Slain FBI agents worked hard to protect children from abusers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — FBI Agent Daniel Alfin gained international attention when he led a team that shutdown a major worldwide child pornography website. Agent Laura Schwartzenberger worked more anonymously, teaching children and adults how to avoid online sexual exploitation
Alfin and Schwartzenberger, gunned down Tuesday while serving a search warrant at a child pornography suspect’s South Florida apartment, devoted their careers to capturing criminals who sexually abuse youngsters, often times testing the legal boundaries of computer privacy.
“We are still reeling from the news,” said Shelley Allwang, director of the Exploited Children Division at National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “I feel lucky to have worked with people who had such commitment and resolve.”
The suspect was identified Wednesday as 55-yearold David Huber, who lived at the apartment complex. A law enforcement official familiar with the matter said investigators are looking into whether Huber may have been using a camera to monitor the agents’ activity before opening fire on them and believe multiple shots were fired through a door. The official could not discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Three other agents were wounded, with two of them hospitalized. One of the hospitalized agents was released Wednesday, while the other was in stable condition as of Tuesday. The third agent was treated at the scene. Huber apparently killed himself after a standoff.
Florida court records show Huber with only minor traffic violations. He had no listing as a sex offender and no Florida prison record. Records show he owned computer consulting businesses from 2008 until last year. Broward County records show he was divorced in 2016.
Alfin, 36, and an agent for almost 13 years, made headlines seven years ago when he led a team that took down a Naples, Florida, man who was the lead administrator of Playpen, the world’s largest-known child pornography website. Steven Chase had created the website on Tor, an open network on the internet where users could communicate anonymously through “hidden service” websites.
Playpen had more than 150,000 users worldwide. Members uploaded and viewed tens of thousands of graphic images of young victims, categorized by age, sex and type of sexual activity involved. The FBI launched an investigation in 2014 after Playpen’s IP address was accidentally revealed.