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Justice Dept. shuts down dark child abuse websites that had 120,000 members and millions of files
When FBI agents arrived outside William Spearman’s home in the quiet suburb of Madison, Alabama, in November 2022, they were prepared for danger.
Their search warrant was so important to the bureau that it was approved by the FBI director himself. When the agents breached Spearman’s door with tactical explosives, Spearman fought back, tussling with the agents as three of his handguns remained barely out of reach. The FBI managed to handcuff and arrest Spearman, a high-value arrest, in what a top Justice Department official called “one of the most successful” prosecutions of its kind.
Spearman went by the nickname “Boss” and was labeled by the Justice Department as “one of the most significant” purveyors of child sex abuse material in the world. His arrest in 2022, his guilty plea a year later and his eventual life sentence were part of an unprecedented takedown of a prodigious child abuse network.
Spearman is one of at least 18 people convicted so far of leading and utilizing the dark web to share hundreds of thousands of unlawful sexually exploitative images of children. The Justice Department calls the investigation and prosecutions Operation Grayskull; it helped secure those arrests and shutter four heavily trafficked dark web sites where violent and horrific images of child sexual abuse were traded and housed.
The Operation Grayskull investigation launched in 2020, when law enforcement agents noticed a spike in traffic to a dark web site suspected of hosting child abuse material. The dark web child abuse sites eventually attracted more than 120,000 members, millions of files and at least 100,000 visits in a single day, according to an FBI official who spoke with CBS News.
“Even for prosecutors, it is difficult to understand how pervasive this is,” said Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department Criminal Division.
“Because it happens on the dark web, people aren’t aware of it. It’s extremely troubling,” he told CBS News.
Spearman’s case has parallels to many of the others unearthed by Operation Grayskull. Spearman was accused of helping lead a dark web site with thousands of users and members. A sentencing memo submitted to the court said it was “no wonder” that he had tried to resist the FBI, rather than surrendering.
“The devices at his desk contained massive quantities of evidence proving that he was the lead administrator of Website A,” the memo said. “Unsurprisingly, the defendant’s devices also contained an enormous collection of images and videos depicting the rape and abuse of children.”
Selwyn Rosenstein was sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2022, for operating a dark website for unlawful exploitative images. Prosecutors said the platform “was not simply a website; it was a large, active community of pedophiles and (abuse material) enthusiasts. And it existed in part because of the Defendant’s criminal acts.”
Rosenstein possessed such a large quantity of abusive images, he needed to store some on a server he used to run his business, according to the Justice Department.
Speaking from a second floor conference room at Justice Department headquarters in Washington last week, Galeotti told CBS News the members of these dark web child abuse sites often “earn” membership by paying a fee, “helping moderate the site” or contributing child abuse images or material.
Galeotti said, “We luckily have very sophisticated prosecutors and agents who work specifically on this kind of thing. These are people who have a more of a technical understanding.”
“The defendants in this case, as sadistic as they may be, are somewhat sophisticated,” and make use of encryption, he added.
Operation Grayskull also secured the conviction of Matthew Garrell of Raleigh, North Carolina, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for operating on a dark web site for abuse material.
“Garrell engaged in an extremely complex and technologically sophisticated conspiracy that far exceeds the typical child-exploitation offenses,” prosecutors said.
They argued in a court filing that Garrell possessed a predator’s “handbook,” with “detailed instructions” for grooming children for future abuse.
The takedown of dark web leaders and users also included the convictions of men from Virginia, Maryland, Indiana, Texas, Washington, Arkansas, Michigan and Oklahoma.
“They were part of an online community of hundreds of thousands of people, with leadership roles rules and a common dedicated purpose” said Chris Delzotto, an acting FBI deputy assistant director. Delzotto told CBS News, “Few people would have envisioned how (child abuse materials) would permeate the internet, the way it has today.”
The federal investigation which uncovered and shuttered the first dark web site, also led to the closure of three others. Abbigail Beccaccio, an FBI unit chief, told CBS News. “The leadership team that operated one of the sites also operated several of the others.”
The Justice Department is touting the shutdown of those sites as a victory to help deter future abuse or production of unlawful images. “This is one of the most successful of all time,” Galeotti said. “We dismantled four websites that have not regenerated.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives to testify before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 4, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
In a contentious Senate hearing marked by raised voices and heated exchanges, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced calls to resign from Democrats and unexpected criticism from Republicans.
Several Republican senators brought up the legacy of President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, which sent a safe COVID vaccine to the public in record time, helping save millions of lives. They pushed Kennedy to explain his current approach to the shots and mRNA technology.
Under his leadership, the health agency cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars in research funding on mRNA technology for future vaccines, and the Food and Drug Administration limited access to the COVID shots, saying only people at high risk of complications from COVID or those over 65.
