked for restitution money, some up to $150,000, while six other models declined, and three other child models and their parents did not even want to speak with Government agencies investigating the hypothetical "child abuse". In light of the situation and risking a 30-year prison sentence, the defendants thought it wiser to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. Jeffrey Robert Libman was sentenced to 108 months (9 years) imprisonment followed by supervised release for the remainder of his natural life. Libman was also ordered to pay $1,600.00 in special assessments and agreed to forfeit all criminal proceeds to pay restitution. Jeff Pierson was sentenced to 67 months (approximately 6 years) imprisonment to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Marc Evan Greenberg was sentenced to 33 months (approximately 3 years) imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release. Greenberg agreed to forfeit all criminal proceeds to pay restitution.[2][3]
External links
- Webe Web Website (Plain, early 00s website. Nothing illegal displayed)
References
- ↑ Webe Web video testimony example 1 - backup, example 2 - backup
- ↑ LiGiHeaven: Webe Web
- ↑ Wikipedia: Webe Web