The leader of a global paedophile ring was killed in prison this week in what is believed to have been a targeted attack.
40-year-old married father-of-two, Christian Maire, from Binghamton, New York, was serving a 40-year-long sentence at the Milan detention centre near Detroit.
He was sentenced in December following an FBI investigation which unveiled him as the mastermind behind Internet gang ‘The Bored Group’. Maire and eight others claimed to be teenage boys on dating sites before convincing more than 100 victims to strip and perform sex acts via webcam.
Investigators also said the group convinced some victims to cut themselves on camera as they watched.
As reported by The Detroit Free Press, a statement was released on Friday (January 4) by the Federal Bureau of Prisons which stated Maire was pronounced dead following an ‘altercation’ involving seven inmates at the centre on Tuesday (January 1).
Three other inmates involved were treated for serious injuries while two prison staff members suffered minor injuries.
Following the incident the prison was placed on ‘limited operational status’ with visiting suspended.
Although details are still unclear, the death is being investigated as a homicide with a source telling The Detroit News at least one of the attackers was armed with a shiv (homemade knife).
Maire’s lawyer Mark Kriger told the news outlet:
It’s a horrible tragedy and it seems something like this should have been able to be avoided.
During Maire’s sentencing last month one of the ring’s victims, a 20-year-old, predicted his fate saying, ‘he’s gonna get the hell beat out of him [in prison]’.
According to prison records, at least five other members of the ring are at the Milan detention centre with the attack raising concern for their safety also.
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