“President Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, whose vote was critical in Kennedy’s confirmation. He demanded Kennedy explain his changing stance on COVID vaccines, and said: “effectively, we’re denying people vaccine” — an assertion echoed by many physicians’ groups including the American Association of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.
Cassidy had exacted assurances from Kennedy during his confirmation process in February that he would not restrict Americans’ access to vaccines, a promise the senator now accuses Kennedy of violating. Kennedy fired the entire 17-member Advisory Panel on Immunization Practices at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, replacing them with members Cassidy argued are largely unscientific vaccine skeptics with vested financial interests in suing vaccine makers.
Another Republican physician on the Senate Finance Committee, Dr. John Barrasso of Wyoming, joined Democrats in criticizing Kennedy for undermining vaccines.
“In your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned,” Barrasso told Kennedy at the hearing. “I’ve been hearing from many of my medical colleagues, and there are real concerns that safe, proven vaccines like measles, like hepatitis B and others, could be in jeopardy and that would put Americans at risk and reverse decades of progress.”
He accused Kennedy of politicizing vaccines further, and undermining public health.
CDC leadership change debated
Kennedy hotly defended his decisions and statements on vaccines and on changes at the CDC, arguing the agencies have historically relied on bad data.
“These changes were absolutely necessary adjustments to restore the agency to its role as the world’s gold standard public health agency,” he said. He claimed he had the backing of “scientists and doctors are supporting me all across the country.”
Senators also repeatedly asked Kennedy about his decision to push out newly confirmed CDC chief Susan Monarez. Though she was his own pick to lead the agency, he said Monarez was lying when she claimed she was fired from that job after only a month for insisting on rigorous scientific review.
In response to questions from Warren, Kennedy said: “I told her she had to resign because I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said, ‘No.'”
Trump administration allies like Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin rushed to his defense, calling the senators’ pointed questions “abuse,” and lauding Kennedy for his attempts to overhaul health agencies.
Vaccine access arguments
Kennedy’s seven-and-a-half month tenure as Health Secretary is roiling the fields of science and health. His early sweeping changes included mass layoffs across the federal health and science agencies, from the FDA to the CDC to the National Institutes of Health.
Democratic senators took issue with these and other changes, as they and Kennedy accused each other of lying and manipulating data to serve political ends.
The committee’s ranking Democratic member Sen. Ron Wyden criticized Kennedy’s approach to vaccines: “I think Secretary Kennedy is dead set on making it harder for children to get vaccines and that kids are going to die because of it,” he said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts, challenged Kennedy to “honor your promise that you made when you were looking to get confirmed” not to take away vaccines from people who want them. She said his recent moves to change the classification of the COVID vaccine do just that.
In response, Kennedy said “everybody can get access to them” for free, including those on Medicare and Medicaid, though the many contradictory statements have left many patients, doctors and insurers confused.
Kennedy said it was unclear the COVID vaccine had saved millions of lives — a data point generally accepted by scientists and doctors. But he also seemed to backtrack on assertions that he is “anti-vaccine,” arguing that there remain some unknown risks, even with long-approved vaccines.
“Saying I’m anti-vaccine is like saying I’m anti-medicine,” Kennedy said, arguing he just wants more research to look into possible risks. “It doesn’t mean that I’m, you know, anti-vax. It just means I’m pro-science.”
His argument didn’t appear to sway the Democratic senators in attendance, with several calling for Kennedy to resign throughout the hearing.
Street Fighter — and its parent studio Legendary — have a new place to call home.
Legendary has inked a three-year pact with Paramount to distribute its movies, with the Capcom video game adaptation Street Fighter the first out of the gate. The Kitao Sakurai-directed feature now has a release date of Oct. 16, 2026.
The film is currently in production, with Paramount and Legendary releasing the first plot details for the movie, which will be set in 1993, the year the popular game Street Fighter II hit arcades.
Here’s the new logline: “Set in 1993, estranged Street Fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament: a brutal clash of fists, fate, and fury. But behind this battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against each other and the demons of their past. And if they don’t, it’s GAME OVER!”
The Legendary deal, now official, was reported to be in talks on Aug. 18 and comes after its output deal with Sony expired at the end of 2024. Legendary’s former partner Warner Bros. will continue to distribute key franchises such as the eventual sequel to the nearly $1 billion hit A Minecraft Movie, as well as 2026’s third Dune and 2027’s Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.
The Street Fighter movie has a sprawling cast, including Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i as Akuma, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog and Jason Momoa as Blanka.
It also stars Orville Peck as Vega, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, Alexander Volkanovski as Joe, Kyle Mooney as Marvin and Mel Jarnson as Cammy.
“Legendary has built a reputation for ambitious, globally appealing films, and we’re excited to be partnering with them. Street Fighter is the perfect start to our collaboration, which we believe will be strong and lasting,” said Josh Greenstein, co-chair of Paramount Pictures and vice chair of platforms, and Dana Goldberg, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Chair of Paramount Television.
Added Legendary CEO Josh Grode: “Partnering with David, Dana and Josh and their teams at Paramount marks an exciting new chapter for Legendary as we continue to pursue a diversified growth strategy—expanding our output, building new franchises, and creating more films for global audiences. This partnership is an extraordinary opportunity, and we look forward to working closely with Paramount on stories that will captivate and inspire moviegoers worldwide.”
This is just one of many key early moves made by David Ellison’s new Paramount, which lured Stranger Things creators the Duffer Bros. from Netflix, inked a $7.7 billion deal for UFC rights, and signed Will Smith’s Westbrook to a first-look film deal.
Orlando Sentinel via Getty ImagesThe surgeon general of Florida has vowed to end vaccine mandates in the state, even for children, announcing plans on Wednesday to wipe “all of them, every last one of them” off the books.
Dr Joseph Ladapo, who likened the requirements to slavery during the announcement, is a noted vaccine sceptic.
He gained national attention after he was appointed Florida’s doctor during the Covid-19 pandemic for issuing notices that contradicted guidance from federal health authorities and also for seeming to rely on shaky science.
Earlier this year, he was also one of the top names under consideration by the Trump administration to run the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
As President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr push to change the country’s vaccine and immunisation policies, Ladapo is poised to be given even more national attention, and scrutiny.
An immigrant with two degrees from Harvard
Ladapo, who immigrated with his family to the US from Nigeria when he was five, received his medical training and a PhD in health policy from Harvard University.
Along with heading Florida’s health department, he teaches medicine at the University of Florida and conducts research on minimising cardiovascular risk among disadvantaged and low-income groups, according to his official state biography. The Tallahassee Democrat has reported that his total salary, which includes university teaching, is more than $350,000 (£261,000) a year.
When Ladapo’s name was put forward for the high-profile role, Wilton Simpson, then the Florida Senate President, told Politico: “He seems to be very highly qualified, and certainly has got the credentials to make a great surgeon general.”
Earlier this year, the doctor Trump had nominated to head the CDC withdrew his name from consideration. He then endorsed Ladapo, who emerged on a short list of possible directors, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
The position would have given him immense influence on the major changes in vaccinations and disease prevention measures that Kennedy, who shares his vaccine scepticism, is making.
Ultimately the job went to Dr Susan Monarez, who was recently fired. The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a potential Ladapo nomination for the position.
Taking on the pandemic response
Only six US states have surgeons general, who typcially are charged with advocating for better health and disease prevention, and with educating the public. Ladapo also heads the state’s large and complicated health department.
He assumed the surgeon general role in September 2021, a critical point in the Covid-19 pandemic. A few months earlier the US had begun administering vaccines to millions of Americans.
Though public health officials and leading medical associations had backed the safety of Covid vaccines, and the shots were developed at the instruction of the first Trump administration, some in the country were wary of the jabs. Many Republican political leaders, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who appointed Ladapo, opposed mandates for the shots.
Upon taking office, Ladapo challenged mask requirements meant to curb the spread of the virus and loosened rules to make it easier for children to return to school.
Throughout his tenure, he has issued statements on Covid-19 vaccines that seem to contradict guidance from agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, and vaccine experts.
In 2022, Ladapo issued a notice warning of an “abnormally high risk of cardiac-related death” for young men who took the vaccine. Multiple public health experts criticised his analysis and the research he used as a basis for this assessment.
“I’m hesitant to even call it a paper; it isn’t published anywhere,” Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco” told the Washington Post at the time. “The idea that [the analysis] … is being used to change policy — it does not have the scientific chops to do that.”
In 2023, POLITICO reported that Ladapo had altered a state-driven study about the vaccines.
Using public records, the outlet found Ladapo’s changes had suggested a higher risks of cardiac death than the study had previously suggested. The alterations suggested a higher health risk for young men than medical experts had previously established.
Ending vaccine mandates in Florida
Before Florida announced it would move to end all vaccine requirements, DeSantis called on the CDC to stop recommending the Covid-19 vaccine for children in March. He also called for ending mandates for vaccines using mRNA technology. Two major Covid-19 shots manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are mRNA vaccines.
In a statement, Ladapo said revoking the requirements “will strengthen the sovereignty of patients.” He also said that the government did not have the right to tell people what to put in their bodies and that the mandates were akin to slavery.
The health department that Ladapo leads will be able to revoke some of the mandates outright, while others must be repealed by the state legislature.
Already, though, national experts, professional groups and public health officials have decried the move.
“When everyone in a school is vaccinated, it’s harder for diseases to spread, and easier for everyone to keep the fun and learning going,” the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Susan Kressly, said in a statement on Wednesday, warning that the plans could “put children in Florida public schools at higher risk for getting sick.”
“When children are sick and miss school, parents also miss work, which not only impacts those families, but also the local economy,” she said.
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